American History

American History

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Was it necessary to drop the Atomic bomb on Japan

The morning of August 6 , 1945 is forever indelibly written in American history as

the fateful morning United States Armed Forces dropped the nuclear weapon named

Little boy ' over the city of Hiroshima as well as Fat Boy ' over Nagasaki , ending

World War II . The decision if it was necessary to have dropped the bomb is still debated

to this day . Some believe it to be an abominably immoral action due to the

massive

civilian causalities as well as an unjustified act by tactical military Others support the

decision arguing it was war and the only way Japan would ever concede to surrender

Supporters believe this bombing was the result of the Japanese military were greatly

opposed to any form of surrender negotiations before the dropping of Atomic bomb

The destruction of these atomic bombs to the citizens and cities of Hiroshima

and Nagasaki are horrible and unjustified . In Hiroshima those closet to the blast died

instantly , their bodies disintegrating nearby birds burst into flames in mid-air , as well dry

combustible materials like burst into flames several miles away from Ground Zero

Survivors near the blast have reported being blinded by a very bright light , and then

feeling an overwhelming wave of extreme heat . The blast wave knocked people off of

their feet . People indoors were spared the flash burns , because flying glass from broken

windows filled the rooms . Within minutes 9 out of 10 civilians in half a mile or less from

the Ground Zero was killed

People farther from the Ground Zero felt the first flash of heat , followed by

a deafening boom as well as a blast wave . Every structure nearly was destroyed . A

American History

Pg .2

firestorm eventually engulfed 4 .4 square miles of the city , killing anyone who did not

escape in the first minutes after the blast . One postwar study of victims recorded many

survivors suffering leg fractures because most who were unable to walk were engulfed by

the firestorm . To this day no one knows for certain how many had died as a result of this

attack

Nagasaki was an industrial center as well as a major port on the western coast

of Kyushu . There were still almost 20 ,000 people below when the second bomb

exploded . It exploded almost exactly between two principal targets in the city , the

Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works to the South , and the Mitsubishi- Urakami Torpedo

Works to the North . If the bomb had exploded farther South it would have destroyed

residential and commercial buildings . In fact , the destruction of Little Boy was not as

a greater force than Fat Boy

The explosion affected approximately 43 square miles . 8 .5 of those square miles

were water , and 33 more square miles where only partially settled . Roads and rail lines

escaped damage . Electricity was knocked out in some areas and fire breaks created over

the last several months helped to prevent the...