Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseThis article covers the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For details on the conventional bombing of Japan, please see the article Bombing of Tokyo and Other Cities.
ww2dbaseOn 16 Jul 1945, while President of the United States Harry Truman was at Potsdam, Germany to meet with his Allied counterparts, long-waited results reached him: The Manhattan Project, the American effort at building the atomic bomb, successfully detonated the first bomb during a test at Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States. Truman, unwilling to risk the huge amount of lives that might be lost on both sides should the Allies invade the Japanese home islands, ordered the usage of the new technology. The scientists presented them with two such weapons, while the military sought uranium to produce a third.
ww2dbaseTarget Selection
ww2dbaseBetween 10 and 11 May 1945, Oppenheimer led a committee which came up with a list of cities most potentially suitable as targets of atomic attacks. The committee eventually arrived at the recommendation of four targets: Kyoto, Hiroshima, Yokohama, and Kokura.
ww2dbaseHiroshima was chosen as the first target due to its military and industrial values. As a military target, Hiroshima was a major army base that housed the headquarters of the Japanese 5th Division and the 2nd Army Headquarters. It was also an important port in southern Japan and a communications center. The mountains surrounding Hiroshima also contributed to Hiroshima being among one of the top choices among the short list of potential targets, for that the mountains might contain the destructive forces of an atomic blast in the target area, increasing the level of destruction.
ww2dbaseUS Secretary of War Henry Stimson voiced successfully against the selection of Kyoto as a target, arguing that the city held cultural importance to the world; he also had a personal attachment to the city as he and his wife traveled to Kyoto on their honeymoon many years prior.
ww2dbasePrior to the bombing, the United States Army conducted many missions over Japanese cities that were composed of very few B-29 bombers. The purpose of such flights were to wear down the alertness of Japanese anti-aircraft defense crew, whether gunners or fighter pilots, so that when the atomic bomb attacks arrived, perhaps some of the Japanese would let their guards down.
ww2dbaseHiroshima
6 Aug 1945
ww2dbaseThe B-29 Superfortress bomber Enola Gay of USAAF 393rd Bombardment Squadron, commanded by Colonel Paul Tibbets of the 509 Composite Bombardment Group, XX Air Force, lifted off from North Field of Tinian of the Mariana Islands on 6 Aug 1945 with their cargo code named "Little Boy". The crew was instructed that Hiroshima was to be their primary target; if Hiroshima could not be reached for any reason, including foul weather, Kokura or Nagasaki was to be chosen as alternate targets. They were accompanied by two other B-29 bombers which carried instrumentation and photography equipment. US Navy Captain William Parsons armed the bomb en route, and 30 minutes prior to reaching Hiroshima 2nd Lieutenant Morris Jeppson removed the bomb's safety devices. Enola Gay was accompanied by two other B-29 bombers: Great Artiste, with scientific instruments, was piloted by Major Charles Sweeney; Necessary Evil, with photography equipment, was piloted by Captain George Marquardt.
ww2dbaseAbout 60 minutes before the American bombers reached Hiroshima, they were detected by Japanese radar. Air raid warnings were sounded in several cities, including Hiroshima, but when it was determined that there were only three bombers, thus it was likely to be only a reconnaissance mission, some of the cities lifted the alarm. The Japanese military determined that aviation fuel was so precious that interceptors would not be launched just for three bombers. This might be caused from the regular visits that the US Army had been sending for the very purpose of making the Japanese lower their guards.
ww2dbaseWhen the bombers reached Hiroshima, they found the weather conditions to be ideal. At 0815 hours local time, from an altitude of 9,855 meters, "Little Boy" was released by bombardier Thomas Ferebee. 57 seconds later, at the predetermined altitude of 600 meters, the bomb detonated directly over Shima Surgical Clinic; the original aiming point was the Aioi Bridge, but wind blew it off course. The resulting blast was measured at 13 kilotons of TNT, reducing an area of one mile in radius to total ruin. Fires were started across an area 11.4 square-kilometers in size. Tibbets recalled:
ww2dbaseYoko Ota, a Japanese writer at Hiroshima at the time, could not comprehend what had happened to the city.
ww2dbaseAbout 70,000 to 80,000 people were killed immediately, many of whom probably had no idea what had happened. The 560 grams of Uranium 235 took about 10 nanoseconds of fission before a flash of light burst out of the bomb casing, releasing the first wave of gamma rays that traveled nearly at the speed of light. In 1/10,000 of a second, a second burst of gamma rays was released. In 3 milliseconds, a plasma fireball began to form. In 91 milliseconds, the bottom of the plasma fireball began to reach the top of the tallest buildings beneath the detonation. Soon after, a shock wave which traveled at twice the speed of sound came. The human nervous system required 1/30 of a second to register, and 1/10 of a second to flinch, thus for those who were close to the detonation, the blood in the victims' brains were likely evaporating before they could feel anything.
ww2dbaseThey were the lucky ones. Many of the about 70,000 who were injured by the bomb suffered much worse fate.
ww2dbaseMany who survived the initial flash became severely burned, even though the flash only lasted for a fraction of a second. Many people who were burned so quickly and so severely that, as survivors told, they resembled living pieces of charcoal, wandering mindlessly unless they collapsed and died. Many people were miraculously saved by shock cocoons, thick concrete walls, or other opportune defense against the gamma rays, fireball, and shock wave, but many of them would fall victim of radiation poisoning, some dying violently while vomiting out their insides while others simply slipped away. While doctors and other medical professionals could do little for the radiation poisoning that they knew nothing about, they could do little even with the more traditional injuries. Most of the city's hospitals were located in the area of Hiroshima that was destroyed, thus over 90% of medical professionals were killed at the moment of detonation. On top of that, medical equipment, medicine, and most other things that they needed to treat their patients were destroyed. To make matters worse, radiation was at dangerous levels even days after the explosion, thus some of those who escaped harm without even a single bruise would suddenly lose all their hair and suffer unstoppable nosebleeds seemingly out of nowhere. By the end of 1945, Hiroshima's atomic bomb victims would increase to somewhere between 90,000 and 150,000.
ww2dbaseA significant portion of those who were killed at Hiroshima were Korean workers. It was estimated that 10,000 to 20,000 Koreans made up of the total 70,000 to 80,000 who died in the initial few days of the bombing.
ww2dbaseAs Hiroshima suddenly turned into a manifestation of hell on Earth, with an estimated 69% of the city destroyed, it was difficult for anyone to believe that "Little Boy" actually misfired: only 1.38% of its Uranium fissiled.
ww2dbaseIt was unknown who first reported the terrible news to Tokyo, but it certainly did not come from Hiroshima. One of the first military reports came from the naval base at Kure, fifteen miles south of Hiroshima. From the civilian side, the Tokyo facilities of the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation noticed that the Hiroshima station had gone off the air, and attempts to reach the station by telephone had failed. Since no large formations of bombers were detected, Japanese leadership generally thought that, despite rumors of a horrible explosion, whatever had happened probably was not as serious as the rumors suggested. An Army pilot was dispatched to fly a staff officer over Hiroshima to provide an accurate report. While still 160 kilometers from Hiroshima, they observed thick black smoke rising from the city. As they got closer, the level of destruction could no longer be denied. "Practically all living things, human and animal, were literally seared to death", reported a Japanese radio station hours later.
ww2dbaseWith all communications capability and infrastructure destroyed in the Hiroshima area, reports with exact details flowed in extremely slowly delaying any kind of decision process. The Japanese government, completely in a state of shock, did not communicate with the Allies. Truman initially ordered a halt of bombings on Japan, but as he received no words from Tokyo, he took the lack of response as a sign of Japanese arrogance and a sign of the refusal to surrender. "If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air the likes of which has never been seen on this earth", he said. He later gave the go-ahead to drop the second atomic weapon on Japan.
ww2dbaseNagasaki
9 Aug 1945
ww2dbaseThe second bombing was originally planned to be against the city of Kokura, which housed a major army arsenal, on 11 Aug. The schedule was moved up by two days to 9 Aug, however, due to predicted bad weather moving in on 10 Aug. The atomic bomb "Fat Man" was loaded onto B-29 Superfortress bomber Bockscar, commanded by Major Charles Sweeney of USAAF 393rd Squadron, who had piloted the bomber Great Artiste during the Hiroshima atomic bombing. Similar to the Hiroshima attack, two other B-29 bombers accompanied Bockscar; the Great Artiste, piloted by Captain Frederick Bock (who usually flew Bockscar, named after himself), with scientific instrumentation and Big Stink, piloted by Lieutenant Colonel James Hopkins, Jr., with photography equipment. Unlike the Hiroshima attack, "Fat Man" was already armed when the bomber took off due to the complexity of the Plutonium bomb. This concerned Sweeney, as this meant that a big jolt, not overly rare during takeoffs, might detonate the bomb if the electrical safety plugs failed; as history would show, an accidental detonation did not happen. As Bockscar began its approach toward Japan, fuel would be his only concern; the bomber had a problem with the transfer pump with his reserve fuel tank, and the mission was deemed too important to be delayed simply for a malfunctioning pump.
ww2dbaseWhen Bockscar and Great Artiste reached the rendezvous point, however, Big Stink was nowhere to be found. Unable to locate him after 40 minutes, Sweeney decided to proceed with the mission without Big Stink.
ww2dbaseSweeney had hoped that, despite better defended by the Japanese, the skies over Kokura would be clear enough for them to conduct the bomb run. He knew the Kokura was a much greater military target when compared to the secondary target, Nagasaki. To his disappointment, Kokura was 70% cloud covered. He was ordered that the bombardier must be able to visually identify the target point before releasing the bomb, thus he made three runs over Kokura, expending the precious fuel that he had little of. All three runs failed to give them the chance to properly identify their target, and Sweeney made the decision to go for the secondary target, Nagasaki. Had he had enough fuel, he would have flown in a northwestern direction, then circle back for an eastward approach for Nagasaki; given his fuel situation, Sweeney had his navigator plot a straight line for his target. A quick calculation revealed that, even if they only make one run at Nagasaki and head straight to Okinawa, rather than Iwo Jima as originally planned, they already had too little fuel to make the trip.
ww2dbaseThe city of Nagasaki was one of the most important sea ports in southern Japan. Although it was not among the list of potential targets selected by Oppenheimer's committee, it was added later due to its significance as a major war production center for warships, munitions, and other equipment. This was the very reason why Sweeney hoped that Kokura would have clear weather for the attack, thus avoiding an attack on Nagasaki which housed a greater civilian population.
ww2dbaseAt 0750 hours in the morning of 9 Aug, the presence of American bombers in the general area in southern Japan caused the city of Nagasaki to sound the air raid alarms, but the "all clear" signal was given at 0830. The two attacking bombers were visually detected at Nagasaki at 1053, but like at Hiroshima many radar station commanding officers thought this small flight must be on a reconnaissance mission; a few radar station operators who had learned about Hiroshima, however, knew what was coming, and braced for impact. As Bockscar approached, US Navy Commander Frederick Ashworth, the weaponeer, approved Sweeney's request to drop the bomb by radar, rather than by establishing visual contact with the aiming point, should weather once again interfere.
ww2dbaseAt about 1100 hours, bombardier Captain Kermit Beahan aboard Bockscar, previously unable to find his original aiming point near the center of Nagasaki, found a break in the clouds directly over another aiming point. This aiming point was over the Urakami Valley that housed the namesake district in the Nagasaki suburbs, which hosted industrial complexes devoted to war production. Beahan signaled that he was ready to proceed with the attack.
ww2dbaseAt 1100 hours, the Great Artiste, the scientific aircraft, dropped instruments attached to three parachutes. Also inside this package was an unsigned letter to Professor Ryokichi Sagane, a leading nuclear physicist of Japan who had befriended American nuclear physicists prior to the war, urging him to advise Japanese leadership to surrender to avoid further atomic attacks.
ww2dbaseAt 1101 hours, Beahan released the bomb over Urakami. 43 seconds later, the "Fat Man" bomb containing about 6.4 kilograms of Plutonium 239 detonated at the altitude of 469 meters over the halfway point between the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works in the south and the Mitsubishi-Urakami Ordnance Works (a factory producing torpedoes) in the north. Ground Zero was about 3 kilometers northwest of the original aiming point near the center of Nagasaki. The resulting blast was much greater than the "Little Boy" blast that devastated Hiroshima three days earlier. Somewhere between 40,000 to 75,000 people were immediately killed by the explosion equivalent to the detonation of 21 kilotons of TNT, and everything within 1 kilometer from Ground Zero were reduced to total ruin. Fires were started as far as 3.2 kilometers from Ground Zero. The heat generated by the bomb was estimated at 3,900 degrees Celsius, and the blast created winds up to 1,005 kilometers per hour in speed. Because the detonation had taken place in a valley, the center of Nagasaki was shielded by the mountains and hills that surrounded Urakami, thus large parts of Nagasaki proper were relatively unharmed by the initial blast. By the end of 1945, death tolls directly related to "Fat Man" reached 80,000.
ww2dbaseAbout 2,000 of the deaths at Nagasaki were Korean workers.
ww2dbaseAs Bockscar flew toward Okinawa after the bombing, Sweeney did everything he could to conserve fuel. He lowered the speed of his propellers, while he lowered his altitude periodically to gravity to increase his speed rather than using his fuel. When he had Okinawa in sight, one of his engines gave out. After he was not able to get any control tower's attention, he fired off every single emergency flare he had in Bockscar, and his apparently strange act finally got someone attention, and made a safe landing quite literally on the last drops of fuel. As the B-29 aircraft was surrounded by fire trucks and ambulances (his display of flares signaled all kinds of emergencies), a high-level order came from Tinian Island, requiring the crews at Okinawa to give whatever Bockscar required for a return trip to Tinian.
ww2dbaseGeorge Weller, one of the first reporters to reach Nagasaki after the attack, and certainty the first western journalist to do so, compiled a report that was censored and would not become published until Jun 2005. In it, he noted:
ww2dbaseEpilogue
ww2dbaseOn the very same day of the Nagasaki bombing, the Soviet Union tore up her non-aggression pact with Japan and invaded the Japanese-held northeastern China. The triple shock of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the new front against Russia finally pushed Japan definitively toward settling for peace. Should Japan choose to continue the war, however, the United States expected to complete a third atomic bomb by late Aug or early Sep, with three more in Sep, and plans to use them were certainly being considered.
ww2dbaseRecall that during the Nagasaki bombing, American scientists inserted an unsigned letter to Professor Ryokichi Sagane in the instruments that were dropped just prior to the bomb to record scientific data. The letter urged Sagane to advise Japanese leadership to surrender to avoid further atomic attacks. This letter actually did not get delivered to him until a month later. In 1949, American nuclear physicist Luis Alvarez who had been a friend of Sagane's from before the war revealed himself to be one of the authors of this letter; he met with Sagane and signed the letter.
ww2dbaseSources:
Charles Pellegrino, The Last Train from Hiroshima
Dan van der Vat, The Pacific Campaign
Mainichi Daily News
Wikipedia
Last Major Update: Mar 2010
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Interactive Map
Photographs
Maps
Videos
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Timeline
10 May 1945 | Manhattan Project Target Committee met at Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States to compile a list of potential atomic weapon targets in Japan. |
10 May 1945 | Women's Army Corps typists at Manhattan District headquarters began preparing press kits on the Manhattan Project for use after an atomic bomb had been dropped. |
11 May 1945 | The Target Committee of the Manhattan Project, led by Robert Oppenheimer, decided the best targets of the atomic bomb were Kyoto, Niigata, Hiroshima, Yokohama, and Kokura. |
18 May 1945 | Specially-modified American B-29 bombers arrived at Tinian, Mariana Islands in preparation of future atomic bomb missions. |
20 Jul 1945 | The US Army Air Force began launching B-29 bomber raids, each with very few planes, against Japanese cities. The goal of such missions was to make such small raids a frequent occurrence to increase the success rate of the planned atomic bomb missions. |
23 Jul 1945 | A test bomb in the shape of the atomic bomb Little Boy, designated L-1, was dropped in the sea near Tinian, Mariana Islands from a B-29 bomber piloted by Paul Tibbets, to test the radar altimeter mounted on a B-29 bomber. |
24 Jul 1945 | A test bomb in the shape of the atomic bomb Little Boy, designated L-2, was dropped in the sea near Tinian, Mariana Islands from a B-29 bomber piloted by Paul Tibbets. |
24 Jul 1945 | General Henry Arnold, head of the USAAF, was presented with a top-secret memorandum specifying possible targets recommended for attack with atomic bombs. |
25 Jul 1945 | While at Potsdam, Germany, US President Harry Truman issued instructions for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata, or Nagasaki in Japan; the target date was set for some time after 3 Aug. |
25 Jul 1945 | A test bomb in the shape of the atomic bomb Little Boy, designated L-5, was dropped in the sea near Tinian, Mariana Islands from a B-29 bomber piloted by Paul Tibbets. |
25 Jul 1945 | The final wartime shipment of uranium-235 left the Clinton Engineer Works in Tennessee, United States, reaching Tinian, Mariana Islands by C-54 transport aircraft 3 and 4 days later. This specific shipment of uranium-235 was used for the Little Boy bomb destined for Hiroshima, Japan. |
29 Jul 1945 | A test bomb in the shape of the atomic bomb Little Boy, designated L-6, was loaded onto a B-29 bomber. The pilot Charles Sweeney then flew the aircraft from Tinian, Mariana Islands to Iwo Jima, Japan, where emergency procedures for loading the bomb onto a standby aircraft were practiced. |
31 Jul 1945 | A test bomb in the shape of the atomic bomb Little Boy, designated L-6, was dropped in the sea near Iwo Jima, Japan from B-29 bomber Enola Gay piloted by Paul Tibbets. |
5 Aug 1945 | The US Twentieth Air Force's meteorological service predicted good weather, on the following day, over the four targets (Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata and Nagasaki in Japan) selected for attack with atomic weapon "Little Boy". |
6 Aug 1945 | Hiroshima, Japan was destroyed by the first atomic bomb, "Little Boy". About 70,000 to 80,000 were killed immediately, while about 70,000 were injured. |
8 Aug 1945 | Manhattan Project scientist Dr. Harold Jacobsen predicted Hiroshima's devastated centre would remain dead, "not unlike our conception of the moon", for 70 years. |
8 Aug 1945 | A limited rail service resumed in Hiroshima, Japan. |
8 Aug 1945 | US President Truman threatened Japan with further nuclear devastation during a radio address. |
9 Aug 1945 | B-29 bomber Bockscar dropped the atomic bomb "Fat Man" on the city of Nagasaki, Japan, killing 40,000 to 75,000 immediately. B-29 bombers The Great Artiste and Big Stink flew on Bockscarâs wing. The Great Artiste carried scientific measuring equipment and Bing Stink carried photography equipment. |
27 Aug 1945 | In Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, those who have been exposed to the highest doses of radiation were already dead, but the number suffering from radiation sickness kept rising. More than half the survivors who were within 1.2 miles of the blast are severely scarred, with increased risk of hepatitis, liver damage, and thyroid and heart disease. |
17 Sep 1945 | The Makurazaki Typhoon hit Japan, killing more than 2,000 people and flooding large areas. Flood waters brought radiation-free topsoil and sand to the devastated cities destroyed by the American atom bomb attacks. |
6 Aug 2010 | US Ambassador to Japan John Roos became the first US official to attend the annual atomic attack memorial ceremony at Hiroshima, Japan. He did not speak at the ceremony. |
9 Aug 2011 | Deputy chief of the US embassy in Tokyo James Zumwalt became the first US official to attend the annual atomic attack memorial ceremony at Nagasaki, Japan. He offered a wreath of flowers to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan. |
11 Oct 2024 | Nihon Hidankyo, a group of Japanese atomic bomb survivors who worked toward a nuclear weapons free world, was declared the recipient of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
1 Jul 2006 08:22:51 AM
No way, looking back such a devastating bomb shouldnt have been used. The side effects were far too hellish. God! it was like hell on earth and we, humans unleashed it onto another human being. If the allies could take down the vast superiority of the Germans then the Japanese already greatly crippled would have been a walk over for them. The US were just too lazy or too eager to use their new found toy. There is always another way, we have brains and we can think.
7 Mar 2007 02:43:58 PM
I think that during wartime, the country that started the war should be the one that gets nuked. That would be Germany, in this case. Most likely, the only reason Japan was hit instead of Germany was because Japan hit us first. Its playground rules.
Also, the first person to comment on this is a total dick (or lack thereof)
18 Apr 2007 02:52:18 PM
The A-bomb was necessary. If it wasnt used, Curtis LeMay would have continued his B-29 firebombing campaign against Japan and in the end it would have killed more people.
19 Apr 2007 12:49:51 PM
Thats pretty insensitive, Anonymous #1. It was necessary but horrible,but in the end less deadly than the firebombing campaigns.
21 May 2007 10:21:37 PM
One purpose of the bomb wasnt just to end the war, it was to show the Soviet Union we had such a weapon. They were our allies, but they were still communist, and we all know what we think of them. Too bad a scientist on the Manhattan Project gave the Soviets plans for the A-bomb. And that, kids, is why the cold war happened.
27 Sep 2007 06:11:02 PM
referring to the first persons remarks, it is actually true that Klaus Fuchs, a nuclear physicist that fled Nazi Germany gave secrets and blueprints of the a-bomb to the Soviet Union.
27 Feb 2008 06:28:41 AM
Ti answer anonymous 2, Truman had ordered the use of the atomic bomb because the Japanese were very loyal soldiers to the emperor who they revered as a god. It was the ultimate disgrace for one to surrender and looking back to the other battles of the Pacific theatre, the Japanese soldiers had not given up. Some fighting in places already conquered many months before. This is why it would not have been easy to fight on the mainland and this is why they used the bomb.
Now to answer Anonymous 3, I think that isn't a very nice way to judge. the bomb was used against Japan for two reasons. The first being the US had not developed such a bomb until later on after the European theatre had finished and for the second, refer to the first paragraph.
And finally, to comment on Anonymous 6, I advise you back up your ASUMPTIONS with fact and research more on the causes of the cold war and the dropping of the A-Bombs before making such dangerous comments. Be wiser next time and watch what you write. Tread carefully for your footsteps are clearly seen in the sand.
2 Mar 2008 01:42:06 PM
the bomb was an important part of history, however horrible it wass, it was neccessary for that siituation.cuold you imagine what our life wuold be without that turning point in history? would we have defeated the japanese? if not what would our life be like now? what snowballed effects wuod have happened? all of these are inportant to think about before criticicing the u.s.'s chioce
2 Mar 2008 01:50:40 PM
i agree with number 9, although it has many spelling errors, it makes a good point.
5 Apr 2009 05:26:33 PM
I do not agree. The US would have beaten Japan either way! It was a coward choice, mainly because it hit mostly civilians no mather what you say. And if you doubt that America could win just check this website closely...
5 Apr 2009 05:30:58 PM
I dont agree with anonimous 4. An A bomb is far mor letal than a 1000 B52
9 May 2009 04:30:33 PM
If I had to make a decision to continue a war that was killing thousands every day, or end it with the A-bomb, and save thousands or millions of lives, I would say DROP THAT SUCKER TWICE! I can't understand all the bleeding hearts, war is a filthy, rotten business, and if you have not been in a war, I can't explain it to you. However, a World War should never, ever happen again, but tell me, how many people have died in wars since the end of World War II? Are Governments looking the other way again? People feel its not going to happen again? And once again will it be the United States of America to stand alone, and face another enemy worldwide.
13 May 2009 05:28:59 PM
Nothing could have been more obvious to the people of the early twentieth century than the rapidily with which war was becoming impossible. And as certainly they did not see it. They did not see it until the Atomic Bombs burst in their fumbling hands.
Herbert George Wells, The World Set Free, 1914
18 May 2009 05:44:08 PM
The Atomic bomb made the prospect of future war unendurable. It has led us up those last few steps to the mountain pass, and beyond there is a different country.
J.Robert Oppenheimer.
22 May 2009 05:18:43 PM
We were dreading an invasion of Japan. after Iwo Jima and Okinawa, we knew Japanese soldiers would fight to the death. Japan was weak, yes, but still determined to fight to the last man. They knew they couldn't win, but hoped to make us pay such a high price that we would agree to an easier peace.
Even optimistic projections estimated half a million American lives lost, with anywhere from several million to tens of millions for the Japanese. So while it wasn't an easy thing to do, I think the atomic bombs saved lives. Something like 250,000 people died in the bombings. Horrible, but compared to what kind of losses both sides would have suffered in an invasion, that's nothing.
Also, take a look at the Eastern Front if you want to know what fighting in cities looks like. And we made so many Purple Hearts in preparation, we still have an abundant supply.
28 May 2009 08:08:04 PM
Let me see... over 100,000 dead America's on an invasion of Japan... probably over a million dead in Japan from the invasion. Two bombs - 250,000 dead (or what ever that number was). War over for a season. Sounds like the right choice to me.
The atomic era was here with us already. That is not really the issue. The bomb is showing up every now ... like Korea.
6 Aug 2009 07:36:33 AM
The two atomic bombs also saved Japanese territorial integrity. If they
were not used then the home islands would have been invaded with
Hokkaido invaded by the Soviets. There would have been a communist
North Japan and a free South Japan. It is possible that Russia, even
now, would still be holding that part of Japan.
Using the bombs was a terrible necessity and the best choice for both
the United States and Japan. A radical idea here, but I would propose
that Japan adopt a holiday "Atomic Bomb" day celebrating how the bombs
saved their country from absolute destruction and kept Japan a whole
nation.
Steve B
1 Oct 2009 03:08:48 AM
good
10 Jan 2010 01:02:32 PM
ATOMS FOR PEACE!
10 Jan 2010 07:37:48 PM
Steve B brings up a comment which never occurred to me - there would have been a communist faction of Japan had the bombs not been dropped.
And think. Without them, B-29's would continue to firebomb Japan's cities. This had already caused more death than the A-bombs, and would have caused further deaths. Curtis LeMay would not have relented on this tactic, as aggressive as he was, knowing that precision, high-altitude pinpoint bombing of Japan's factories was virtually impossible. Besides which, components of military parts were manufactured in nearly every Japanese home at this time, so destroying factories was only a small part of the solution.
American plans to invade Kyushu were already in the making. We were expecting the 2nd Marine Division, which would spearhead the attack, to be completely wiped out - it isn't mentioned after Day 3 of the invasion. It is estimated that half a million Americans would die, not just on land, but at sea - Japan had 5,000 Kamaikaze planes in the home islands. While most would be shot down en route, it is obvious that some would get through. Japanese civilians would commit suicide, possibly by the millions, as we had seen on a smaller scale on Okinawa.
As horrible as this sounds, I agree with others in that the A-bombs were a necessary evil, though it's a shame they led to the cold war. In the end, lives were saved. And face it, soft-hearted folks: without them, you may not have your Toshibas or your Sony Playstations today.
Sorry for the length of this, but one more comment: I heard somewhere that the bombings were a matter of racism. We bombed the Japanese instead of the Germans. Okay, learn your facts: the bombs WERE NOT READY by the time Germany surrendered, and anyway, they WERE NOT NEEDED. The German army was wavering,as early as March 1945, and most Germans weren't suicidal fanatics who would fight to the death.
1 Feb 2010 06:26:11 PM
As the droppings of the atomic bombs worked, it was a better option than to lose an aproximated 1,000,000 lives in a land invasion. It wouldnt be a walk in the park for the Americans. Second, Truman had atleast 8 other options beside bombing and invasion. He could have invited the Japenese leaders over to America to see a testing of the bomb. That, in my opinoin is the best option, because it might be extremely effective in convincing the Japanese to surrender.
10 Feb 2010 05:43:00 PM
The Japanese leaders wouldn't have come. They would have refused any invitation and sat in Tokyo, confident that when the US came, they would die gloriously and take as many Americans with them as they could. And anyway, that's just not how war works. You don't say to your enemy, "Hey, come on over and see the frightening new weapon we have in store for you. Does this convince you to surrender?"
Also, before dropping the bombs, leaflets were dropped all over the cities, basically saying "Evacuate now because your city is going to be destroyed".
16 Feb 2010 05:05:53 PM
great, uhhhhhhh we need to read up on better history, such as in a textbook rather than just websites
20 Apr 2010 03:21:04 PM
i don't agree with the methods but it was necessary we bomb them if we hadn't many more would have died, the Japanese had developed submarines that could carry planes and they were near America the continued conflict would have taken more lives, but i wish we hadn't had to use a nuke.
25 Apr 2010 09:12:31 AM
just looking at all of the destruction and damage caused by Little Boy and Fat Man is pretty scarring. i mean all the radioactiveness that the civilians contracted is disgusting. i hope that we never have another nuclear war.
29 Apr 2010 08:10:07 PM
I won't say it was a good thing that we nuked them, but I will say that there were other approaches to it. Still, what had to be done had to be done, and the nuke worked. Now, they won't underestimate us anymore. (I still think it was very wrong though to kill so many civilians. If they did it to us, I know you guys would say it was wrong.)
18 May 2010 01:50:42 PM
it is true that the United States should never have used such a devastating weapon. I agree with a few of the other comments I have read. The only reason the US would have ever applied this weapon to anything but a demonstration to the world, was because of their want to show the Soviet Union who the big kid on the block still was. It was a terrible demonstration of power just to concrete the fact that the US was not to be trifled with. As a result possibly 150,000 were murdered. A sad waste of life for an unnecessary act.
19 May 2010 05:09:57 PM
I wonder if those against using the bomb would have held the same opinion as the troops who were to be deployed against Japan? Some units were to be dead meat in feint attacks away from the main beachheads. The huge numbers of civilians killed in the fire bombings of Tokyo had absolutely no effect on the Japanese including on the Emperor who was driven through the ruins and piles of corpses. Only the A bombs had a desired immediate reaction of calling for peace. Any other suggestions for ending the war quickly and with less pain are not sustainable.
23 Jun 2010 06:36:30 PM
To all the bleeding hearts, try to remember
it was ancient history for some, life and
death for others, It was before the Atomic Age. Oh,say it was World War II!,that killed millions and I say, and for the record.
No Pearl Harbor, No Hiroshima or Nagasaki, as I've said, to put an end to it, I say
"DROP THAT SUCKER TWICE", and stop the whole
rotten business. What part of war do you have
a problem understanding?
Without World War II, the world would have
moved from one crisis to another.
I'm sure the United States,would pursue more
peaceful directions.
Not building the greatest military machine in
the world, with such power,that has not been seen since the Roman Empire.
That didn't happen its when darkness fell, and changed the lives of millions, and cost the lives of millions because of evil and
evil never sleeps, not even today.
Some people have no idea what the U.S. Armed Forces do today.
To some, in order to ensure you keep your uppity liberal lifestyle, your greed and your freedom to protest against the Greatest
Nation in the World some mock our freedom's the very freedom we enjoy today, that cost blood and lives defending, and some even
defend the enemy, that wants nothing else,
but to destroy you,your family and your way
of life.
Drive your BMW's and have your ipods and
other electronic goodies, your able to sleep sound and peaceful in your bed at night just remember another generation of American GI's are paying the check.
24 Jun 2010 07:26:18 AM
Japan's aggression against the people of
Asia, was unparalleled, every nation that
was invaded, saw its people murdered, raped buried alive, brutally tortured and beheaded
the death toll, exceeded the two Atomic bombs
dropped on Japan.
Over 140,000 pow's died in Japanese prison
camps, but we will never really know the total number, they were worked to death, starved, beaten, died from disease and beheaded. The treatment of pow's under
Japanese brutally, was the most brutal ever recorded.
American soldiers and B-29 crewmen who were captured, were murdered, tortured to death
beheaded and used for medical experiments still alive!
Those atrocities raise questions not only about Japanese Militarism, but the very
psychology of a people.
History shows many sides, the student must
be aware of Mankind's inhumanity and to what
end he is capable of.
"The First Casualty of War, Is The Truth."
Even today the Japanese try to keep their
aggression in World War II buried as much as
possible.
Road sign, on the way to Manila the Capitol of the Philippines read.
"Kill The Bastards".
War is a dirty filthy rotten business, just what part of war, do you have a problem
understanding?
24 Jun 2010 09:04:45 PM
"Good people sleep peacefully in their beds at night, only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
-George Orwell-
26 Jun 2010 02:38:52 PM
What other nation in the world, would have
had a bloodless occupation, not an invasion
of a totally defeated country, provide food,
medical care.
Rebuild its destroyed infrastucture later
become an Ally and a Industrial giant in the world, Japan.
26 Jun 2010 03:11:02 PM
"There is a certain blend of courage,
intergrity,character and principle which has
no satisfactory dictionary name, but has been
called different things in many different countries.
Our American name for it,is "GUTS"
-From Louis Adamic, A STUDY IN COURAGE-
5 Jul 2010 08:43:49 PM
Between 1937 to 1945 the Japanese murdered
about 6,000,000 Chinese,Indoeasians,Filipinos
Koreans and Indo-Chinese. Some Historians
estimate as many as 10,000,000 people died
under Japanese brutality.
During World War II it is estimated that 4%
of Allied soldiers died in captivity 30% died
as a result of brutal mistreatment.
Crimes against Allied Pow's used as slave labor men died from starvation, exhaustion,
beating and being worked to death.
1,000 Japanese soldiers were executed after
war crimes trials, but many more escaped justice. Many questions need to be answered
to this day, were there cover-up's? and if so
why? The murder of millions is a Holocaust.
Conspiracies exist, cover-up, sabotaged real
justice.
Take for example The 1951 Peace Treaty that
was drafted by John Foster Dullas,and pushed
down the throuts of America's allies, that
let Japan off the hook for crimes, and ruled
out any rights victims might have to sue,
the Japanese Government, Japanese Companies
and Industrial Corporations.
Many of the people involved have died, but
those still alive, still prusued their cases
against Japanese Corporations like
Mitsubishi and Sumitomo in California state
courts.
Many members of the US Congress object that
the US Government has no right to prevent an
American citizen from suing for damages and
compensation in cases involving human rights
and slave labor. The US Government continues
to stonewall just were is its human rights agenda? and for whom, and for justice.
6 Aug 2010 12:09:05 PM
I think it was an important decision and that it was appropriate. In the time of war that bomb might have saved more lives for the rest of Asia even Japan and the US than lost. But I could never in my life put myself into the shoes to be the one to say 'drop the A-Bomb'. I couldn't even comprehend.
23 Aug 2010 10:18:37 AM
History books (U.S) state "the invasion would have cost us 1 million casualties and many more Japanese the bombs were dropped and Japan surrendered".
65 years later, with many declassified documents having been made available in the last 10 years, it should be about time to edit those books.
In short:
Japan had started peace overtures since end of spring '44
Japan asked to surrender since March '45
Truman delayed his appearance at Potsdam in July '45 until he received confirmation from the Alamogordo test
At the same conference, his prepared declaration included one essential sentence pertaining to the retaining of the Japanese dynasty, the only condition Japan was waiting for
The day he made his declaration (the morning after Alamogordo) he withdrew this sentence
Thus he choose not to end the war BEFORE having dropped the bombs
Plans for Olympic (invasion of Kyushu) had not reached operational status (11 weeks before D date)
The CinC for Olympic and his staff were the same people whom planned and implemented Blacklist (surrendering procedures and ocupation of Japan) and whom were given the green light in August
The Red Army attacked (as planned) in August, on a 5,200km front, and in the lapse of 10 days wiped off the Kwantung Army, were only 1 day from Korea and its forward units had gained as much as 820km
Interrogations of Japanese high ranks including Ministers and closest advisors of the Emperor and other intelligence sources in Sep/Oct '45 show that both the Soviet intervention and the bombs (not even identified by Japan as "atomic") triggered the public intervention of the Emperor
The source of the 1 million casualties have never been identified, official estimates by US military range from 35,000 to 105,000 casualties (at D + 120)
Coronet, scheduled for March (invasion of Honshu/Tokyo plain) had not been planned
Before H (and N as a confirmation), the USA had strategically lost the after-war
H turned the table and started the cold war era, under the same guidance (Paul Hinze) for the next 4.5 decades
9 Dec 2010 04:55:09 AM
saved more lives?killed 200000 women and kid to save maybe 1 or 2 million man's live,all right.
19 Dec 2010 01:12:25 AM
That was the "war of terror" that US wanted.
They just wanted to take control over Japan instead to fight for it with Soviets, again as happened in Germany.
30 Dec 2010 01:30:07 PM
Has anyone noticed that the U.S. can not go
1 century without having at least 2 wars. Pretty insane,if you ask me. I doubt we could have world peace forever, but could we at least 1 century of it? We are already at 2 wars now and it has only been 1 decade into the century.
30 Dec 2010 01:51:39 PM
please name one major nation that did not participate in at least two wars each century... not too many huh?
8 Jan 2011 06:47:50 PM
I have calculated the total time in seconds that it took for Little Boy to detonate. It took 0.0941 seconds and the human nervous system needs 0.034 seconds to feel anything. So actually those that were there Felt their Deaths (awful).
9 Jan 2011 06:45:56 AM
Inflicted pain and suffering always leads to more pain and suffering. The tragedy of being human.
25 Jan 2011 03:22:31 PM
There was absolutely no reason as to why someone would ever need to drop a bomb on civilians!!!!! You have no right to nuke another countries citizens because you want to end the war. You may have saved countless American lives but your sure as heck didn't spare any Japanese citizens doing their job to Japan as citizens should do. the definition of citizen is to be a part of that country and have pride or it. So don't go nuking every country that fights for their country!
7 Feb 2011 07:52:25 AM
if that bom did not happen who knows how long that war would have lasted
10 May 2011 02:14:20 PM
That bomb, as horrible as it was, was a effective event. Im sure the US would have won the war in the end, but when one takes into account the amount that would have died other measure, not only men, but the normal causualties of war as well, it may have been less of a body count in the end. So long as people take into acount the effect it had on many places around the world, war may have started up again if it wasnt for the mass devistation the bombs caused.
13 Jun 2011 08:13:50 AM
If we hadn't dropped those bombs trhe war would have continued until the Soviets attacked Manchuria and threatened to cut apart or swallow Japan. They wouldn't have surrendered until August 10.
Which, by coincidence, is when they did surrender, but that's a different story.
22 Oct 2011 02:54:59 AM
what about the old world order??????????
22 Jan 2012 05:36:04 PM
Everyone talks about how many American lives were saved by dropping the atomic bomb. They never seem to notice that we saved Japanese lives too. The estimated number of American lives that would have been lost was 500,000 (at the most, I think). But if you at Japanese lives to that, that does, unfortunately, top the number of lives lost by dropping the bombs. If you look at it by how many human lives we saved, regardless of race, we made the right choice. That doesn't make it any easier to accept.
24 Jan 2012 01:28:05 AM
Have a look at what happened between the 2 atomic bomings= There, one will find not only the reason for the atomic bombings,But the REAL reason for the Japanese Surender!!! Dig in and do your research! History channel doco's dont count either! they are one sided American doco's! Most even leave out the barbaric fire bombing campaign that targeted mostly women, children and elderly,since men of fighting age were at war. Because the screwed up Japanese army decided there were no civilians in Japan,the U.S agreed.. Im sure this is not what Rosevelt meant by ''RIGHTGEOUS MIGHT''. The Fire bombings are in my opinion up there with the worst war crimes in human history. 500,000 civilans or more burnt alive!!;In Curtis Lemay's(the man in charge of the firebombings) words;We Burnt,scorched, boiled and baked more people in Tokyo in 1 night than went up in vapour at Hiroshima. And then he went on to burn up 66 other Japanese citys. All before the atomic bombs!!. This must never be forgotten. Like Japan's Imperial Army's attrocites in China and their horrific treatment of our POW'S we can not sugarcoat burning alive hundreds of thousand of innocent civilans.The invasion reason(kill japanese civilans to save U.S soldier lives) I believe was partly invented to make the atomic bombing appear less inhumane(not that they had any reason to care after the firebombings)Why would we invade Japan and give them a chance to kill our soldies?. they had no navy or sufficent airforce left. why not starve them, blitz real army targets(not women sewing patches on army pants etc) The answer I believe as stated above ly's between the 2 atomic bombs-Operation August storm
8 Feb 2012 02:56:11 PM
#3 it was because germany was already out of the war
16 Jul 2012 05:54:16 PM
Everything happens for a reason, if that bomb didnt happen then we wouldnt all be here today.
1 Aug 2012 08:53:57 AM
Dropping of the atomic bombs were necessary, just and swift end to the war. Japanese Imperial Army killed 10 million Chinese, mostly women and children, 5 million more from South East Asian countries like Philippines, Singapore, Malaya, Indonesia, Burma, Netherlands India, Borneo and Thailand. More if not for the dropping of A-Bomb. These figures excluding the American, British, Australian soldiers. One minute under Japanese occupasion is hell-like. There is no way Japanese will stop fighting in short notice due to thier blind loyalty to their emperor who is number 1 war criminal gone unpunished. 200,000 civilian is small price to pay for Japan to invade many countries without any reason and provocation.
9 Aug 2012 10:09:25 PM
I agree with the bombs being dropped. but disagree severly of the targets. A bomb dropped in a much less populated area would have allowed Japanese leadership to see the destructive force without the mass killing of innocent civilians and children. America has made alot of bad decisions in it's time and this was one of the worst.
27 Aug 2012 08:14:43 PM
Then why did it take two seperate bombings seperated by days. Even then, they almost did not surrender after Nagasaki. When tens of thousands of Japanese citizens commit suicide at the behest of their Emporer, you are dealing with a stubborn people that will not admit defeat. Lets also not forget that Japan had a history of bombing cities in Asia and Australian. They actually tried to bomb Oregon. How easily we forget or choose not to know.
1 Oct 2012 09:53:18 AM
In all of history, there has never been any weapon which at least one version was not used. Only after chemical weapons were used did countries sign agreements to not use them. The same for biological weapons. That the atomic bomb was used when only two existed is what gave the world the respect for the atomic bomb when thousands existed.
12 Oct 2012 11:26:50 PM
I believe that the bombs were horrific, although they did end the war, I'm positive the US could have found an alternative that din't kill terns of thousands of people. Also you people saying kill the Japanese -think about if you were someone living in Japan, or if you knew someone. It's amazing how different people react when they have no idea about the tru experiences of an event.
29 Oct 2012 03:41:42 AM
American are savages , they built there nation on the native American bodies , only cowered would do this horrible bombing by this "devil" bomb , I think USA will disappear by the same weapon ..
23 Nov 2012 10:57:38 AM
Japanese Imperial Army killed 10 million Chinese, mostly women and children, 5 million more from South East Asian countries like Philippines, Singapore, Malaya, Indonesia, Burma, Netherlands India, Borneo and Thailand. More if not for the dropping of A-Bomb.
Sorry sir, but you seem to have made some slight errors so i shall correct them here
1. the *** had already retreated from most of their islands when the bombs were dropped
2. the chinese casualties suffered by *** included guerrilla fighters as well; furthermore, the total number you give is most likely the total number of casualties suffered by chinese soldiers and civilians due to the civil was AND the invasion of the ***
3. if you are ever going to talk about casualties in history, i would suggest you post a link (wikipedia is not the best, but it's better than nothing) to show where you got your information from
One last word- don't worry, everyone makes mistakes; do not let this prevent you from further exploring through the fields of history.
1 Feb 2013 06:50:11 AM
anonymous #2 i disagree with you, the bomb was necessary to save many lives, because the U.S. was preparing to invade Japan. do you know how many people would have died in an invasion? a hell of a lot more than the people that died in the bombings. before you say something, make sure that it is right or get corrected by somebody that knows what they are talking about. in my opinoin, the bombs were the best way to go, especially because they were detonated in the air to maximize collatoral damage and lessen deaths. the U.S. knew what they were doing, and they did it just right.
1 Feb 2013 10:30:30 AM
the bombs were pretty much the only way to avoid killing hundreds of thousands of people from firebombing and an invasion of japan by the U.S. the russians were already moving on the japanese, so the bombs saved a few russians too.
25 Mar 2013 02:06:19 AM
I am so scared that i will be bombed know!
25 Mar 2013 02:07:35 AM
This was the safest way to stop the japanese!
23 Apr 2013 01:19:21 PM
As an Asian, I will say this:
The A-bombs were necessary. The Japanese had the mentality of not giving up and tearing up the whole civilian population.
Have you seen what they did in Manila in 1945? In a span of three weeks, they managed to kill 100,000 civilians.
A lot were burned, bayoneted, machine gunned, raped, beheaded.
In Okinawa as the Japanese militrary were losing, they ordered the Okinawans to commit suicide!
Now, translate that to an invasion instead of the two bombs which scared the *** of their emperor because he will have no subjects to fight for him, just getting toasted.
There is a big possibility that the Japanese people will go into extinction if the bombs were not dropped. The Japanese military would massacre their civilians or order them to commit suicide.
25 Jul 2013 03:18:01 AM
The Atomic Bomb was a horrible weapon. It shouldn't have been used. But the alternative was worse. A conventional invasion of Japan would have cost millions of Allied lives and perhaps almost the entire Japanese nation. The military leaders of Japan were suffering from delusions of grandeur? or maybe just desperation. They were ready tosacrifice millions of civilians acting as pepole's militia by arming them with swords and bamboo spears to fight off invaders and even bomb packs (like the one terrorists of today use.) USing those 2 bombs ended the war; maybe not cleanly.. but it stopped the fighting the way it had to.
9 Oct 2013 03:12:05 AM
Actually no atomic bomb ever exploded anywhere, which I am happy to explain at http://heiwaco.tripod.com/bomb.htm .
15 Oct 2013 09:29:22 PM
May I add my two cents . I think it was H.T.Roper who said that the Nazi party was " a new religion" they believed their own propaganda! Same thing with the Soviet regime, who the Nazis were reacting against! Chairman Mao and the little Red Book?? The Nippon nation were and are slightly ignorant ,they are in danger off crashing and burning again soon as a result of their policies , a birth rate that will not provide the bodies to nurse and care for a fast ageing population, and a reluctance to allow inexpensive workers to immigrate and thus head off that demographic time bomb! The extreme right refuse to admit to WWII war crimes and deny the Korean "comfort slave " battalions ever existed! It is against the law to deny the Holocaust in Germany , but under the protective wing of the American Eagle they can can continue !?? I would deny all of that era's despots an easy death and would ensure they had the maximum amount of time suffering radiation burns prior to there demise.Hitler, Stalin, and all their crony's plus the weak
Emperor of Japan and his Bushido adherent thugs! Yes I would push the button in a heart beat!!!
Bushido thugs
25 Nov 2013 02:22:59 PM
what changes were put into effect so this wont happen again
9 Jan 2014 09:47:00 AM
first of all not getting bias the two big wars were fought just for sake of few aggressive European powers' guarding and their imperialism expansionist policies. South America, Huge Africa, Vast Asia were all living like hell under European imperialism. So I don't feel bad when Hitler find a way out for revenge. British French Portuguese were no far less than monsters rulling half the globe for centuries. Rise of Autocrats power those time is from the seeds they sow for decades and centuries. Iam going round in a long way because the whole story is about some vested interest of few nation. I don't know why the allied power would worry to count the number of casualties in Asia or African nations in the war.. in real they genocide the people in those nation ruining for centuries! now these people are like egg between stones, die either way! yeah I strongly oppose dropping of those two bombs.. and to me its hard to digest the whole war was not fought for a good cause
.. concerning the topic the war was surely ending, lone *** can't hold for that long, forget that suicide an all that *** theories..well allied don't want to mobilize vast already tiring resources long way to Japanese shore so they looked for a quick alternative to end the war.. plus to test its new cracker as well.
16 Mar 2014 07:48:30 AM
To commit atrocities to punish others for the same or similar atrocities is a moral failure. The bombing of civilians has become and American specialty. As America declines, it will not end nicely.
20 Mar 2014 06:01:44 PM
I do believe that the # of allied forces of all nations,that would have been killed in a invision ,and the japanse citizons,woman children ,would have been a million + seen it in email last week.you will have to admit if same here all but the socialist would protect the home land. run with that...
14 Apr 2014 04:17:20 PM
comment number 3 shows what is wrong with the internet. this clown commented and didn't know the germans quit on may 8th and the bomb wasn't even tested until july. if you are going to comment on a site like this a minimum of knowledge is required.
10 May 2014 03:47:27 AM
Atomic bomb is a better way to end the war. Because japanese is *** insane, they will not surrender until tokyo fall to allied force.
17 May 2014 06:34:49 PM
The Japanese were training women and children to kill the invaders. An invasion would have amounted to genocide to the Japanese people. In addition President Truman was very concerned about the psychological impact of killing women and children would have on the average U.S. Soldier/Citizen. Given all of the estimated casulaty figures, both Japanese and American, Truman felt the atom bomb was the humane solution. It avoided the invasion avoided the millions of casualties that would have resulted and ended the war quickly. As one veteran stated "If there had not been a Pearl Harbor there would have been no Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
20 May 2014 06:18:25 AM
I think that those *** suffered greatly and within ourselves we cannot imagine the pain and suffering these people felt as that A-bomb hit.
29 May 2014 04:24:56 AM
Tokyo also burned with such ferocity because they made their houses out of PAPER.
Everyone always lumps "the bombing of Hiroshima &Nagasaki" together, as if it was the same day. But remember that 3 days passed ( with the bombing of Tokyo in between) and the Japanese command still din not want to surrender. Japanese generals toured the destruction of Tokyo and did not show any simpathy for the citizens... expecting them to fight on and die.
29 May 2014 07:00:43 AM
The Japanese were very currupted in power. yea they were traing women and children to kill the invader they would most likely attempt any thing to end the war.The A-bomb ended that. i think it was the right thing to do in that situation that they were in. even though the soviets came and swept the area anyways. it prevented lots of casualties thus ended the war very quickly. If the A-bomb hasnt occured then millions of lives would have been lost in the war
6 Jun 2014 11:23:06 AM
I think what we are all forgetting is that what happened to human rights? What so America deserved rights when it comes to them being attacked yet Japan doesn't even get a single warning and hundreds of people who probably didn't even want anything to do with the war were murdered.
28 Jun 2014 01:46:11 PM
Most of the Americans are giving excuses of using nukes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki First they saved lives BS Thousands hv perished in nanoseconds Secondly it was differet than usual bombing because there was radition sickness unborn retarded Babies thirdly Hirohito the true mastermind behind chinese invasion and massacres were protected by US Trauman Shame on you Americans
1 Jul 2014 11:29:41 AM
why do we have to learn about dead people? I mean what does history got to do with our lives? In a non-offensive way
13 Jul 2014 01:15:09 AM
Finally the war in Europe was over, but it was not until 6th August 1946 that the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki put an end to the terrible loss of life that had been going on in the Pacific, and to which we were expecting to be sent within a year.
There has been a lot of doubt cast upon the use of the atomic bombs, but believe me they were welcomed with great relief at the time. The total death toll by the two bombs is estimated at about 200,000 within the first 4 months. In the relatively short period that American planes were within reach and able to attack the Japanese mainland, 250,000 had already died, largely by the effect of incendiary bombs on their fragile houses.
It was estimated that it could cost a million allied lives to invade the enemy mainland, and with the Japanese preference to die rather than be captured, many millions of Japanese military and civilians would die before it was over.
Compare this with the 4,000,000 Chinese soldiers and 18 million Chinese civilians killed entirely by the Japanese army when they attacked China. They had killed a further 4 million civilians in the Dutch East Indies.
Think also of the British prisoners of war captured by the *** which totalled over 50,000, and of these over 12,000 died - nearly 7,000 on the Railway of Death alone. When I first started work, two of my friends in the service department had worked on the railway and came home looking like walking skeletons â even a few more months and they would have died.
So if you think we were wrong to stop the war in the way we did, think again
13 Jul 2014 04:18:22 PM
Gerry:
Excellent, excellent assessment. Some may question your death toll figures and casualty estimates a little bit, but even with some reasonable âadjustmentsâ your overall analysis holds up extremely well. The most important part of your comment was that you made your assessment based on information and values OF THE TIME rather than the Post Facto judgments we have become used to.
Also, you speak in the first person about some of the harsh times during the war. Thank you for your service and for the hardships you endured on our behalf.
29 Jul 2014 09:59:59 PM
Five years after the bomb was dropped, I as a member of the 19th Bomb Wing of the 20th USAF & stationed on Guam had to go to Japan on TDY. Because the 20th USAF reputation of what happened on Aug 1945, we were told to remove our 20th patches from our uniforms so that we would not be recognized and possibly incite Japan' citizens. Strange feelings, one of many.
5 Aug 2014 11:43:38 AM
The nuclear attack in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a curse of human civilization.. http://psytreasure.com/nuclear-attack-hiroshima-nagasaki-curse-human-civilization/
9 Aug 2014 10:56:05 AM
My father was a POW of the Japanese and slaved on the infamous Thai-Burma Railroad. If this bomb had not been dropped, even how horrendous it was, the Japanese would never have surrendered and hundreds/thousands more people would have lost their lives. My father is still alive and I am sorry to say will never ever forgive the Japanese for what they did. Successive governments in Japan have never apologised for all the suffering they caused and their descendants do not seem to know about their war crimes. I do have guilt feelings about those bombs but if it had not happened I would not have been born.
11 Aug 2014 10:27:30 AM
YA all *** s who said japan should have been nuked just think if i nuked your town instead just for saying those *** words
11 Sep 2014 04:33:38 PM
Truman saved American lives this way - which should be his top priority being the President of the United States. Right decision.
19 Sep 2014 08:13:09 AM
Well if everyone at the Pentagon and white house payed attention to the warnings that the Japanese was going to bomb pearl harbor we could have been ready, but some idiots thought otherwise. It might have been wrong to use the a bomb but little do people know even though it killed many of thousands it also did extensive damage to enemy military bases, weapon industries and communications which could have in sued to more attacks on us. So by crippling Japan we had the advantage... what was silly about the attack is we were in trade to them with oil and food, we quit supplying them with oil.that is what set it off.
2 Oct 2014 10:56:39 AM
That nations refuse to be held hostage by other countries, or groups, is the real lessons of the atomic bomb, lessons too long forgotten?
6 Oct 2014 04:25:11 PM
Japanese pilots purposely pulverized civilian cities in countries like China, Phillphines, Singapore, Australia, and other nations within the Asian and the Pacific sphere, many of them without military and industrial significance. An estimated 434,670 non-Japanese women, children, and elderly men (most of them Chinese) were killed in Japanese air attacks during World War II.
If the enemy women, children, and elderly men were churning out weapons of war that were used to equip the enemy combatants in their fight against U.S. forces, then they deserved to be killed, so that weapons of war wouldn't be properly made and reduce the ablity of the enemy to inflict severe mental and physical pain to the U.S. Armed Forces. Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki we dropped nukes on, had military bases and war production centers in them, most of them happened to be positioned in the middle homes of urban populated areas, which was no surprise, considering that unlike the U.S., the Japanese had done to recruit residents in order to increase arms production.
We have every right to use whatever in our disposal to destroy the enemy's organized physical and mental will to fight as possible - and the atomic bombs were the results of that. Japan should have surrendered when it was their pastime to do so, but they didn't, thus requiring us to impose overwhelming force on Japan's strategic targets until they agreed to surrender, which includes the use of the atomic bombs.
I don't feel sorry for what happened to Japan, and I will not make apologies for ending the war the nation of Japan perpetrated against us and that they should have done so earlier when it was their past time, even they knew they were not going to win. Don't blame something that actually worked at the end, you just don't, period.
World War II was the time where we can fight the enemy that was clearly recognized and had its own recognizable, distinctive insignia, unlike Al-Qaeda and terrorist organizations in our war on terror.
15 Oct 2014 10:25:40 PM
Omg I would like to just say a big,fat thanks to Steve B... he helped me with this so much and gave a really good idea..
"The two atomic bombs also saved Japanese territorial integrity. If they
were not used then the home islands would have been invaded with
Hokkaido invaded by the Soviets. There would have been a communist
North Japan and a free South Japan. It is possible that Russia, even
now, would still be holding that part of Japan.
Using the bombs was a terrible necessity and the best choice for both
the United States and Japan. A radical idea here, but I would propose
that Japan adopt a holiday "Atomic Bomb" day celebrating how the bombs
saved their country from absolute destruction and kept Japan a whole
nation. "
And my other anonymous buddy:
"Steve B brings up a comment which never occurred to me - there would have been a communist faction of Japan had the bombs not been dropped.
And think. Without them, B-29's would continue to firebomb Japan's cities. This had already caused more death than the A-bombs, and would have caused further deaths. Curtis LeMay would not have relented on this tactic, as aggressive as he was, knowing that precision, high-altitude pinpoint bombing of Japan's factories was virtually impossible. Besides which, components of military parts were manufactured in nearly every Japanese home at this time, so destroying factories was only a small part of the solution.
American plans to invade Kyushu were already in the making. We were expecting the 2nd Marine Division, which would spearhead the attack, to be completely wiped out - it isn't mentioned after Day 3 of the invasion. It is estimated that half a million Americans would die, not just on land, but at sea - Japan had 5,000 Kamaikaze planes in the home islands. While most would be shot down en route, it is obvious that some would get through. Japanese civilians would commit suicide, possibly by the millions, as we had seen on a smaller scale on Okinawa.
As horrible as this sounds, I agree with others in that the A-bombs were a necessary evil, though it's a shame they led to the cold war. In the end, lives were saved. And face it, soft-hearted folks: without them, you may not have your Toshibas or your Sony Playstations today.
Sorry for the length of this, but one more comment: I heard somewhere that the bombings were a matter of racism. We bombed the Japanese instead of the Germans. Okay, learn your facts: the bombs WERE NOT READY by the time Germany surrendered, and anyway, they WERE NOT NEEDED. The German army was wavering,as early as March 1945, and most Germans weren't suicidal fanatics who would fight to the death."
Thanks to you all!
1 Dec 2014 03:33:22 PM
All of the above comments tell me one thing...
your socialist influenced education is an example of where this country is headed. I am 91, and was a veteran of two wars by the time I was 27 years old. WW II and Korea. Let me tell you from right up front...when the atom bomb announcement came over the radio that Sunday afternoon, a great cheer went up and everyone was very happy, and NO ONE gave a hoot about how many *** were killed. I still do not! Civilian or otherwise. Subsequent studies of the operations set to occur with the invasion of Japan, prove it was the right thing to do! The USA was the only invader planned with the help of a few British Navy vessels. The "Getsu Go" defense of Japanese forces were to destroy our fleet as it attempted to land our forces, both on Kyushu and Honshu. Our country would have ended up victorious, but stripped of most of its military manpower, and Russia would have become the prime ruler of the world. There would have been no post war Marshall Plan or any other assistance to the defeated nations. I personally saw how the Russ' treated East Germany and believe me it wasn't very often. Japan would have become divided like Korea which was taken in a cheapshot by the Russ'.
10 Dec 2014 06:54:16 PM
Alot of people here are making uneducated responses to this
read these http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hst/d.htm
theyre all from Truman about his decision and other things revolving around the bomb.
At the time Germany had already surrendered so we were not going to drop the bomb there.
Dropping the bomb saved upwards of 750 thousand american lives, and then counting the children that those men that came home had upwards of 10's of millions U.S. lives just from not having to invade mainland japan. Japan was not crippled like i saw some people where saying they still had an estimated 2 million soldiers ready to fight. Also Japan had come out and said that if these bombs were not dropped they would have never surrendered. Do not assume that we knew about the fall out that would occur with it, it was a new technology that had not yet been fully tested, but that aside both targets were military targets and not just a bunch of civilians
-Get 'em Warren Smith
Thank you for your service
17 Dec 2014 09:24:27 AM
good resources for school
10 Jan 2015 06:48:46 AM
I and my fellow Mensa member WWII aficionadoes are researching our Dads' roles in the war in reference to the nuclear weapons used on Japan. My Dad served with the U.S. Army, 1259th Engineer Combat Battalion, Company C attached the the XVIII Airborne Corps, the Flying Sky Dragons based out of Camp Lucky Strike, Hdqts US Army, ETO. His unit was in Marseilles, attached to OISE Intermediate Section Communications Zone, Supreme Allied Hdqts., Allied Expeditionary Forces as the Nazi war machine met its demise. His unit had orders directly from Ike to proceed through the Suez Canal to Luzon's Manilla Bay to construct the main hospital in preparation for multitudes of American casualties in Operation Downfall, the all out invasion of the Japanese mainland. Three days before shipping out, my Dad with several buddies won a raffle with over 700 entrants for a three day pass to Lourdes, France to visit the holy shrine of miracles and walk in the holy waters. Upon his return to Marseilles, his miracle was answered when news broke of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima and all orders were cancelled pronto. At this time all his unit's heavy equipment, trucks, tanks, etc. were in the Red Sea as his troops only had their M-1 rifles with complete combat gear as they marched through two feet of water over sunken ship hulks in Marseilles harbor to board troop transports to Boston through the Strait of Gibraltar. President Truman's decision to use nuclear weapons saved untold numbers of young Americans' lives. I was born only as the result of the atomic bomb and the bazooka. Before my Dad was inducted into the U.S. Army, he met his future wife and my Mom on the General Electric Bazooka assembly line at GE HDQTS, the Arsenal of DEMOCRACY, Bridgeport, Connecticut at the endless War Production industrial complex converted to produce products supplying U.S. Army fighting divisions globally. Ike credited the bazooka as one of the key factors to winning the war.
Peace, Paul J. Cassavechia, Balto
1 Feb 2015 04:40:49 AM
What's done is done. I think the bombings were fantastic! In a horrific, extermination, mess with us and and we'll destroy you kind of way. It's a shame that my America and her government had turned into a corrupt *** , and our society into a bunch of cry babies. Had the technology existed, I'm sure Truman would have ordered the bombings right after the Pearl Harbor attack. Because he was that guy. That is the way it should be today. If our government loved us citizens, they would retaliate with such force today. The last 15 years (alleged 'war on terror') is a little bit of a gray area for me because I know that it was a set up. War costs this country money, but we print it and borrow it so its not a big deal. War MAKES money for all of the key interests in this country though. Anyway, hypothetically, if the 9/11 attacks were legitimate, the US should have responded with a quick attack in the Middle East, killing anyone suspected to be involved, along with family, lived ones, and a couple hundred thousand civilians to get the point across. I'm not sure if this site will sensor this or not but there is a simple philosophy that our government should still be following: " *** with us and we will *** you up." Where is that America? Look at Japan now. Successful, maybe more successful than us, and certainly the most technologically advanced country in the world. They don't have to worry about being attacked by anyone ever again because we've got their back. If you're going to cry about what happened 70 years ago, try growing up. It happened. It got the point across. We saved hundreds of thousands of American lives that would have been lost in future ground attacks. We helped Japan rebuild. We've been buddies ever since. Everyone I know that has visited Japan has been treated great. You won't hear or see the Japanese people crying or whining about those events, so why should you? Oh wait, it's because you're one of those Americans that's becomming more and more common. You'll find anything to complain about, past or present, because you've got nothing better to do than bitch and moan, blog about dumb *** , and put a negative spin on anything and somehow make it revolve around you. You're such a martyr. Please kill yourself, or at least grow up a little bit.
6 Feb 2015 10:05:10 AM
What are the OFFICIAL PHOTOS of Explosions of FAT MAN and LITTLE BOY. I can't tell one from the other!
16 Mar 2015 01:16:27 PM
I personally think that the bombing was a good thing. So many people wouldn't be here today without the bomb. My papa was in that war and on his way to those places. If they didn't, I never would have been born.
31 Mar 2015 08:59:46 PM
NO ONE should be dehumanized in the way our country had committed towards the Japanese...It is the lowest form of humanity to kill to win. Yes, Truman wanted less U.S. military men to die in the war, but to kill to save yourself is low. This act does not show compassion towards your neighbor. It shows, " I will kill you, so I do not have to die." THAT is a grotesquely horrifying philosophy. If everyone in the world had a philosophy like that, imagine our world (worse than how it already is). Just think about that before you make glorious accusations about how Truman made a great decision to kill the "Japs" once and for all and to destroy their pride in their own country essentially. The bomb also mentally effects us citizens of the U.S obviously, because some people commenting said that the bombing was a good idea...Not that i dislike #98 antonymous's reason, i am just coming from a different angle. I do not agree with Trevor either (his bad word choice makes his argument childish too).
17 Apr 2015 01:15:09 PM
Having learned about the war in school, or having read an American account (if anything) is not the equivalent of knowing fact.
Every story has two sides, and history books represent the side most convenient to its authors.
How dare anyone talk about 'we did the Japanese a favour.'
Acts of cruelty are just that. The bombs were dropped because it was convenient for the American leadership.
26 Apr 2015 12:00:44 AM
this guy is a complete f#@king retard http://heiwaco.tripod.com/bomb.htm
12 May 2015 10:47:01 AM
The bomb was built in Los Alamos and tested at White Sands
8 Aug 2015 07:51:23 AM
My father was at a POW camp 4 miles from epicentre and the camp was destroyed quite a lot by the warm blast he was at a camp called Fukuoka camp 2b nagasaki and they all worked in the Kawaminami docks..in fact they "built" the docks then were put to work in it My father died aged 52 in 1974 all of us children have the biological after effects of what this bomb did to my dad we all have health problems or various kinds my older sister had a thyroid problem which is connected to plutonium as many female workers in the USA had thyriod problems in many plutonium power plants my young brother is in a wheel chair also many of his problems are linked to my Dads health problems when he was alive and also myself..its perosnal so I would not want to detail them here
27 Aug 2015 08:13:38 AM
To know whether a fuel is proper fuel or not is to determine whether the fuel gives off greater amount of energy when it is used than the energy involved in making the fuel from raw natu- ral materials. A huge amount of energy is obtained when Hy- drogen or thermite (a mixture of powdered Aluminium and ox- ide of iron) is burned. But energy obtained from combustion of those fuels is not greater than the energy spent to make them from natural resources. Therefore, Hydrogen and thermite can- not be treated as proper fuels. Electricity could be readily gener- ated from combustion of those fuels, but, electricity made from those fuels must be more expensive than electricity made from coal or petroleum. According to Einsteinâs E = mc2 formula, 1 Kg of any material (preferably Uranium) will give 91016 joules, or 21016 calories, of heat energy through complete nuclear reaction. [E = mc2 = 1(3108)2 joules = 201012kilocals = 20trillion kilocals.] If that would be true, then powerful states around the world would not compete for oil in the deserts of Arabia. If one ton of Uranium of some- ton âLittle Boyâ bomb could take part in the so-called nuclear re- action, then some million of square miles of the world would burn, instead of only 1.7 square miles of Hiroshima. It not at all possible to give supply of electricity to the people from so-called nuclear fuels at a cost lower than fossil-fuel electricity for the reasons stated above. However, it is possible to give ontological lectures on nuclear fission/fusion or to earn immense money from so-called nuclear projects.
1 Sep 2015 04:33:18 AM
ibet this was a rite choice for the americanus since the japanese were stuborn short linient people the japanese emperior was to be blamed since he ailed o control his own generals
8 Sep 2015 01:15:14 AM
Hindi main padna pasand hai muje
11 Sep 2015 02:40:40 PM
The material posted here by "Anonymous," beginning with post 37, is seriously devoid of evidence and shows no evidence of wide reading. I commend serious readers interested in exploring exactly what the Japanese government was doing in that critical summer of 1945 to the work of Richard B. Frank, G. M. Diangreco, and other responsible historians, including Barton J. Bernstein of Stanford, J. Samuel Walker, Alonzo Hamby and others. Worth particular attention are the views espoused by certain members of Japan's Supreme War Direction Council, These were dead-enders determined to se their entire nation destroyed. Two in particular, Anami and Umezu, were especially culpable, holding extreme views and preventing any agreement from materializing as to acceptable terms of surrender. There were some smart, rational Japanese leaders who understood they were beaten as soon as mid 1944. It's a tragedy of history that none of them was in a position to influence policy. So, no, "Japan" never agreed to surrender, and no "peace overture" ever came from a responsible Japanese official. As Richard Frank and others have noted, the U.S. intercepts of Japanese diplomatic (code named Magic) and military (code named Ultra) communications showed nothing but a determined death wish, a "will to lose hard," as one commander put it, even as their cities were on fire. I will give Anonymous this, with reference to comment #100 above. If ending the terrible war as fast as possible is the definition of "convenient," then yes, the American leaders who unleashed hell upon the death cult that was the death cult that was Imperial Japan were being convenient indeed.
24 Sep 2015 04:28:29 PM
Historians have produced considerable evidence that Roosevelt and some of his immediate staff wanted to get U.S. involved in Europe to help Britain--they were doubtful the U. S. Congress and public would stand still for it since Hitler wisely avoided any confrontations with the U.S. in 1941. But he had agreed with Japan to come to their side if the U.S. was at war with them. So Roosevelt, Hull and Stimson primarily steered the country that way hoping to provoke an incident. But Japan hit harder than expected at Pearl. So Adm Kimmel and Gen Short were the fall guys for bungling at the top. See Geo. Morgenstern's Pearl Harbor, story of the Secret War. The atom bomb use at the end of the war was really unneeded if the U.S. had not been committed to the "unconditional surrender" policy which meant useless death on both sides just so leaders could strut a little. As it was Truman accepted Japan's "unconditional surrender" on the condition that the Emperor remain.
24 Sep 2015 07:21:46 PM
To Anonymous above:
There have been several attempts to show that Roosevelt somehow invited an attack to draw America into war (some of them even before Pearl Harbor) but no compelling evidence has ever been established. And your "unconditional surrender" argument does not hold up either since Japanâs offer to surrender if they could keep the Emperor came the day after Nagasaki and only four days before their actual surrender.
1 Oct 2015 06:21:34 PM
Re 108 and 109 above I don't see how you ignore the undisputed fact that Roosevelt and top staff were reading the Japanese diplomatic messages throughout 1941. If they did not want war Roosevelt, Hull, and Stimson were in positions to direct subordinates unequivocally to be prepared for an attack; or if they wanted an "incident" ..."letting Japan fire the first shot..." they could do just what they did i.e. let Japan have the initiative and strike somewhere--The negotiations dragged on--both sides insincere in the final days--until Hull "kick over the traces" and sent what amounted to an ultimatum. In short both sides wanted just what happened on Dec 7--a surprise attack with Japan striking first. Obviously Washington would have preferred an attack on Guam or even as Marshall predicted on British colonies.
30 Oct 2015 04:43:21 AM
TO THIS GENIUS: "I think that during wartime, the country that started the war should be the one that gets nuked. That would be Germany, in this case. Most likely, the only reason Japan was hit instead of Germany was because Japan hit us first. Its playground rules."
Japan did start the war with the United States.
3 Nov 2015 12:14:32 AM
i think Truman made a right decission on the droping of the two atomic bombs.......... it realy prevented a lose of loved ones though it killed inocent people......it was a wise decission according to the pillars that guides the american government
20 Nov 2015 10:58:21 AM
this is stupid. all of you people don't even realize that war is an eternal circle. It will always happen no matter what choices you make. Go back into history, and there is always a civil war, and/or a major war declaring a winner. War decides our future, the sooner we realize that, well maybe we would have a chance to say that all those people lost their lives for an important cause.
9 Dec 2015 08:31:54 AM
I agree with comment 113 above mine
28 Jan 2016 06:11:27 AM
Me too
11 May 2016 06:11:52 AM
Thanks this really helped me understand a lot
28 May 2016 06:20:07 PM
Side effects? I owe my very being to the Nagasaki Bomb. The Japanese had decided to execute all POWs by the end of August 1945. Because of the bomb, they did not do this. My Father returned home after 43 months captive by Japan in October 1945. I was born after his freedom.
14 Jun 2016 05:01:37 AM
Anyone that could argue FOR dropping an atomic weapon on humans is a certifiable lunatic. Period. All these justifications and lies about how it saved lives is also the words of lunatics. It was done to see if it would work. Japanese (the yellow dogs) were seen as less than human. Read the war time propaganda from this country. So killing them was not seen as killing humans. Theis was just a continuation of cowardly massacres of people that could not fight back, as is what happened to the Amerian indians, which was much worse that what happned w/ the Nazis. If you have to lose your humanity to win a war you lost.
It doesn't surprise me to see these positive comments here for dropping bombs on people, not at all. As a people, Americans are ignorant, violent savages. Look at who is running for president now!!! And Trump supports the ideas of many, many people in the USm if they can be said to actually have ideas. They're brainwashed fools.THIS is America.
27 Jun 2016 08:21:27 AM
To: Anonymous of 14 Jun 2016 05:01:37 AM
I believe you are a US citizen, with a career, job and file an IRS 1040 form each year. Part of your Federal tax monies goes to build nuclear bombs and their delivery systems. You are correct; most of current delivery systems do not âdropâ nuclear bombs. A majority of the delivery systems, including airplanes, use missiles. Missiles do not drop bombs, missiles deliver bombs.
27 Jun 2016 01:06:48 PM
To Anonymous (Comment #118):
I think your comment over-simplifies many overly complicated issues â and it gets some historical facts wrong. The American view of the Japanese people during the 1930s & 1940s (as well as Americaâs view of its own black population) was distinctly racist as you describe, but that does not mean racism was automatically the reason Japan was bombed. Remember, the entire thrust of the Manhattan Project was to get the bomb before the Germans did and had the bomb been developed before Germany was defeated, I have no doubt it would have been used in Europe first with little hesitation. Also, to consider how many American lives were saved by not invading Japan may be inconvenient to your view-point today, but that is not enough to make the notion a lie in 1945.
The nuclear arms question is vitally important to the world today and weighing that question against the only two instances in history where the bomb was used against actual targets is completely appropriate, perhaps essential. We know so much more about these weapons today than we did in 1945 and world leaders must use that extra knowledge in their considerations. This does not include, however, making up a new history about what happened in 1945 to better fit our political views some 70 years on. Letâs keep it honest.
18 Oct 2016 06:44:37 AM
I have not found any credible source which shows that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not save lives. While incredibly destructive military acts, it did save lives and end the war. The idea that we only did this to see if it would work is just nuts. For a long time I was concerned that civilian populations were unecessarily bombed as opposed to strictly miltary sites, until I learned how 'merged' the military and civilian populations were, including their production facilities. Japan committed some of the most unspeakable atrocities imaginable during the war, the rules of war clearly meant nothing to them. My regret is that we did not stop the attack on Hawaii and Pearl Harbor. Truman made a tough decision but not a hard one!
7 Apr 2017 02:59:21 AM
It is so sad that any life is so lightly regarded.
The lack of respect for human life causes Dictators and Leaders if Countries to declare War and commit unspeakable atrocities.
Having read the horrific accounts of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there is no justification for the Civilian lives lost or maybe even the Military lives lost.
The Leaders of Countries should have to fight with other Leaders or themselves be targeted and killed if they do something to their own people or do anything that would otherwise be justification for a Declaration of War or Retaliatory Action.
Innocent Civilians of any Country should not have to lose their lives because of the ignorance, arrogance or stupidity of their leader.
The majority of the people of the world try to find ways to get along and that would apply to the majority of those who died in any wars.
I believe that far and away, the majority of the Germans would rather have sat and had a good time with many of the Allies were it not for the influence of an idiot named Hitler.
I also believe that a parallel can be drawn to any War which has been declared and any atrocities committed.
For the most part, most people want to live and not engage in activities that may cost them their lives.
I don't think Hitler or any other World leader ever thought their life would be endangered by any Declaration of War or doing anything that might justify a Deckaration of War or Retaliatory Action, otherwise they would not do it.
We have to find a way to have those individuals who want to fight, to suffer real consequences and even be killed and let those who want to live, live.
7 Apr 2017 10:56:22 AM
Mr. Chen,
In my original comment, I failed to thank you and anyone and everyone who assists you, for providing such an informative account of what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Sadly, the bombing of Pearl Harbor is no less tragic.
Life is so precious and very brief when you compare 110 years probably at best, to Eternity.
The testament to the value of life is evidenced at every Funeral and yet some do not get the message that no one has the right to end the life of someone else and we even have difficulty accepting and reconciling any Death, even if it might have considered to be at the Hand of God.
How much less we should accept any death at the hand of any other human being.
Even at 74, I am not ready to die, not to say that I am afraid to die, if it is God's plan, but I don't want to die from a bomb or poisonous gas or murdered at the whim of some idiot exerting power or trying to further their own cause.
If more people read your submissions. they may re-think their love of War and consider that there really is no justification for any War.
Everyone should work together to get rid of any individuals that think it is ok to consider killing others, for any reason, even something as ridiculous as not not having the same Religious beliefs.
Hypocrisy personified.
Thank you again for this forum
Sadly, there may be submissions from the actions of the Syrian Leader, who should be caused to inhale some of the poisonous gas he released to cause the deaths of his own Civilian people.
As well, we will be hearing of the needless deaths of many others as a result of Retaliatory Actions, which probably are necessary and even requested by Civilians of Syria.
How good it would be if Arnold Schwarzenegger or Terminator could go in and singlehandedly take out the Syrian Dictator and also the Leaders of ISIS.
Maybe that's a Fantasy or Wishful thinking, but it may result in people realizing they may have to learn to live in Peace or risk losing their own lives.
That would make for a dramatic change.
27 Apr 2017 10:52:37 AM
My father told me a story of delivering Fat Man to Guam aboard the sub he was on. Please confirm delivery rout info of Fat Man across Pacific to Guam, before loading on Boxcar for delivery to Nagasaki
18 May 2017 06:52:29 PM
All you sanctimonious "second guesser" need to put yourselves in the moment when these decisions and actions were made. The US had spent three years fighting an enemy that attacked us first. It was a brutal, unforgiving and fanatical enemy, willing to fight to the last life; man woman and child. You sit there in the comfort of a soft chair and voice your criticism. May you never have to live through the hell that those decision makers had to struggle with.
17 Dec 2017 11:01:15 AM
We won't even realize that it is happening until the cycle repeats itself and we're back where we started, HAVING LEARNED NOTHING..。
I have always felt that there is something wrong with American narratives that ATTEMPT to JUSTIFY the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in a NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST.
That the bombings removed the need for a US land invasion is also a FALLACY; UNTRUE, and just plain "MYTH" - the US leadership had in fact abandoned the possibility of a land invasion of Japan in the early stages of 1945 as too costly, far before the atomic bomb was first tested. Later attempts to use this excuse as the justification for the bombings by Truman and other American officials cunningly, intentionally and deliberately avoids this very point. Randomly targeting and killing faultless civilians is a 'war-crime' and low and justifying it makes the bombing acts more barbaric and inhumane.
Many-historian studies, along with new evidences affixing over the years clearly prove one thing. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were UNNECESSARY to end the war, neither it was morally justified as well. Japan already had been DEFEATED militarily by June 1945. Almost nothing was left of the once mighty Imperial Navy, and Japan's air force had been all but totally destroyed. Against only token opposition, American war planes ranged at will over the country, and US B-29 "Superfortress" bombers rained down devastation on her cities, steadily reducing them to rubble.
The real impetus for Japan's surrender was the greatest "air raids" or fire bombings we dropped on most of their many major cities. This, and the Soviet Union's surprising and crushing invasion of Japanese-held Manchuria between the atomic bombingsー thus Stalin's declaration of war against Japan on August 9, 1945 had fundamentally made Japan to surrender.
Nothing matched the fear Japan held for a Russian invasion - after all RUSSIA is their closest neighbor just at the north of Hokkaido. In the last course of WWII, Truman had enlisted the help of the Soviets. However after doing this it is told and believed that he regretted the decision as it would provide the not completely trusted Soviets the opportunity to move further east. In result to all of this Truman needed a way to end the war quickly, and the US had already been testing atomic bombs, the timing could not have been more perfect. Eventually Stalin kept his promise to Truman at Yalta. With Stalin's sudden entry into the war in the Pacific, the Japanese generals could see one million Soviet troops pouring into Manchuria, ready to invade Japan and to avenge the Russian defeat of 1904-05 (Russo Japanese War). Japan's surrender to America on August 15th, 1945 was merely PICKING THE LESSER OF THE TWO EVILS to capitulate to.
Of course, a LESSーVIRTUOUS explanation often given is that the bombings are proportionate 'revenge' for the attack at "Pearl Harbor" , and the Japanese atrocities throughout the war. I won't dignify this with any more words.
As stated, I've always been on the view that the atomic bombings are wholly UNNECESSARY and UNJUSTIFIABLE. Absolutely NOTHING - no atrocities, contingencies, possibilities or plans - justifies the instant murder of tens of thousands of civilians, and the slow and painful deaths of tens of thousands more! Among those who survived, the long-term effects of radiation sickness, genetic and chromosome injury, and mental trauma have been catastrophic that even unborn children having been stunted in growth, physicallyーdeformed/disabled and sometimes mentally retarded. Let that sink in.
Having been to Hiroshima, having stood on the Aioi Bridge and under the hypocenter, I cannot feel anything other than DISGUST that this was something that human beings did to their own... to their own same human being.
At a time of war, people will applaud any story their government feeds them. We Americans continue to swear blind that the bombs alone ended the war; that they were America's 'least abhorrent' choice. These are plainly false propositions, salves to uneasy consciences over what was actually done on 6th and 9th of August 1945 when, under a summer sky, without warning, hundreds of thousands of civilian men, women and children felt the sun fall on their heads.
7 Jan 2018 02:27:32 PM
Hi! You have a great site, it must take a lot of time to keep it going. I have a question that I cannot find the answer to through searches. Was there a Japanese navy base at Hiroshima? A depot or supply base? Some research facility? I run into references to it. I know it is not Kure. Have you ever seen anything about it?
8 Jan 2018 08:09:33 AM
Dwight R Rider:
You already mentioned the nearby city of Kure, which has naval importance.
Hiroshima itself has more Army importance than Navy; it hosted the headquarters of 2nd Army Headquarters, plus others. Generally speaking, the city also held significant stocks of various supplies, which would play an important role should an Allied invasion become necessary; this may be the supply/depot you ran into in your research.
15 Sep 2018 08:56:51 PM
It is very obvious from what is transpiring today with Japan's refusal to honor the anti-whaling laws that they have learned NOTHING from the beating they asked for and got during WWII. Their arrogant disregard for the world around them still goes on. The Japanese are not, never have been and never will be an honorable race of people and they keep proving this over and over.
3 Jan 2019 11:05:58 AM
Do you have a list of references that source this terrific article? In particular the fatalities.
16 Apr 2021 04:37:12 PM
What was the altitude of the bomber aircraft at the time the bomb was dropped? Also, does anyone know the exact time that the bomb detonated over Nagasaki, down to the second?
10 Aug 2021 04:56:00 AM
The Fat Man bomb was dropped on Nagasaki from 30,000 feet at 11:01 a.m. After falling for 43 seconds, the atomic bomb detonated at an altitude of 1,950 feet. It missed the intended target point by nearly 1.5 miles and exploded over the Urakami Valley, halfway between the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works and the Mitsubishi-Urakami Ordnance Works.
11 Mar 2022 11:07:20 PM
a small typo
The A bomb on Hiroshima was dropped on 6 Aug 45, not on 6 Jun 45. Thanks.
15 Mar 2022 05:54:33 AM
Thank you Sandeep, the error has been corrected.
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16 Jun 2005 04:50:41 PM
This was the best thing that the us could ever do kill the ***