On Aug. 6, 1945, a 19-year-old U.S. sailor was serving aboard the aircraft carrier Hollandia about 500 miles off the coast of Japan when he learned the U.S. had just obliterated Hiroshima with a new “ super-weapon ” — an atomic bomb with the force of 20,000 tons of TNT. A more powerful bomb was dropped at Nagasaki three days later.

There is no record of what the aviation radioman third class said or thought when he heard the news, though he likely exhaled a sigh of relief. That seaman, along with millions of men preparing for the invasion of Japan, hoped the bombs would spare more lives by bringing an end to World War II, the bloodiest conflict in history.

Years later, the sailor — who went on to fame as celebrated actor Paul Newman — would reflect on that experience. Even thou

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