01:00 AM EST on Thursday, November 11, 2004

I was seated at a 40-mm cannon with my fingers on the trigger, waiting for the sun to rise. It was April 1945 and I was a Marine-trained scout and raider on board the destroyer U.S.S. Tattnall APD 19. We were at general quarters on picket duty off Okinawa. As the sun rose there appeared four kamikaze suicide planes headed for us, about 10 feet above the water and in the sun. Also headed for us on the water was our relief, a brand-new destroyer with a green crew. In a cold sweat I aimed at the lead plane, my fingers tightened on the trigger, and I got off six rounds. The lead plane burst into flames but kept coming at us. At about 40 yards from us the gasoline bomb on the plane blew up and the heat burned my face.

The remaining three planes turned away and headed for the new destroyer. Two of the planes struck the new ship at its midpoint; the other overshot the ship and crashed in the ocean. The new destroyer broke in half and sank in 10 minutes. We picked up the survivors, the wounded, and the dead.

The new destroyer had never fired a shot. Our captain, who had had a ship sunk under him, had us at general quarters with all guns manned at every dawn and sunset. A pre-emptive strike saved our ship and its crew.

After the fall of Okinawa, we were told that the next battle would be to capture the home islands of Japan, and to prepare ourselves for this task. As a giant armada of ships was being assembled in the Philippines, we were asking ourselves how we could accomplish this. There would be 500,000 suicide bombers to deal with: How could we tell friend from foe? It might cost 500,000 American lives. President Truman's decision to use atomic bombs in a pre-emptive strike against Japan saved thousands of American lives and ended our worries.

Today, we find ourselves in a similar situation with Iran and North Korea. These rogue nations would not hesitate to use suicide bombers with A-bombs on ships in our ports and on cargo planes at our airports. To completely search all these locations would be impossible.

The only known way to stop suicide bombers with nuclear weapons is a pre-emptive strike with our own against rogue nations. Let us hope our president has the guts that President Truman had.

PETER CRUISE

Providence