Truman ordered the use of the atomic bomb on Japan, when they would not surrender. He reasoned that the dropping of the bomb would save American lives, as more soldiers would be killed invading Japan. It was estimated that half a million American troops or Allied forces would have died if an invasion had taken place in Japan. The first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. When Japan refused to surrender, Truman ordered the dropping of another atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945. Japan asked for peace the very next day and surrendered soon after that.