The Death of James Forestall

U.S. Secretary of the Navy James Forestall had campaigned to warn the Japanese that the United States had developed nuclear weapons before the bombs were dropped. Some have speculated that he, like Oppenheimer, struggled with feelings of guilt. On May 22, 1949, while staying at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, Forestall attempted to hang himself from a window on the 16th floor. The sash he had fashioned into a noose broke, and Forestall fell to his death. Later, investigators examined the window Forestall had leapt from, and found scuff marks under the window.