Hiroshima Bombing Research Paper

In the midst of World War II, August 1945, the United States unleashed the first ever atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The usage of the atomic bomb was effective, but at the same time devastating and unnecessary. The United States should not have dropped the atomic bomb because it maimed countless of Japanese civilians, caused radiation poisoning whose effects impacted future generations, left both cities in ruins, left citizens homeless, and it was absolutely unmoral for the United States to have created such havoc and chaos in these two cities. Being there on the day Hiroshima was struck by the atomic bomb, junior high student,

The non-fiction book Hiroshima by John Hersey is an engaging text with a powerful message in it. The book is a biographical text about lives of six people Miss Sasaki, Dr. Fujii, Mrs. Nakamura, Father Kleinsorge, Dr. Sasaki and Rev. Tanimoto in Hiroshima, Japan and how their lives completely changed at 8:15 on the 6th of August 1945 by the dropping of the first atomic bomb. The author, John Hersey, through his use of descriptive language the in book Hiroshima exposes the many horrors of a nuclear attack.

“The city was hidden by that awful cloud . . . boiling up, mushrooming, terrible and incredibly tall," said Colonel Paul Tibbets, pilot of the modified B-29 bomber that dropped the world’s first atomic bomb over Hiroshima. The bombings resulted in the death of thousands, including not only Japanese citizens, forces, and military but also American captive soldiers. In the midst of World War II the United States forced Japan to surrender by dropping bombs in the major cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They released the second atomic bomb shortly after, in Nagasaki, Japan.

The most significant theme in John Hersey’s book “Hiroshima” are the long- term effects of war, confusion about what happened, long term mental and physical scars, short term mental and physical scars, and people being killed.

For six agonizing years, the world was at a point of great strife. Considered a turning point of the century, World War II consisted of the Axis powers-Italy, Japan, and Germany-and the Allies-United States, Great Britain, France, China, and the Soviet Union. The war initially started when Germany invaded Poland in 1939, but the United States did not declare war until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. In order to put an end to any further bloodshed, the United States decided to drop the newly invented atomic bomb. The use of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were justified due to the numerous lives spared, ending the merciless Japanese soldiers terrorization of Chinese innocents and American prisoners of war, as well as

Within minutes, the entire city of Hiroshima is completely obliterated just because of a single bomb on the 6th of August, 1945. “Hiroshima does not look like a bombed city. It looks as if a monster steamroller had passed over it and squashed it out of existence” said Australian journalist, Wilfred Burchett. That alone is devastating enough but this bombing affected more than just that particular city-- it shook the entire globe. This bomb is the most influential bombing in history because of just the fact alone that it had the ability to make individual people “vanish” into thin air, it was the first shot in the Cold War and it changed an entire country’s society.

The atomic bombs used on Japan had codenames, Hiroshima being ¨little boy¨ and Nagasaki being ¨Fat man¨. While fat man’s low point on the kiloton scale being little boy’s high point, little boy took about twice the casualties of fat man since Hiroshima was a more densely populated city. After the bombs were dropped and did their initial damage, the radiation infected the land and killed hundreds after the bomb went off for days to come leaving that land uninhabitable for

The modified B-29 fortress nicknamed the “Enola Gay” flew its way into Japan and the history books with its legendary cargo. The atomic bomb was a major force in persuading Japan to surrender. It ensured a total and indisputable end to the war in the Pacific. The United States military was completely justified in dropping the atomic bomb. The bomb was justified because it saved American and Japanese lives, saved time, and Japan had been warned.

“My clothes were burnt and so was my skin. I was in rags. I had braided my hair, but now it was like a lion’s mane. There were people, barely breathing, trying to push their intestines back in. People with their legs wrenched off. Without heads. Or with faces burned and swollen out of shape. The scene I saw was a living hell.” (Michiko 385). A civilian who was exposed to the atomic bomb, Yamamoka Michiko, reflects on the scene she so devastatingly was a part of the day the bomb was dropped. Her description of the cities ruins gives us an idea of just how brutal and horrific the nuclear weapon turned to be. Not only did the United States privately construct such a ruthless weapon, but also used the Atomic Bomb as an unfortunate way to instantaneously end WWII. The United States’ decision to bomb Japan was seen as directed against the Soviet Union because during this time, Stalin had moved troops to the far East in order to enter war with Japan to secure and strengthen a soviet strategic position for combat. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is seen as an unnecessary war crime because allied nations were making moves to prepare to defeat Japan. Though nations such as the Soviet Union worked vigorously to defeat Japan, the United States wanted to end the war quickly while letting other nations know the they were in charge due to their possession of the world’s first nuclear weapon.

The War that happens between the U.S and Japan was caused by the Japanese Imperial. They wanted to have power and take control over in the Southeast Asia, the Japanese military was planning to attack against the Netherland and the United Kingdom. They decided to attack the U.S Pacific Fleet because they thought that they would had interfered with their attacks against those overseas territories. Was the decision to drop atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki a military necessity? Dropping the atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a military necessity.

Ever wondered how many people survived after the atomic bombing that the United States dropped on the city of Hiroshima, Japan? How all the people of Hiroshima received medical attention and had survived? According to research, there were over eighty thousand people that were affected after the bombing, meaning injured or got their homes taken away from the big explosion, and there were about 11,470 people that needed medical help. The Hiroshima bombing was a total massacre because there were people who had their flesh hanging off their body, bones out of place, and not to mention all the blood that covered the city. The bombing of Hiroshima, Japan happened on August 6, 1945 around 8:16 am. After the bombing, there were a lot of people that were either dead or injured. The hospitals are where people had to go in order to try and survive the high radiation levels.

American knew the consequences of the atomic bomb,in fact a lot were the politics and scientists that didn’t agree about the use of this weapon.

“Boom...”, the atomic bombs hit the ground. People cried, ran, bellowed for help, but they could not escape from being vaporized by the massive power of this nuclear weapon. Casualties are inevitable in wars, but casualties can be reduced. Throughout the history, one of the most massive destructive actions was when the United States dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.

Boom! Crash! Woosh! Silence. Devastation. In August 1945, two extremely powerful atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. The bombing killed over one-hundred thousand people. Bombing the two cities impacted the world on a global scale, and was one of the final factors that officially ended this unbelievably devastational war. Was this deadly bombing justified? I believe the bombing was justified, for more reasons than one.

At about eight A.M on August sixth, 1945 the Japanese city Hiroshima was destroyed by the deployment of the first nuclear weapon, nicknamed “Little Boy.” Soon after, at about eleven A.M the following day, a second bomb was dropped, called “Fat Man” on Nagasaki. Together, these bombings caused massive destruction. The death total was well near 220, 000. Only portions of these deaths were from the days of the bombings, with an equal number occurring later in the year from exposure to radiation. More have died since from leukemia.