Historical Context: Bombing in Japan/Hiroshima

Bombing Of Hiroshima:

On August 6, 1945, during World War II, an American B.29 Bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima in Japan. The explosion wiped out about ninety percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people. Not counting the people who later died of radiation exposure. If that wasn’t enough damage, three days later a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing around 40,000 people. Why did the United States send this act of terror and destruction? This attack was in response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor (History.com). How did the United States get their hands on bombs such as these?

The United States detonated the world’s first atomic bomb at a test site in New Mexico on July 6th, 1945(Why Did The U.S. Bomb…). Just less than a month later the bombings in Japan happened. The United States wanted to be the first ones to have this type of devastation equipment before the Germans could get their hands on it. In 1939 physicists Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard sent a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt basically telling him that he should be doing research on atomic bombs before the Germans could develop it. In 1942, it was approved that the U.S. could perform the top secret “Manhattan Project” to build a nuclear reactor and assemble the first atomic bomb (Why did the U.S…). The test was a success resulting in the bombing of Hiroshima. Eight days earlier U.S. President Harry Truman sent out a warning to Japan saying that if they did not surrender unconditionally, they would destroy the country. They did not surrender.

The bomb in Hiroshima exploded at 8:15 on the morning of August 6, 1945. About an hour previously, the Japanese had a warning radar that had detected the approach of some American aircraft headed for the southern part of Japan. The alert had been given, and radio broadcasting stopped in many cities. The planes approached the coast at a very high altitude. At nearly 8:00 A.M., the radar operator in Hiroshima “determined that the number of planes coming in was minuscule - probably not more than three, and the air raid alert was lifted” (Avalon Project). The standard radio broadcast warning was given to the people that it might be advisable to go to a shelter if B-29's were sighted, but no raid was expected. At 8:15 A.M., the bomb exploded (Avalon Project). Hiroshima was destroyed taking many souls down with it.

Hiroshima, a manufacturing center of some 350,000 people located about 500 miles from Tokyo, was selected as the first target. After arriving at the U.S. base on the Pacific island of Tinian, the more than 9,000-pound uranium-235 bomb was loaded aboard a modified B-29 bomber christened Enola Gay (after the mother of its pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets). “The plane dropped the bomb–known as “Little Boy”–by parachute at 8:15 in the morning, and it exploded 2,000 feet above Hiroshima in a blast equal to 12-15,000 tons of TNT, destroying five square miles of the city”(Hiroshima and Nagasaki Remembered). Hiroshima was the primary target of the first atomic bomb mission. The mission went smoothly in every respect. The weather was good, and the crew and equipment functioned perfectly. In every detail, the attack was carried out exactly as planned, and the bomb performed exactly as expected.

Researching this information impacted me significantly. I wanted to focus in on a survivor’s story that moved me. This is the story of Mr. Akihiro Takahashi. “He was 14 years old when the bomb was dropped. He was standing in line with other students of his junior high school, waiting for the morning meeting 1.4 km away from the center. He was under medical treatment for about year and a half. And even today black nail grows at his finger tip, where a piece of glass was stuck.” It is crazy to me that everyday life was going on when this happened. It makes me think about what were to happen if I was a survivor, but my family had just been wiped off this earth in a blink of an eye. Mr. Akihiro Takahashi was a child. When the bomb hit, he described it as a tremendous heat that came over him. His whole body burned. He described the cold river he came upon was precious as treasure. He ran into a friend of his, Tokujiro Hatta, whose feet were badly burnt and could barely walk. His feet had red muscle exposed from the burns. He had to crawl on his arms and knees or have Takahashi hold him up as they tried to find help. I believe it is so important to look at people’s stories so that we may be impacted by it and want to make a difference by not repeating history (Hiroshima and Nagasaki Remembered).

Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of “a new and most cruel bomb.” The United States only joined the war after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. Japan couldn't fight any longer. The United States viewed this bombing as a victory, but was it? Innocent people like Mr. Akihiro Takahashi were affected by this, and he was blessed to survive. There were 80,000 others in Hiroshima that were not so lucky. Not to mention the ones who died of radiation afterward. Our country is responsible for the deaths of many innocent lives. Though Japan acted with violence first on our territory, it was not morally okay to kill thousands of innocent people.

Works Cited:

"Why Did the U.S. Bomb Hiroshima?" CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2017.

History.com Staff. "Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 23 Feb. 2017

"Avalon Project - The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Avalon Project - The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

"Hiroshima & Nagasaki Remembered." Hiroshima and Nagasaki Remembered: The Story of Hiroshima. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

"Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament." The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.