Narrative
THIS DIDN'T HAVE TO HAPPEN
By: Trevor Donoghue
The decision to drop the atomic bomb on the city of
Hiroshima in the empire of Japan on August 6, 1945 was not one that was taken
lightly. The power of this weapon was unmatched in that day, and even today it
is the pinnacle of destructive force. It was proclaimed as a success by the U.
S. after its delivery, and another atomic bomb was dropped just 3 days later on
the city of Nagasaki, Japan. Hundreds of thousands of people perished, most of
whom were civilians. The ultimate decision came down to one person and one
person alone, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States and Commander in
Chief. He was the single person needed to execute the bombing. Some say that
dropping a nuclear bomb was the only option for ending World War II, one of the
bloodiest wars ever fought. Others thought it was unnecessary and served only to
show the military might of this country. Even others believed that since the
government had spent so much money on the project to create the atomic bomb,
then it must create an opportunity for it to at least be tested in battle.
The creation of this deadly weapon was the result of work by a group of
mostly scientists and military leaders that went by the name of the Manhattan
Project. It was a combined effort by the United States and the United Kingdom
to develop the first nuclear weapons.6
One reason for the creation of the project was the fear that Nazi Germany would
beat the U.S. in the nuclear arms race. In 1938, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman,
from Germany, published articles concerning the idea of nuclear fusion. This was
the first of large strides being made in the research of nuclear energy as a
weapon.6 When
Adolph Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, many scientists were fired from
their jobs. As a result, many great nuclear physicists came to the U.K. and the
U.S. The Manhattan Project was directed by a German Jew named Robert Oppenheimer
who came to the U.S. after fleeing the Nazi party. The administrator of the
Project was General Leslie R. Groves who, along with the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, controlled the operation from 1942-1946.6
The Manhattan Project succeeded in detonating three nuclear weapons
between July 16th and August 9th in 1945. The first was at a neutral test site
near Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16, and it was deemed a huge success.3
The second was the one that shocked the world. Its detonation occurred on August
6th on Hiroshima, Japan and was the first nuclear bomb ever used in war. Just
three days later on August 9th, another nuclear bomb was detonated on the city
of Nagasaki. Overall, the project cost nearly 2 billion U.S. dollars and
employed around 130,000 people.4
Prior to the dropping of the bomb, there was an alternate plan being considered. Operation Downfall was a planned invasion of the Japanese mainland which would have taken place sometime in November 1945.5 There were two parts to the plan. The first wave of attacks, called Operation Olympic, targeted Kyushu. That was to be followed by Operation Coronet, a second wave of attacks in Honshu near Tokyo. It was estimated that all of Operation Downfall would have resulted in 50,000 Allied casualties and 70,000 Japanese casualties in the first month alone. By the end of the entire operation, it was estimated that there would have been a total of nearly 1,200,000 casualties, with around 270,000 of them being fatalities.5 Many perceived this loss of life to be too high.
Another factor that influenced the decision about which tactics would be used to win the war was that Truman wanted the unconditional surrender of Japan. The Japanese said that they would cease hostilities and surrender if they were able to regain control of their home islands. President Truman would not comply with the request and continued with his decision to use atomic force. This was directly challenged by Eisenhower. Eisenhower’s stance was that “Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum ‘loss of face.’ It wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing.”1
Aside from the availability of alternate military strategies, there were some important factors that pointed to the fact that there was no clear reason to go forward with dropping the atomic weapons. The U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey concluded that Japan would have surrendered even without the bombing, Soviet involvement, or an invasion.1 Further proof of possible imminent surrender was that on June 14th, 1945 the Joint Chiefs of Staff had readied the pacific commanders for a possible mass surrender of Japanese forces.1 In addition, it was said by many high ranking officials that a naval blockade of Japan alone would have forced a surrender. It seems clear that absolute force was unnecessary.
Yet, even with all these scenarios it was still decided by President Truman that using the ultimate military weapon would be the best strategy. He went ahead and made an executive decision on July 26th, 1945 to solidify plans about dropping the bomb. The Army made a list of five military targets, the first of which was the industrial city of Hiroshima. Hiroshima was a primary force in the Japanese war machine, and its demise was key to the defeat of Japan. It also contained the headquarters of the Fifth Division and the 2nd General Army Headquarters which commanded the defense of all of southern Japan.8
The bomb used on Hiroshima was named “Little Boy’, and it was capable of delivering a blast equivalent to 13 kilotons of TNT.8 It was carried aboard a B-29 bomber by the name of the Enola Gay. When the bomber and its two escort planes came over the city, there was an initial alert sounded at 7:09 a.m. which was soon cleared at around 7:31 a.m. because three planes were not perceived as being a threat. This huge blunder magnified the causalities because, when the bomb hit at 8:15 a.m., nobody had sought shelter.5 The intended target was Aioi Bridge, but instead the blast was located around 1850 feet above a hospital which was very near a school. The blast created temperatures of around 3000°C in the hypocenter which lay in a two mile circle around the blast. Of Hiroshima’s 350,000 residents, 70-80,000 would die within the initial days of the blast. Eventually the death toll rose to 130,000. Ninety percent of the buildings would either be damaged or completely destroyed.5
After the Hiroshima bombing, the Japanese government still failed to offer their unconditional surrender, and the decision was given to drop the second bomb. The intended target was the city of Kokura, but with heavy cloud cover and fuel running low, it was decided that Nagasaki was to be the target instead.5 Nagasaki had been one of the largest sea ports in southern Japan. Its wide-ranging industrial activity supplied ordinance, ships, military equipment, and other war materials. The bomb was dropped on August 9th, 1945, just 3 days after the initial bombing of Hiroshima. The B-29 named “Bock’s Car” carried the bomb called “Fat Man” to Nagasaki.6 Just as with the first bombing, the initial citing of the planes as they approached the city were dismissed as not being a threat. At 11:02 a.m., with a last minute break in the clouds, the bombardier was able to drop his cargo. It was estimated that around 40,000 of Nagasaki’s 240,000 residences were killed instantly and over 60,000 were injured.9 A day later, this second bombing led to the surrender of the empire of Japan.
One of the most convincing arguments against the use of the bombs is the effect it has had on the survivors. The survivors of the bombing went by the name of “hibakusha” meaning “people exposed to the bomb.”7 These survivors were exposed to massive amounts of radiation and suffered radiation sickness. The symptoms have included cancer and have led to a corruption of cell-cycle genes which have continued to have horrible effects on each subsequent generation more than 50 years later. Also, along with the radiation sickness, survivors experienced severe burns all over their bodies. Not only did that bomb create high heat but it set fires all over the city.
The pilots who dropped the bomb lived with the contradictory feelings of both shame and triumph for the rest of their lives. Some people claimed that they were murderers and strongly disagreed with their actions. It was seen as barbaric to act in such a manner against civilians. Paul Tibbets was one of the pilots in the Enola Gay who flew to Hiroshima to drop the first bomb. He tried to justify his actions when he said, "We’ve never fought a damn war anywhere in the world where they didn’t kill innocent people. If the newspapers would just cut out the sh--: 'You’ve killed so many civilians.' That’s their tough luck for being there."2+ In contrast to that, Admiral William D. Leahy was quoted as saying: “I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children…”1
Over 50 years have passed and Japan still lives with the remembrance of this horrible attack on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Arguably, it could have been prevented either by using alternative military strategies or by accepting less than an unconditional surrender from Japan. With those alternative options, it is clear that it didn’t have to turn out in such a way. It may have saved the lives of thousands of U.S. military men. This we don’t know. Yet, it was definitely not worth the cost of civilians’ lives nor the life of pain that many others have had to live. Some might say that the dropping was justified, but looking at the evidence of events leading up to the dropping, it seems that it never should have happened.
Cited Sources
1. Alperovitz, Gar. Atomic Diplomacy: Hiroshima and Potsdam: the use of the atomic bomb and the American confrontation with Soviet power. New York: Penguin, 1985
2. David Smith, “I Don’t Blame them but I Hope they Mourn the Dead,” The Observer, 2005, http://www.guardian.co.uk/secondworldwar/story/0,,1535156,00.html
3. Kiyoko Tanimoto, . I COULD NOT FORGIVE. http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/Lesson_95_Notes.htm
4. Leslie R. Groves. Now it Can be Told: The Story of the Manhatten Project. New York: Harper, 1962
5. Peter Wyden. Day one: before Hiroshima and after. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984
6. Richard Rhodes. The Making of the Atomic Bomb. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986
7. Robert Jay Lifton. Death in Life. New York: American Book, 1967
8. Wikipedia, “Hiroshima During World War II,” Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki#The_bombing_2.
9. Wikipedia, “The Bombing,” Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki#The_bombing_2
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