Coachella Valley veteran remembers end of WWII in Pacific

Japanese Emperor Hirohito surrendered to Allied forces in the Pacific Aug. 14, 1945.

It was an event that forever changed a Coachella Valley veteran’s life.

Retired Army Colonel Tom Henry says his life was saved by the atomic bombings of Imperial Japan.

The American bombing of Hiroshima, and Nagasaki three days later, killed at least 129,000 people and quickly forced Japan to surrender.

Henry says he found out the war in the Pacific had ended days later.

“Harry dropped two bombs. The war ended,” said Henry. “We did not know it aboard the ship. Nobody knew what an atomic bomb was.”

Henry was an 18-year-old private with a year of college under his belt at Texas A&M.

He’d spent 22 days at sea, zigzagging across the Pacific and was prepared to invade Japan when a general boarded the ship.

Henry remembered the general saying, “The war is over so you’re not going to invade Japan with troops or boots on the ground. You’re going to have to occupy Japan.”

Today, his many medals and honors include Bronze Stars, a Legion of Merit and medals of occupation for both Japan and Germany.

Henry went on to serve a distinguished 35 years in the Army becoming a colonel at the Pentagon focused on special forces and credited with creating the Delta Force.

He was recently inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame and has a spot on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars near See’s Candy.

Looking back, he says President Harry Truman saved his life by approving the use of atomic weapons against Japan.

“Not just mine, but thousands of Americans and millions of Japanese,” said Henry. “A lot of people said he was wrong in doing it. But he saved lives.”