HiroshemaWar is an ever changing, advancing typeof combat. From swords to guns, the weapons used are always developingand becoming much more powerful. Nuclear bombs are one of the mostforceful weapons that exist today. On August 6, 1945, during WorldWar II, the United States dropped an Atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a Japanesecity and Military center.
About 130,000 people were reported deadinjured, or missing. Another 177,000 were left homeless. Itwas the first Atomic bomb ever used against an enemy. The effectsof this explosion were so devastating and long lasting that they are stillfelt today. Was the United States justified in the droppingof the atomic bomb?On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was deliberatelyattacked by the Japanese.
Reports show that 2,400 people were killed and1,300 were wounded. The reason Japan bombed, Pearl Harbor was because thatwas where all of the U. S. Navy ships were kept. They were hoping to takeout the Navy and were almost successful.
They expected the aircraft carriersto be in the harbor, but luckily were not. Although the attack may havebeen a success to the Japanese, it became a huge mistake in the end. Onereason it was a mistake was it caused the U. S.
to enter the war. The UnitedStates was the ultimate cause to Japan losing the war. Secondly it madethe Americans angry and determined to destroy the Japanese. Recruitingoffices were flooded with young patriots who wanted to help their countryout.
This attack was just an example of what could have happened if thewar had continued. If the war had continued another attack on U. S. soilcould have taken place.
This could have turned the 6,000 dead Americancivilians into 9,000 dead civilians. That is one of the main reasons thewar needed to be stopped immediately. The United States made the thought of theAtomic bomb and the building of it possible. The power behind sucha weapon was just what the United States needed. Many scientistsmanufactured and constructed the Atomic bomb, including Enrico Fermi, J.
Robert Oppenheimer, and Harold Urey. The group was headed by a UnitedStates Army engineer, Major General Leslie Groves. The United States came up with a list ofcities that could be possible targets for the detonation of the bomb. The list included Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata, and Nagasaki.
Theylater decided that Hiroshima would be the first target. Then in theearly hours of August 6, 1945, the B-29 bomber Enola Gay, along with threeother B-29’s, headed out from Tinian Airbase to Hiroshima. They equippedthe Enola Gay with the A-bomb, a single 4-ton nuclear device with 12 poundsof uranium. At 8:15 a. m.
(Japanese standard time) the Enola Gay letthe Atomic bomb fall to the ground. The bomb exploded around 2000feet above the ground. The explosion caused all wooden buildingsto collapse within a radius of 1. 2 miles.
The blast itself demolishedthree fifths of the city within seconds. The United States scientistsestimated that only 20,000 Japanese would die, instead 75,000 people perishedinstantly. Three days after the bombing of Hiroshimait was decided that another Japanese town must be hit with am A-bomb. Three targets remained, the city of Kokura was the chosen target. Because visibility was so poor, due to smoke and pollution they changedthe target to the city of Nagasaki.
The smoke and pollution werejust as bad over Kokura, but through a gap in the smog the bombardier spottedthe target. They then released the 4. 5 ton bomb, at 11:02 a. m. , killing30,000 people instantly.
A day after the Nagasaki bombing the Japanesegovernment offered to surrender. This ended the first ever nuclearwar. Yet, while the first atomic bomb was asuccess, it raised many ethical and controversial issues. Most ofthe people in the United States of America supported the use of the atomicbomb, even President Truman commented on what a great invention itwas. Many people, including the scientists that developed thebomb, opposed the bombings and felt that killing that many innocent peoplejust to get an influence in the war was immoral. One famous figure,Albert Einstein was quoted saying, “I made one great mistake in my life,when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that the atomicbombs be made.
“The atomic bomb was considered a “quick”and even economical way to win the war; however, it was a cruel and unusualform of punishment for the Japanese citizens. The weapon that we referto as “quick” was just the opposite. On one hand, it meant a quick endto the war for the United States, and on the other hand, a slow andpainful death to many innocent Japanese. The effects of radiationpoisoning are horrific, ranging from purple spots on the skin, hair loss,nausea, vomiting, bleeding from the mouth, gums, and throat, weakened immunesystems, to massive internal hemorrhaging, not to mention the disfiguringradiation burns. The effects of the radiation poisoning continued to showup until about a month after the bombing. In fact the bomb also killedor permanently damaged fetuses in the womb.
Death and destruction comehand in hand with war; however, a quick death is always more humane.
