Seventy-One Years Later
The bombing of Hiroshima ultimately killed 140,000 people. (Stokes) Although the event was extremely devastating, the United States knew that it was the best decision. The bombing on Hiroshima was just and necessary to end the war and to get retaliation for Pearl Harbor.
August 6th, 1945 at exactly 8:15am, Harry S. Truman made the final decision to release the first ever atomic bomb on Hiroshima. (denver photos) Many will say that the United States could have done something much less impactful but they really couldn’t; they had no other choice but to drop the atomic bomb. They used such destruction of the atomic bomb because of the great horror the Japanese left behind after Pearl Harbor.. “Truman and his advisors made the only decision they could have made; indeed, considered in the context of World War ll, wasn’t really much of a decision at all”. (Nichols) People living during this time didn’t know they were living ‘back then’, and to judge the decisions of people in 1945 by the standards of 2016 is not only counterfactual, it is truly pointless. Eighty-five percent of Americans believed in the bomb because without it they would have been disgraced by surrender.
There’s no doubt that the dropping of the bomb shocked many people. Both American and Japanese citizens were forced to face the fact that the horrific event that occurred was going to force perceptions and opinions on themselves. In the book Hiroshima there were many different examples of what people were doing when the bomb came. Miss Toshiko Sasaki was in the midst of having a regular conversation, Dr. Masakazu Fujii was sitting down to read the paper, Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura was looking through a kitchen window, Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge was reading a magazine, Dr. Terufumi Sasaki was walking along a hospital corridor, and Reverend Mr. Kiyoshi Tanimoto was unloading a cart of clothes. (Hersey) The people weren’t doing anything wrong when the bomb came but neither were the people around Pearl Harbor. It’s only fair that what you do to someone else happens to you because if you wouldn’t want something to happen to you, you shouldn’t do it to someone else.
Life after the bomb was different for everyone depending on what their life was like before the bomb. Physicists eventually determined the radiation levels were down low enough for people to return safely to their homes, or what was left of them. (Hersey) The damages indeed caused a lot of pain to the people still alive. However, The New Municipal Government planned to rebuild the city including the restoration of electricity and water. People were brought in to test stuff because in some places damages were too hard to restore. (Panic grass and feverfew) Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura continued to get ill despite the radiation levels going down, got affected by down syndrome, and tried to keep her family alive. Dr. Terufumi Sasaki wouldn’t mention a word because she was in such shock. Father William Kleinsorge constantly kept getting sick, white blood cell count was low, went to a lot of doctor visits, and struggled through life because he was always injured and sick. Toshiko Sasaki had a badly bent leg, knee was frozen, and had bad incisions in leg by Dr. Sasaki. Dr. Masakazu Fujii died so he had no life after the bomb. Kiyoshi Tanimoto went around to help people injured by the atomic bomb. (Hersey) This shows that the effects of the bomb were harsh and varied between many different people. Even though this says
Seventy-one years later people start to realize how impactful the bombing of Hiroshima was. Over time more and more people understood the severity of the situation and that the United States really didn’t have an other choice than the bomb because of the horror the attack on Pearl Harbor affected Americans.
The bombing of Hiroshima ultimately killed 140,000 people. (Stokes) Although the event was extremely devastating, the United States knew that it was the best decision. The bombing on Hiroshima was just and necessary to end the war and to get retaliation for Pearl Harbor.
August 6th, 1945 at exactly 8:15am, Harry S. Truman made the final decision to release the first ever atomic bomb on Hiroshima. (denver photos) Many will say that the United States could have done something much less impactful but they really couldn’t; they had no other choice but to drop the atomic bomb. They used such destruction of the atomic bomb because of the great horror the Japanese left behind after Pearl Harbor.. “Truman and his advisors made the only decision they could have made; indeed, considered in the context of World War ll, wasn’t really much of a decision at all”. (Nichols) People living during this time didn’t know they were living ‘back then’, and to judge the decisions of people in 1945 by the standards of 2016 is not only counterfactual, it is truly pointless. Eighty-five percent of Americans believed in the bomb because without it they would have been disgraced by surrender.
There’s no doubt that the dropping of the bomb shocked many people. Both American and Japanese citizens were forced to face the fact that the horrific event that occurred was going to force perceptions and opinions on themselves. In the book Hiroshima there were many different examples of what people were doing when the bomb came. Miss Toshiko Sasaki was in the midst of having a regular conversation, Dr. Masakazu Fujii was sitting down to read the paper, Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura was looking through a kitchen window, Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge was reading a magazine, Dr. Terufumi Sasaki was walking along a hospital corridor, and Reverend Mr. Kiyoshi Tanimoto was unloading a cart of clothes. (Hersey) The people weren’t doing anything wrong when the bomb came but neither were the people around Pearl Harbor. It’s only fair that what you do to someone else happens to you because if you wouldn’t want something to happen to you, you shouldn’t do it to someone else.
Life after the bomb was different for everyone depending on what their life was like before the bomb. Physicists eventually determined the radiation levels were down low enough for people to return safely to their homes, or what was left of them. (Hersey) The damages indeed caused a lot of pain to the people still alive. However, The New Municipal Government planned to rebuild the city including the restoration of electricity and water. People were brought in to test stuff because in some places damages were too hard to restore. (Panic grass and feverfew) Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura continued to get ill despite the radiation levels going down, got affected by down syndrome, and tried to keep her family alive. Dr. Terufumi Sasaki wouldn’t mention a word because she was in such shock. Father William Kleinsorge constantly kept getting sick, white blood cell count was low, went to a lot of doctor visits, and struggled through life because he was always injured and sick. Toshiko Sasaki had a badly bent leg, knee was frozen, and had bad incisions in leg by Dr. Sasaki. Dr. Masakazu Fujii died so he had no life after the bomb. Kiyoshi Tanimoto went around to help people injured by the atomic bomb. (Hersey) This shows that the effects of the bomb were harsh and varied between many different people. Even though this says
Seventy-one years later people start to realize how impactful the bombing of Hiroshima was. Over time more and more people understood the severity of the situation and that the United States really didn’t have an other choice than the bomb because of the horror the attack on Pearl Harbor affected Americans.