The Atomic Bomb On Hiroshima

The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were only a few days apart from each other and before they dropped the atomic bombs on those two cities, airplanes flew by and dropped leaflets warning the people of Japan warning them to evacuate the cities. The leaflets warned the people of Japan that they have the most destructive weapon possessed by man and the only reason they are forced to use said bombs is because Japan’s military leaders will not surrender to the United States (“WGBH”). While people believe that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was unjustified, the U.S. was right in bombing Japan to defend their country and to not cause any more allied casualties.

“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.

With the closing of the Second World War at hand, Harry S. Truman represented the United States in Potsdam Germany to decide the fate of a post war world. The key individuals in the conference consisted of the allied leaders, Soviet Premier Stalin, Prime Minister Churchill, and Truman. Dubbed the “big Three” in the second conference of the post war, they were charged with the daunting task of dealing with Japan and their continued effort in the ending war. The Potsdam Declaration was devised. It simply stated that Japan must immediately agree to an unconditional surrender or face total destruction. Japan would ignore this declaration (Scoenberger, 1969).

The United States should not have dropped the atomic bomb because it was inhumane. By using that powerful bomb on japan lots of people died and lots of people lost their children, families, and it also ruined everything on their land so they can’t have access to anything. According to document ‘E,’ the evidence shows that it was hard for Japanese because they lost lots of people, 64,000 people total died from Nagasaki and 135,000 total died from Hiroshima which was terrifying. This evidence helps explain that the U.S. should not have dropped the atomic bomb because it took lives of civilians and innocent people.

Intense moral justification was needed in order to make the decision to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki however, President Truman was ultimately the man who made the final decision to launch ‘Little Boy’ and destroy Hiroshima, Nagasaki and their civilians, thus forcing an end to the war. Although there were many alternatives presented to President Truman, it is unknown as to whether they would have actually succeeded in ending the war or producing less casualties. Truman made the decision to drop these bombs in the heat of war but his justification of having a military target appeared extremely unrealistic, as both cities were full of innocent civilians. The morality of the bombs have been debated over the years, however the publication of the actual damage to civilian life caused a strong voice opposed to the usage in the 60 years following the action.

The atomic bombs that Harry Truman dropped on the Japanese killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people. This action was unjustified because many innocent Japanese civilians lost their lives in the bombings. These bombs were so powerful that it caused imminent defeat and were not necessary. Also, the US officials were split. The actions Harry Truman had undertaken in the bombing of the Japanese were unjustified because many innocent people were killed, the bomb was not necessary, and the US officials were split.

Living as a civilian in Hiroshima on the dark day of August 6 1945 would be the most frightening thing to imagine. First an amazing brilliant flash drawing attention as if a new sun is birthed with a core bursting heat in every direction. The bomb erupted into a fireball fifteen meters in diameter within a tenth of a millisecond emitting temperatures of nearly three hundred thousand degrees Centigrade (Laurduy). Doom is a certainty and a tragic event subdued by the effects of war. It is easy to say we should have dropped the bomb as outsiders. Taking the facts and coming to the most logical conclusion, yet how many would say the bomb was necessary that were near the bomb and experienced the destruction and decay the bomb brought to the land? Not very many.

During World War II Americans dropped atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing nearly 200,000 people. This resulted in Japans surrender in World War II. J. Samuel Walker analyzes this historical event in his book Prompt and Utter Destruction: Truman and the Use of Atomic Bombs. Over the past 70 years’ extensive research has been conducted and there is an understanding that Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bombs is inconclusive. It is impossible to determine that the use of the bomb was the quickest way to end the war. An analysis of President Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb reveals one challenge: was the decision to destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki a show of good judgment.

Our men, or theirs? This is the decision president Harry S. Truman was left with; drop the bomb or continue with an invasion. World War 2 had been dragging on for several years when President Truman decided to drop the first Atomic Bomb over Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. This devastating weapon brutally murdered 75,000 Japanese civilians in an instant. Although it has been 70 years since the bombs were dropped, there is still question on whether or not the right decision was made. President Truman was wrong to drop the Atomic Bomb because it killed thousands of ignorant civilians and was unnecessary for victory.

        August 6, 1945 defines a pivotal moment in world history. At 8:15am, the United States

by a large blind spot for 15 minutes after the blast. It was determined that

On August 6, 1945 President Truman made the biggest decision that would change many people’s lives forever, which was dropping the first atomic bomb on a city in Japan called Hiroshima. The atomic bomb had a code that only certain people from the U.S knew; the code name was called “little boy” (Hall). The atomic bomb caused a lot of damage to Japan, killing between 60,000 and 80,000 people in that second that the bomb was dropped (WW2 People’s War). The atomic bomb affected many people’s lives in many ways. Many people believed that it was wrong that President Truman dropped the bomb because there could have been another way to fight back. President Truman was very indecisive to whether or not to drop the bomb on Japan. President Trumans, final decision was the only right thing to do because the atomic bomb had many benefits for the U.S. such as ending World War II, saving many people’s lives and showing what the United States was capable of.

After experiencing this Truman ought to have been more restrained regarding the use of the weapon; particularly when he stated it would be detonated on a military target not a civilian target. However, it was obvious that both targeted cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki were industrialized cities with large populations that would lead to many civilians being killed (Fogelman, 145). In addition, the United States did not look at the treat that the radiation from the bomb posed on civilians.

By bombing Japan, many civilians were killed as a result of the U.S. 's desire to use a new weapon. Laurence describes the bomb as, "a thing of beauty to behold" and "Never before had so much brain power been focused on a single problem" (11). This demonstrated how the U.S. saw Japan as a problem that needed to be dealt with quickly and that the new and supposedly destructive weapon was the best choice. While the targets, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, were both production areas ,they were inhabited by a number of civilians. By choosing to drop the bomb, thousands were annihilated and any survivors began to suffer from radiation sickness shortly after. Because of its destruction, the U.S. believed the atomic bomb was a quick solution to the war.

Would you kill a thousand to save millions? Well the drastic actions taken by the United States did save millions. There were two actions that had to occur to save the millions and end the war, the dropping of the two atomic bombs being the first of their kind were to be the most powerful bomb ever invented using atomic and nuclear forces so create it and packed over 20,000 tons of TNT and was about ten feet long. The bomber that transported and dropped them was called the 'Enola Gay’. The two Japanese cities’ that were struck by such creations were Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In this essay I will be discussing on how the actions taken by the United States of America were completely justified in dropping the two bombs as is established a future power image, saved millions, ended the war and ended the axis of evil.