Picture starting off a normal day, cleaning medical tools or being a high schooler driving a bus filled with other people going to work or running errands. Gazing up into the sky and seeing an airplane was common whether the plane was from home or from the enemies. The initial thought for this promiscuous plane is that the military is practicing with aircrafts. However, when this aircraft drops a peculiar object, the thought changes into an enemy plane bombing us. Then the next thing the people of Hiroshima knew, the beloved city was gone within seconds, replaced with a sight that will haunt then into the afterlife.
During World War II, the United States bombed a large city in japan called Hiroshima. Trying to end the war is not the problem, the matter in which the process was executed caused an entire city to crumble. Bombing innocent people to end a war is on the wrong track for creating peace in the world, is one-sided, and destroys the future. The nuclear bombing all started with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Prior before the bomb, Japanese military leaders fought on whether to use naval ships or airplanes to attack the harbor (notes). Finally, airplanes were finalized for the attack and the Japanese pilots trained all spring (Hoyt).
On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was Carlson 2 bombed by the Japanese early in the morning . U. S. naval commander Logan Ramsay saw a plane dropping black object and identified the plane as a Japanese plane dropping a bomb. Logan Ramsay said, “Air raid, Pearl Harbor. This is not a drill…” (Hoyt). Two air raids later, the harbor was left in ruins, eighteen ships either lost or damaged, and 3,400 people lost or severely injured. The Japanese also bombed airfields and radio stations but missed fuel reserves, which was their main targets (notes).
The bombing sent America into World War II, against Japan in the Pacific. After the bombing at Pearl Harbor, America joined World War II and fought against Japan in the Pacific, known as the Pacific Theater. All the battles fought in the Pacific Theater were fought with aircraft carriers and aircrafts in the Pacific ocean. Japan wanted to expand their land mass and they started to achieve that by conquering islands in the Pacific. America responded by island hopping, or conquering japanese islands and cutting off their supplies (notes), making their way to Tokyo.
Island hopping was a difficult war tactic because of difficult environment, however America would not surrender. Along with the Pacific Theater, the European Theater was happening at the same. The European Theater was fought with Germany against Britain. War tactics used were fighting on multiple fronts to get Germany to surrender. To win back France, Operation overlord was put into action, which slowly pushed germany out of France. After a long while of fighting, on May 19, 1945, Germany surrenders and the war in europe ends. However, this victory ends a battle but does not end the war.
Carlson 3 The official man who “created” the atomic bomb was Leo Szilard. Szilard assumed that “the possibility of a controlled release of atomic power through multiply neutron chain reaction” ( Invention and Discovery: Atomic Bombs and Fission. ) would produce a nuclear explosion. He then patented this thought and became the founder. Another gentleman who worked on the atomic bomb was Albertin Einstein. Einstein’s formula, E=mc2, explains that “a tiny amount of matter contains a tremendous amount of energy” ( Science Behind the Atom Bomb).
There were two nuclear bombs dropped in japan, Little boy and Fat man. Little boy was used to bomb Hiroshima and was made from uranium isotope U-235. The power of the blast destroyed about 70,000 out of Hiroshimas 76,000 buildings. Anyone close to ground zero were not just killed, they were vaporized. This weapon of mass destruction caused between 90,000-166,000 deaths either instantly or survivors that did not live long after. Survivors were severely burnt, had high radiation, and developed deadly diseases.
From the blast flash alone, many were burned to the point of not being able to move. When healed, the burned turned into a “marked scar formation” (AtomicBombMuseum. org – Destructive Effects). Radiation came in two stages, the first one attacking a persons cells causing them to die and eventually leading to the persons death. The second stage of radiation came to those who survived the primary radiation stage. Diseases such as leukemia, which deals with cells, keloids, which followed the burn scars, different types of cancer such as thyroid, breast, and lung, and a-bomb
Carlson 4 cataracts, which caused vision to slowly become opaque, all developed the years after the bomb drop. However with this devastation, the other side could not be more amazed by their creation and the damage they caused. Many crew member on the Enola Gay were astonished by the mushroom cloud after the bomb hit. Tail gunner Robert Caron described the cloud as a “spectacular sight, a bubbling mass of purple-gray smoke” (Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – 1945) and how the flames roared inside. One crew member said he could taste lead from the atomic reaction.
People of Hiroshima awoke, prepared for their days, then the next moment the city was gone and some describe the sight as a “hellish version of the afterlife” (Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – 1945). Japan was bomb twice, once on Hiroshima and once on Nagasaki, both carried heavy losses. Before Little boy was dropped, Japan was warned to surrender, however the japanese assumed the bombing would be a normal bomb raid. Instead, Japan lost two cities and a lot of its population with seconds of just two bombs being dropped by the United States.
Some say Japan is at fault for bombing Pearl Harbor and hurting American spirits. However the japanese only aimed for military equipment and anyone who was near or on them died, the japanese rarely aimed at people. Japanese did not fire on hospitals or the innocent. The japanese did not destroy the Hawaii island, just the harbor and a some parts on the land, but overall not much damage done. What we did to the japanese people, was quite literally burn an image of the underworld into their Carlson 5 minds.
Most of the soldiers injured in the bombing of Pearl Harbor lived to have a good life while the victims of Hiroshima lived to have problems to deal with for the rest of their lives. United States presidents are always for creating peace among the world and for being equal. Yet if the damage is compared between Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima, Hiroshima’s number range higher than Pearl Harbor. The United States lost ships, aircrafts, and only 2,300 people (notes) while the japanese lost almost an entire city and over 100,000 people.
Japan had a simple plan that would only weaken the United States naval power (notes). Regardless how Japan’s simple plan was, the United States had to create a bigger impact and create something to decimate Hiroshima. So much for wanting equal rights and peace among nations, way to go with destroying two perfectly good cities who had virtually nothing to do with the war. Even though Japan was warned and refused to surrender, the dropping of the atomic bombs left Japan weakened and terrified at the new war weapon. However, the United States thrived at the fact that they had a new weapon to silence opposers.
The bombing was completely one-sided in terms of the current war. Japanese could not react fast enough to create a counter weapon before they were bombed once again. Overall, Japan lost more in the war then they had gain within their pacific expansion. Japan could not rebuild, could not resupply, or get back on their feet to fight against the United States in this nuclear attack. In other words, the United States crimped Japan to where they had no choice but to surrender on September 2, 1945. Carlson 6 What lies in the future for the victims of Hiroshima, are still being discovered.
Diseases from being exposed to the nuclear radiation. Mental and physical issues along with said diseases. Attempting to rebuild a broken city and make it thrive once again. The japanese proved that they can come back from being forced down to rock bottom. Even with the great progress they have made, do not drive them or anyone down to the lowest level. Albert Einstein mentioned that the next world war “would be fought with sticks and stones,” (notes) meaning the next world war would be fought the old fashion way instead of using nuclear bombs.
Future wars hold the possibility of becoming full nuclear bombings against one another, and if so there would be nothing left of Earth’s population. Furthermore, the wars beyond the nuclear war should try to be resolved peacefully and if worse come, then swords would be better than guns or bombs. Instead of doing nothing against threats like the League of Nations, confront the threat and try to make a reasonable idea or compromise to satisfy both sides and try to prevent further wars.
Bombing Hiroshima caused japanese spirits to break more than America’s spirits when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Many Americans do not even take in account how the japanese felt being hit harder. The United States barely know what the bomb was capable of and yet they still used it. Japanese people were not at fault, did not asked to be tormented with the atomic bomb, innocent people just killed for no reason. The worst action that the United States could have ever done was bomb Hiroshima.
