The United States dropped the very first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. This first bomb killed over 80,000 – 100,000 people and destroyed over five square miles of Hiroshima. However, that wasn’t all that the United States had in store for Japan; just three days later they dropped another atomic bomb in the city of Nagasaki and it killed 40,000 people. However, there were some people that survived the explosion but they would eventually die from their injuries and from radiation exposure. A Japanese Doctor named Michihiko Hachiya survived the Hiroshima bombing. He also kept a journal that documented his experiences after the bombing. In his journal Hachiya writes that “the right side of [his] body was bleeding…no one spoke…Hiroshima was no longer a city but a burned-down over …show more content…
To the east and to the west everything was flattened…How small Hiroshima was with its houses gone.” What Doctor Hachiya writes is very heartbreaking. In addition, photos can also share the same effect. The photos that were taken by Yosuke Yamahata reveal the chilling aftermath of the atomic bomb. One of the photos that struck me the most was the second photo. The second photo shows a group of people lying on a mat and in the distance, there is debris from their homes. The people look very scared, hopeless and lost. Their homes were blown to smithereens and they were left with nothing. The atomic bomb was an evil that struck out of nowhere. The United States chose to send Japan a clear message to stop fighting and despite all the innocent lives that were lost, it was the right decision to do. Additionally, if I were President of the United States during the late 1940s, I would also have made the decision to drop the atomic bomb on both Hiroshima and
During the bombing of Hiroshima, casualty rates among medical personnel were in the range between 80 to 93 percent. Injuries resulting from the bombing often went untreated, and the survivors did not receive health care for some time. The book Hiroshima discusses this issue in great length, specifically why they were not given the necessary aid. The government of Hiroshima played a major role in this.
“We have to protect our Earth, so our children and grandchildren will never suffer like that,’ she said. And she looked ahead. ‘Maybe nuclear weapons won’t be abolished while I’m alive,’ she said. ‘But I will never give up.” (Hanley, NBC News). August 6, 1945 at 8:16 in the morning, the United States dropped the world's first atomic bomb on thousands of unsuspecting people in Hiroshima, Japan. Not only did this catastrophic event kill thousands of civilians, but it also resulted in other nations obtaining and learning how to create these deadly weapons, weapons that we still have today. In the book Hiroshima by John Hersey he gives readers a new look at that day, through the eyes of six victims who survived the horrific attack on Hiroshima, he shows how the entire city of Hiroshima suffered, and were left alone to fend for themselves.The book Hiroshima by John Hersey, sheds light on the immense dangers of nuclear warfare, and the government's responsibility for its people, affected by a war they aren’t fighting in.
America should not have dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima because the bomb had killed millions of innocent Japanese civilians and just instantly turned them into ash, only a shadow was left of them. If children had went into bomb shelters and survived, they would not live for long because of the radiation scattered throughout the blast radius. Radiation scattered throughout Hiroshima will kill a further billion as a result. Also, they would be made orphans because their parents have been turned into nothing. The atomic bomb was very harsh, flattening all property in blast radius and people will be burnt alive. Japan was already seeking peace to many countries and more than 60 of its cities had been destroyed by conventional bombing, the home islands were being blockaded by the American navy, and the USSR entered the war in Asia by attacking Japanese troops occupying Manchuria. American refusal to modify its “unconditional surrender” demand made the Japanese even put up more resistance. If America demonstrated an explosion over Tokyo harbor would have convinced Japan’s leaders to quit without killing many people and cause them to suffer immense pain. The bomb was very expensive to make and develop. It used 2 billion US dollars to invent and make the atomic bomb. The conventional firebombing would have
On August 6, 1945 uranium gun-type atomic bomb (Little Boy) was dropped on Hiroshima, within the first day of the bombings the effects killed 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima. The effects of the atomic bomb left many dead, homeless, and sacred. Even four months later people would die from radiation poisoning and discovering they had cancer now. Skin would be peeling off like bark on trees, this was a true horrifying sight. The United States were at war with japan but, does that justify what they did? Some would say what they did was inhuman and just plan wrong. They say there were other alternatives that the United Sates could have done. I believe there could have been a better way of ending the war with japan but I understand why the United States did what they did. The Japanese came out of nowhere and attacked the United States did they think that the US would just roll over and die? The should of known not to surprise attack one of the strongest nations. The needed to be put back in place and show the rest of the world that the US was one not to be reckon with.
On sunny day in August in 1945, the lives of Hiroshima citizens changed forever. While doing day to day activities, an American B-29 was heard from up above, when seconds later their whole world was unbearably white and red. The town immediately started to decay as people were lying on the roads, dying, and if citizens were able to stay alive, they had no home to go back to. This horrible scenario was the result of the United States decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima (Japan) during World War II. In 1945, President Truman agreed and approved of the dropping of the bomb while with historians today, not everyone is on the same page. Some historians may agree with this hefty decision to drop the bomb, others believe
Imagine this, a day like every other day. It’s August 6th, 1945, the sun is shining, the hum of nearby businesses filling the air and the squeals of children playing in your ears. The busy town square filled with unknowing people. No one prepared for what was to come. Then it came. The American B-29 bomber Enola Gray dropped the world’s first ever deployed atomic bomb, nicknamed “Little Boy,” over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. It was dropped by parachute and exploded 1,800 feet above the ground. Instantly, 80,000 civilians were killed by the explosion, and tens of thousands were later killed by radiation and their injuries. The blast destroyed more than six square miles of the city and due to the intense heat of the explosion, fires ignited all over the city, consuming Hiroshima and lasting for three days, trapping and killing many of the survivors of the initial blast. 90 percent of the population was wiped out. A mere three days later on August 9th, a second American B-29 bomber dropped a second atomic bomb, “Fat Boy,” on the city of Nagasaki, killing an estimated of 40,000 people. Contradictory to the United States’ “reasons” for dropping the atomic bomb on the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, their decision was unjustified and unnecessary.
In August of 1945 the U.S used a massive atomic bomb against the people of Hiroshima, Japan. The atomic bomb that was used was identical to the equivalent of 20,000 rounds of TNT (Rosenburg, 2015). As you can imagine the bomb caused massive destruction and ended with the deaths of many people. It wiped out the city of Hiroshima, flattening it and ruining many of the things that once resided there. At that time, the Japanese were trying to cope with the loss of many family members and the loss of their beautiful city. All felt lost especially when the U.S. came back with another bomb that this time struck on the city of Nagasaki. The reason for the atomic bomb was to hopefully end the war between the U.S. and the Japanese. Soon after
Devastation is the main word to sum up the day the first Atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Countless either dead or heavily injured from immediate effects or after effects. Japanese and Americans shocked by the surprise damaged caused by the nuclear weapon. A blanket of silence fell across the battlefield as the aftermath became clear. Dropping the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima to end World War II was completely unnecessary and the bomb should have never been created.
Hiroshima is one of the saddest and terrifying attack in human history. Some people say we shouldn’t have dropped the second bomb and even the first one, while others claim we did what we had to do. They shouldn’t have dropped the second bomb, but I am for dropping the first one. Afterall, it was war, many good things came out of it, but at a high price.
August 6th, 1945 a bomb was dropped on Hiroshima Japan, forever changing the game of war and the lives of all two and a third billion(Alpha Wolfram). The atomic bomb was a new invention in like the world has never seen. This bomb nicknamed Little Boy alone killed or injured over a hundred and fifty thousand people. This followed by another bomb, Fat Man, being dropped on nagasaki, killed or injured another 75,000. These rates are just within months of the bomb being dropped, not accounting the deaths that followed from the damage caused by radiation, starvation and other after effects of the bomb. Behind this destruction of a country is one man, President Harry Truman, notable the most infamous war time presidents. He has gone down in history as the man who dropped the bomb, and because of that he was and is despised by many. But is he worthy of this hatred, with his contributions to desegregation of the military and the strengthening of the economy(Hamby)? It seems as if even though what he did was necessary for the situation that was at hand, he still is seen as an evil man by some who dislike the dropping of the bomb. Comparatively to other wartime presidents, Truman took the path of what needed to be done, and is seen worse than others, such as George W Bush who went to war under the guise of W.M.Ds which were never found, or Wilson who sent the U.S into the great war, after
The United States atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was the only time atomic bombs were used in war, and had a severe impact on the final outcome of World War II. It involved the forces of the United States and Japan battling each other in many different cities of Japan. The bombings took place on August 6, 1945, and August 9, 1945. Eleven United States troops were aboard the Enola Gay when the atomic bombs were dropped. About one hundred and forty thousand people died from the first atomic bomb and about eighty thousand died from the second bombing (Parker, 231). The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had a large impact on the outcome of World War II by ending the war in Japan. The two atomic bombs dropped during World War
According to the many scientists that worked on the bomb and the military. The bombs were very successful. Both bomb runs were executed perfectly by the air force and the bomb did its job both times by exploding 500 meters above the ground. The Hiroshima bomb flattened 4.4 square miles of land on Hiroshima killing nearly 140,000 people. These two bombs were never meant to be used on Japan. The real purpose of the atomic bombs were to drop them on Nazi Germany in order to wipe out Hitler and his army. However, unluckily for Japan, Germany surrendered to America a couple months before the nuclear bomb was completed. When Germany surrendered the world believed Japan would follow suit. President Truman asked for the surrender of the Japanese after Germany had surrendered, which they denied. President Truman and the U.S military had calculated the amount of lives that would have been lost had they invaded Japan. They ultimately came to a conclusion that they could save thousands of American lives if they waited for the completion of the bomb. America chose the nuclear bomb over an invasion of Japan.
The U.S indeed should’ve dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. First of all, if the United States would not have dropped the bombs, many more Japanese lives would’ve been lost and many more communities and cities would’ve been destroyed. While the total amount of Japanese casualties between the two bombs is estimated around 200,000 Japanese lives, not dropping the bomb would’ve resulted in allied ground invasions and conventional strategic bombing by the U.S, such as the one that killed over 120,000 in the firebombing of Tokyo (History.com), which would’ve led to many more American and Japanese deaths. Another positive effect the atomic bombings had was it caused the Soviet Union to take notice of the military power of the U.S. and
In John Hersey's Hiroshima, he writes about the lives of six people before, during, and after the horrific atomic bombing. Heresy explains the horrors and the aftermath of the atomic bombs that were dropped in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. John writes the story of six survivors to show their experience during the catastrophe and how they had moved on with their lives. Throughout the story, John expresses his disapproval to the idea of dropping the atomic bombs onto the two Japanese cities through the imagery of bombs' aftermath, the characters he chose to write about, and the terrifying descriptions of the noiseless flash. After reading this story, and understanding the horrific things the bomb caused, I still agree with the fact that we dropped it because I believe the atomic bombs were effective in ending World War II and preventing the Japanese from attacking more American forces - but the cost and distraction caused by the bomb was too high to be considered fair. Perhaps we would have been able to end the war slowly without the use of mass fire power of the atomic bombs and not endanger the lives of the people John Hersey wrote about.
Have you heard of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Is it possible for a bomb to affect 40 years later? How can people be affected by the bomb who were not alive? The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has had continuing effects on the area, instantly combustited everything around it, and was a bad decision.