Hiroshima Essay, Research Paper

At fifteen minutes past eight, on August 6th, 1945, the United States of America’s first atomic bomb hit the city of Hiroshima. In attempt to gauge the destruction wrought, and to determine the plausibility for a second bombardment, a team was sent to determine the degree of success and immediate damage incurred upon both Hiroshima and Japan as a whole. After examining these findings it is reccomeded that another bombing is warranted for a quick and decicive victory with minimal Allied casualties.

Upon entering the city, the immediate devastation was vividly apparent. -Entire buildings were utterly demolished. The walls of typical multi-story buildings, including apartment buildings, have been completely blown out. “Huge drops the size of marbles” [18] are falling from the sky. The drops are from condensed fission particles that sear the skin and are highly radioactive. The heat of the initial explosion caused much of the immediate area to spontaneously burst into flames. The ground is littered with rubble and debris. Of most buildings, only foundations remain. Many citizens are “amazed at the number of houses that [are] down all around.” [23] Hiroshima is changed from “a busy city of Two hundred and Fourty-Five thousand that morning to a mere pattern of residue in the afternoon.” [40] This bomb’s quick and exacting devastation will help us quickly end the war.

In addition to structural damage there are a great number of injured, dying, and dead. Those closest to the center were killed almost immediately from the extreme heat and pressure of the blast. Many survivors compared the initial flash to a “sheet of sun.” [5] Those within four a four square mile radius have recieved one to three degree burns due to the initial flash. Some burns were so serious that their “skin slips off in glovelike pieces.” [45] Numerous deaths and injuries also resulted from collapsing buildings and flying debris. Also not yet know are the effects of the bomb’s harmful radiation, whose symptoms, our scientists tell us, could be long lasting and terribly serious. People “lay dying by the hundreds, but there is nobody to carry to carry away the corpses.” [47], those in need of help severely outnumbering those administering it.

Physical suffering is not the only thing that ails Hiroshima’s populace, as the bomb wreaked mental havok on them as well. Families are torn asunder, as children, siblings, and parents alike are taken from their loved ones. The destruction of the majority of the city left hundreds of thousands without homes, businesses, or lives. But unfortunately, Japanese resolve to fight has reportedly increaced. With the destruction of their lives and property, many people have nothing left but their country, which they now will adamantly defend from those who have caused them so much pain. This kind of reaction was expected of course, but if a single bomb is not sufficient to smite Japanese morale, a second might be waranted.

Despite the wanton destruction, if this first bomb does not prove sufficient to crush Japan’s lust for war, a second bomb may indeed be necessary to insure a quick and decicive victory. The alternative to a second bomb would be a ground campaign taking thousands of young american lives. So despite the widespread destruction, means must be found to stop the war. And in this case, the end justifies the means.