Crossing the Line

HIROSHIMA: August 6, 1945 at 8:14 a.m. – birds chirped, children played, commuters filled the streets—all on a beautiful, cloudless Monday morning. But by 8:16 a.m., a billowing cloud of dark smoke covered the smoldering city, buildings lay in ruins, and almost all signs of life were gone. On August 9th, Nagasaki was similarly bombed, ending the lives of thousands. These were the consequences of the detonation of the first ever atomic bombs in history by President Truman of the United States, who declared it as a necessity “to the maintenance of world peace” and to “[repay the Japanese] many fold for Pearl Harbor.” However, dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki crossed the line as a means to force surrender. The United States demanded unconditional surrender from an all but defeated Japan, refusing the one condition that Japan asked for. The atomic bomb was un-discriminatory – killing over 120,000 Japanese citizens, regardless of age or military involvement. The aftermath of the nuclear bomb left future generations with radiation poisoning, cancer, and birth defects. Never before had whole cities been wiped out so cruelly and irrationally…

Even before the atomic bombs were dropped, there was evidence of Japan’s willingness to make peace. Several high-ranking officers, including the Commander of the Army air forces, Henry H. Arnold, even admitted that the use of the atomic bombs were unnecessary. As quoted from his post-war memoirs in 1949: “It always appeared to us, atomic bomb or no atomic bomb, the Japanese were already on the verge of collapse.” Months before the end of the war, Japan attempted to negotiate with the United States several times through neutral ambassadors from Sweden and Portugal. The Japanese were willing to agree to almost anything; the only stipulation they asked for was for their emperor, Hirohito, to keep his title. However, the United States refused, demanding that Japan surrender unconditionally. Later in June, the United States intercepted messages from Japan’s foreign minister to the Japanese ambassador in Moscow showing that the Emperor himself was encouraging peace. By July 1945, Japan already was militarily on the brink of collapse – its allies had already withdrawn and its imperial navy and air force were no longer major threats. Most major cities had already been aerial bombed, and the remaining factories were barely able to turn out supplies for their troops since oil had not been available since April. Yet, President Truman proceeded to order for the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Oddly enough, the terms for peace agreed to after the bombings were almost identical to the ones initially proposed by Japan. The emperor was allowed to stay in throne, which was what Japan had originally wanted. Had the United States agreed to this simple term, the 120,000 lives that were immediately ended by Hiroshima and Nagasaki could have been spared (Weber). The use of the atomic bombs went too far to force surrender from a worn-out Japan that was all for peace – except for the one condition that President Truman decided was worth the lives of over 120,000 innocent people.

American losses at the military base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, were incomparable to that of the Japanese at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Pearl Harbor was a naval base of the United States, whereas Hiroshima had a civilian population of around 300,000 (Gosling Hiroshima). Nagasaki was not even the intended target; it was only bombed because cloud cover prevented the air force from bombing the original city. President Truman’s direct orders from earlier that summer were to drop additional bombs as soon as they were ready, not even specifying which areas (Gosling Nagasaki). Though President Truman later justified his use of the atomic bomb by claiming that it “saved millions of lives” by bringing the war to a quick end and that “the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base to avoid the killing of civilians,” almost all of the victims were nonmilitary personnel (Hiroshima Committee). Nine out of every ten people within a half-mile radius from the epicenter of the bomb in Hiroshima were killed (Gosling Hiroshima). Less than 15% of the deaths in the city were actually soldiers (Hiroshima Committee). Moreover, according to the United States Strategic Bombing Survey issued in 1946, “Hiroshima and Nagasaki were chosen as targets because of their concentration of activities and population.” Admiral Leahy of the U.S. Navy even called the bombs “barbaric” and stressed that “wars cannot be won by destroying women and children” (Weber). In such circumstances, the use of the nuclear weaponry was unjustifiable: the atomic bombs were impartial – killing men or women, children or elderly, civilian or soldier.

When President Truman made the verdict to drop the atomic bombs twice on Japan, he had no idea of the extent of their destruction. It wiped out thousands in its initial wave, and unlike conventional weaponry, its long-term repercussions were still felt decades after. The atomic bombs caused survivors and future generations – who could not have possibly been involved in the attack on Pearl Harbor – to suffer from radiation poisoning, multiple forms of cancer, premature aging, cataracts, and birth defects. Since the bombings were the first of their kind, no medical treatment was available and doctors were baffled. Survivors from the bombings appeared to be recovering from their burns, only to have new symptoms from radiation poisoning. Dr. Akizuki, who had treated patients from Nagasaki and himself an atomic-bomb survivor, wrote that “[an acute atomic disease] destroyed them little by little. As a doctor, I was forced to face the slow and certain deaths of my patients.” Tokyo University estimated that approximately 56.5% of the total deaths were not from the direct blast of the bomb, but from exposure to the nuclear radiation (Hiroshima Committee). While the United States government had been developing the nuclear weapon under the Manhattan Project, Albert Einstein had warned the President Truman and his predecessor of the consequences of such a venture beforehand. His colleague, Dr. Szilard, wanted to make clear the devastating possibilities to the United States government before the decision was made to use the atomic bomb (Truman Library). The president’s decision to implement the atomic bombs’ use caused widespread devastation, scarring survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki for the rest of their lives and even affected generations after. Such brutality went beyond what was necessary to end the war.

The hardships the Japanese civilians faced at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were unparalleled and unprecedented. At the time of the bombings, Japan was already a near-surrendering country with its allies already brought out of war, its cities in ruins, and its emperor aiming for peace. The bombs caused thousands of civilian lives to be ended instantly, and killed even more by the long-term repercussions of nuclear warfare – all in retribution for the bombing of the United States’ naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1941. By ordering the dropping of the atomic bombs, President Truman ordered for an unjustifiable act that tarnished the reputation of the United States, being the first country ever to drop the atomic bomb, unjustly and inhumanely. The use of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki went too far to force Japan’s surrender. As the first bomb detonated over Hiroshima, an American soldier, Robert Lewis, aboard the plane that had dropped it wrote in his log that day: “My God, what have we done?”

Works Cited

“Albert Einstein to Franklin D. Roosevelt.” Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. Web. 16 Dec. 2009. .

Gosling, F. G. “The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima, August 6, 1945.” U.S. Department of Energy. U.S. Department of Energy. Web. 15 Dec. 2009. .

“The Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki, August 9, 1945.” U.S. Department of Energy. U.S. Department of Energy. Web. 16 Dec. 2009. .

“Hiroshima & Nagasaki Bombing Facts.” Hiroshima Day Committee. Hiroshima Day Committee, 23 July 2009. Web. 16 Dec. 2009. .

“Radiation Effects on Humans.” Oracle ThinkQuest Library. 1996. Web. 16 Dec. 2009. .

Weber, Mark. “Was Hiroshima Necessary?” The Journal of Historical Review 16.3 (1997): 4-11. Institute for Historical Review. Institute for Historical Review, 2008. Web. 15 Dec. 2009. .