The Bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima

The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki happened on August 6th and 9th, in 1945. This was during World War Two. Here is a quick summary of what was happening before the explosions: Japan was invading and taking over many countries and cities, especially in China. Japan was an axis power, while China (and the u.s.) were allied powers. The u.s. gave Japan an ultimatum to surrender, but they ignored it. The u.s. decided they had to make a choice. They could invade Japan, which would result in many more American and Japanese lives lost. Or they could Bomb Japan, which would end the war more quickly and maybe result in less lives lost. The u.s. chose to bomb.

Hiroshima, (with Nagasaki or Kokura as backup plans) were the chosen as targets for bombing because they were larger than three miles in diameter, the blast would do enough damage there, and because they were very populated and had military bases.

The first weapon was to be dropped on Hiroshima (on August 6th). An hour before it happened, japanese radars detected American aircrafts coming into southern Japan. They broadcasted it by radio and other media. But then they figured out there was only about three small planes and lifted the big warning. Still though, they said to have people go to bombing shelters if any B29 planes were seen. The bomb was dropped at 8:15 and took only 43 seconds to hit ground. Americans estimated that about 4.7 square miles of the city were totally destroyed. 70,000-80,000 people in Hiroshima died immediately, and about 70,000 were injured.

The u.s. then again asked Japan to surrender, but they did not answer back. President Truman then ordered the second bomb to be dropped on Kokura on August 9th. It was pretty much the same procedure as the bomb before, but as they approached Kokura, there were a bunch of clouds in the sky. Now the pilots could not see the target they needed to drop the bomb. Because of this, they decided to go to Nagasaki.

It was dropped at 11:01, and exploded 43 seconds later. The explosion created heat of up to 3,900 degrees celsius, and winds of up to 624 mph. An estimated 40,000 to 70,000 people died instantly.

Americans had expected to have another bomb dropped on Japan. And maybe even more than one. But Emperor Hirohito declared the countries surrender on August 15, 1945. The signing of the surrender document happened on September 2. Finally, the war would be over.

I believe that this should be remembered with a memorial because so many people died during this tragic event. It shows how crazy humans can get when they want land or power or resources. Its sad how many innocent women and children died in the bombing. They had no say in the war! It also reminds us of the measures we have to go to, to end the wars we started. It ends up with more harm done than good.

Bibliography

"Atomic bombings of