9.+Hiroshima+and+Nagasaki

=August 9th, 1945,= ===You'd think after the atomic bomb, nicknamed "Little Boy" was dropped on Hiroshima by the United States, that Japan would take a little precaution. However, this is obviously not the case. I can tell you that because I just lived through the bombing on Nagasaki. Another bomb, nicknamed "Fat Man", was dropped on my home city. Within seconds, the grand city ceased to exist. Buildings collapsed into dust before my very eyes. Temperatures of 7,000 degrees centigrade hit me, people were on fire, and no one could find the ability to speak. Dismembered limbs and heads crowded the streets as others panicked to get out of the atrocious scene. It took two of these horrific events for the Japanese government to decide to surrender (Danzer 584). What I find more unbelievable though, is that American president Harry S. Truman authorized the construction and use of this deadly weapon. How could someone declare unjust death to hundreds of thousands of people? === ==== **Let me start from the beginning. It was a beautiful morning on August 6th. No one had expected what was coming, and many refused to believe it, even as the news spread and became reality. At around 8 in the morning, A B-29 bomber plane, named //Enola Gay// released "Little Boy" over Hiroshima, Japans 8th largest city (Campbell 1). "Little Boy" was different from any other bomb seen in the world. It had a gun-like design to it, and it destroyed everything it could reach within it's 1 1/2 mile radius (Carlisle 1). This bomb weighed 10,000 pounds and sent a 40,000 foot mushroom-shaped smoke cloud into the air. At least 80,000 people had been killed (Campbell 1). Since Japan didn't send any messages to the United States, they proceeded to do what they did this morning. Another nuclear attack was made, this time against Nagasaki, which instantly killed at least 55,000 innocent people. It took two attacks, and the death of at least 200,000 people from the attack and complications afterwards, for the Japanese government to surrender. Emperor Hiroshima said: "I cannot bear to see my innocent people suffer any longer" (Danzer 584). He then drew up papers to end the war. On September 2nd of the same year, official surrender ceremonies took place on the U.C Missouri in Tokyo Bay. I agree with American General macArthur when he said: "Today the guns are silent. The skies no longer rain death- the seas bear only commerce- men everywhere walk upright in the sunlight. The entire world is at peace" (Danzer 584).** ====

=**__Works Cited__**= Campbell, Ballard C. “atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” In Campell, Ballard

C., Ph.D., gen. ed. //Disasters, Accidents, and Crises in American History.// New

York: Facts on File, Inc., 2008. //American History Online.// Facts on File, Inc.



Carlisle, Rodney P. "Little Boy." //Encyclopedia of the Atomic Age.// New York: Facts On

File, Inc., 2001. //American History Online.// Facts On File, Inc.



Danzer, Gerald, et al. __The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century.__ Evanston:

McDougal Littell Inc, 2003.

Dear Diary, Last month I had committed one of the most terrible acts the world has ever seen. On August 6th my plane, a B-29 bomber, named the Enola Gay took off from the island of Tinian (ATOMIC). Our job was to drop a bomb on the City of Hiroshima (Danzer). The bomb nicknamed Little Boy was a new type of weapon our government had just developed; the bomb is called an atom bomb it was supposed to be one of the biggest and most powerful bombs in military history. Forty-three seconds later it was reported that almost every building in the city was destroyed by the attack (Danzer). It is estimated Hiroshima had a civilian population of almost 300,000 people and about 43,000 soldiers (ATOMIC). The terrible part of the ordeal was that just 3 days later, after Japan refused to surrender, we dropped a second atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki (Danzer). Dropped by another B-29 the code name of the bomb was Fat Man (Danzer). The deaths in the city of Hiroshima were to be estimated between 100,000 and 180,000 (Bombings). The death count of Nagasaki is estimated between 50,000 and 100,000 people (Bombings). What was also said in our debriefing was that because these bombs use nuclear fission and radioactive elements, there is a good chance that radioactive fallout will cause more deaths due to cancer and other radiation based sicknesses. It was also reported that a lot of the nuclear radiation from the blast in Nagasaki was blocked due to the hilly land that surrounds it. The center of the city was protected by these hills and because of them it helped to protect the people from the blast, shockwave and the radioactive fallout (Bombings). After the bombings took place in each city firestorms broke out (ATOMIC). The fires engulfed the whole city killing basically everyone who got trapped in it (ATOMIC). Emperor Hirohito, the ruler of Japan, asked for papers to be drafted that would end the war, he said, “I cannot bear to see my innocent people suffer any longer” (Danzer). On September second formal surrender ceremonies took place on the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay (Danzer). I believe that the events and tragedies that I took part in creating will leave a permanent scar on the face of human history. If it was possible I would go back in time and prevent this monstrosity from happening again. Works Cited "THE ATOMIC BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA." __Office of History and Heritage Resources__. Office of History and Heritage Resources. 18 Mar 2009 . "Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki." __Happy Birthday Peace__. Happy Birthday Peace. 18 Mar 2009 . Danzer, Gerald, et al. __The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century.__ Evanston: McDougal Littell Inc, 2003. [] (picture 1)