The Decision to drop the Atomic Bomb essays

The Decision to drop the Atomic Bomb essays The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb On August 6th 1945, the world changed forever. The United States dropped the first Atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The surviving witness Miyoko Watanabe describes her experience: I came out of the front door...an intense yellow, orange and white light overwhelmed me... the light was thousands of times brighter than a magnesium flash gun...I went inside to hide...There were strange sounds, crashing noises and jolts, and I kept no track of the time...I locked back to see how my mom was. She looked worse then a devilish witch. (47) The heat was intolerable; everywhere Miyoko looked there were wounded and dying people, bleeding from all over their bodies like her mom. Miyoko continues, "Those who fled from one or one and a half kilometer from the hypocenter really did have to step over bodies and shake off hands grasping their legs for help. When someone caught hold of their shoes they just had to leave their precious shoes and flee otherwise they wouldnt survive"(49). A friend of Miyoko told her that he had to leave his sister to die in the flames to save his life. That day, according to the Japan Times, 140,000 died as a direct result of the bombing. Later the total number of victims claimed in Hiroshima City came to 217,137. There is one question that comes to my mind reading these terrible stories from the victims of Hiroshima; was this necessary? Scholars have discussed the question for more than half a century. However, they all agree that the answer to this question does not make the use of atomic weapons seem less awesome or less awful, but it merely throw different light on it. The main argument defending the decision to drop the bomb is that it was necessary to end the war. Richard B. Frank in his book, Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire defends the American decision. Relying on a host of original documentary sources, most notably ...