Hiroshima, Nagasaki
- US President Harry Truman decides to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, August 6th and 9th, respectively.
- Almost 100,000 died instantly in Hiroshima
- Aug.8 Soviets declare war on Japan.
- Aug.9 70, 000 die in Nagasaki
- Radiation kills many more.
- Emperor goes on air to tell Japanese that they must do the "unthinkable" and surrender. (Aug.15)
Subjunctive Question: At this point, Tokyo had already suffered the horrible fire bombings which left as many dead as the atomic bombings. Were the atomic bombs necessary? Furthermore, after this usage of the atomic bomb, could its use every be seen as being 'principled'?
HIROSHIMANAGASAKI |
"Everyone will be relieved when we have left our bomb and get half way home, or better still all the way home.""At 07.30 a.m. we are loaded, the bomb is now alive and it’s a funny feeling knowing it’s right in back of you."
"The Colonel and I are standing back and are giving the boys what they want. There’ll be a short intermission while we bomb our target." "For the next minute no one knew what to expect. The bombardier and the pilot forgot to put on their dark glasses and therefore witnessed the flash which was terrific." "Fifteen seconds after the flash there were two very distinct slaps and that was all the physical effects we felt. We turned the ship so we could observe results and there in front of our eyes was without a doubt the greatest explosion man had ever witnessed. The city was 9/10 covered with smoke and a column of white cloud, which in less than three minutes reached 30,000 feet and then went up to 50,000 feet. I honestly have the feeling of groping for words to explain this or I might say, my God, what have we done? Everyone on the ship is actually dumbstruck, even though we had expected something fierce." - Robert A. Lewis, Captain of the Enola Gay, during the bombing of Hiroshima |