Hi Debbie,
I am not a doctor and had a different cancer but my understanding is that tongue cancers have the potential of being more invasive and agressive than other forms of throat cancer, hence the fairly agressive treatments proposed by your three doctors, even though you have a stage I. This is not about the easy way out. It's about the route most likely to save your life and prevent recurrance.

If you have the opportunity or resources to have a second opinion at a NCCN facility, I would go for it. Go to http://www.nccn.org/ for the closest location.

Every decision that I made was arrived at with much research and questions and my wife was there taking notes and asking questions also, since I was half out of my mind with the stuff and many things blew right past except for her notes. I will pray for wisdom both for your doctors and yourself to follow the best path.