President Truman announced the first bomb to be dropped at 10:30 am on August 6th, 1945 (“The Atomic Bomb & End of WWII” 1). In Hiroshima 90,000-166,000 people died, and in Nagasaki 60,000-80,000 died (“Atomic Bomb” 1). From both of the bomb dropped in each town only some building remained standing simply for the reason that they were reinforced by concrete (1). Out of all the survivors Eizo Nomura was the closest known survivor of the bomb, he was 560 feet away from where the bomb hit (1). It was hard for people to believe this guy survived, although he was in a reinforced building its still amazing that he managed to survive.
Upon the bombing of the two cities, the Japanese citizens that lived near the explosion had been through a devastating and horrifying experience. These experiences are told by John Hersey in his book “Hiroshima”, where he interviews survivors from the bombing. One of the survivors he interviewed was named Miss Tashinki Sasaki; she worked as a clerk in the personnel department of the East Asia Tin Works during the crisis. When the blinding flash from the bomb had taken place, she was about to talk to the female worker on her right but had become paralyzed with fear from the light. Within seconds the ceiling collapsed along with a bookshelf that fell on Miss Sasaki, leaving her unconscious for three hours.
I do agree of dropping the bomb because it did save a lot of lives. Franklin Roosevelt was trying to find a way to end the war very fast. Then Truman had to end Roosevelt’s idea of winning the war fast. Truman wasn’t looking for a way to not use the atomic bomb. The United States wanted to end the war fast because we wanted the lowest amount of casualties.
Well, the Japanese had demonstrated near-fanatical resistance, fighting to almost the last man on Pacific islands, committing mass suicide of Saipan and unleashing kamikaze attacks at Okinawa. Firebombing had killed 100,000 in Tokyo with no discernible political effect, and the atomic bomb was the only way to jolt Japan’s leadership to surrender. With only two bombs ready, it was way too risky to “waste” one in a demonstration over an unpopulated area. If there was an invasion of Japan by the Allies, there would have been casualties on both sides that could easily have exceeded the toll at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two targeted cities would have probably been firebombed anyway.
The ones who believe this, do not comprehend the many different factors in war and how the route that was chosen was best for both parties that were directly affiliated with the bombings. The cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would have been fire bombed if the atomic bombs were not dropped, causing similar damage and death counts to the atomic bombs. According to Kyoko Iriye Selden, "The most influential text is Truman's 1955 Memoirs, which states that the atomic bomb probably saved half a million US lives— anticipated casualties in an Allied invasion of Japan planned for November. Stimson subsequently talked of saving one million US casualties, and Churchill of saving one million American and half that number of British lives"(1). With this amount of casualties projected, a land invasion would have trumped the death toll of D-Day.
On the 6th of August 1945, the USA dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The atomic bomb, "Little Boy", was dropped from Enola Gay. On the first instant, 71,000 vanished immediately on the spot, and later on, another 49,000 died as a result of injuries and radiation. Three days later, on the 9th of August, the USA dropped a second bomb, "Fat Man", on Nagasaki. This time, 40,000 were killed instantly, and another 40,000 due to injuries and radiation.
The pride of the Japanese was so great that it would not allow them to surrender and many of Japan's soldiers fought in a kamikaze style which they would go to the extreme of killing themselves in order to kill at least one enemy soldier. President Truman needed some method other than the Potsdam Declaration to force the Japanese to surrender, he found that in the atomic bomb. The use of the atomic bomb was believed to be the
But would he use it? By using it, it could end the war. Once Japan refused to Surrender, President Truman went on and used the BOMB. On August 6, the bomber, Enola Gay dropped the bomb. It was estimated that the A-bomb killed 70,000 people.
Andy Logic and Problem Solving November 7, 2009 Hiroshima Was Justified On Monday, August 6, 1945, President Harry S. Truman by executive order dropped an Atomic Bomb on the military base in Hiroshima Japan. The bomb called “Little Boy” killed about 140,000 people. Nine days later, the Imperial Army surrendered to the allied powers officially by signing the Instrument of Surrender. From the moment that the bomb was dropped, there has been speculation on whether it was justified and it was. Argument #1 1.
The people were divided. Both the American people and others around word were soon to find out the horrors of what lay beneath an ash cloud that hung hundreds of miles above the Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Even the scientists could not quite believe and could not imagine the effects that these two bombs would have, even now, more than 65 years later. News of the atomic bombing was greeted enthusiastically in the U.S.; a poll in Fortune magazine in late 1945 showed a significant minority of Americans wishing that more atomic bombs could have been dropped on Japan. The immediate death toll will never be known, but within four months, it was estimated that that the effects of both bombs had claimed around 166,000 people in Hiroshima, and 80,000 in Nagasaki.