Use Of The Bombs On The Japanese example essay topic

The history of destruction dates back as far as mankind has existed. The constant wars, battles, and death have left an imprint that will forever be engrained into our past. When disastrous events occur, our world begins to change in some way. We often read about the great destruction of World War I, but it's very difficult to know the true feelings and opinions of what was happening during that time. This is one small example in the history of destruction. World War II followed suit when it turned out to be a prime example of human nature reaching the greatest heights of destruction.

World War II was ending and the Japanese unexpectingly attacked the U.S. at Pearl Harbor. The U.S. would in turn bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the events that unfolded at the very end of this war, many writings came up regarding the weapons and techniques used during the war, often being very opinionated. A book that does a very good job of giving an outlook to the actual emotions and feelings of the people devastated is "Hiroshima" by John Hersey. Hersey does an amazing job of writing more as a mediator, writing in such a calm and dry manner, that the actual stories of the people involved bring out the true emotions during that dreadful day and their stories speak for themselves. His book was so wonderful that it was published in The New Yorker.

The article was based on interviews with atomic bomb survivors and tells their experiences the morning of the blast and for the next few days and weeks. Even after the usage of the atomic bomb, it was necessary and in their best interest for the U.S. to take this action to assure ourselves as a strong and powerful country. On August 6, 1945 at exactly 8: 15 am, the worst of mankind rang free. The United States had for a few years been working on a new weapon of mass destruction called the atomic bomb. Little was known about it in the world, and nothing was known about the amount of destruction it could create. The United States was an allied power and was feeling the pressure of the Japanese military, and knew that they had to resort quickly and powerfully in order to keep control of the war.

United States had lost nearly 75,000 soldiers in battles at Okinawa and Iwo Jima. That's when President Truman gave the go ahead on the dropping of the first Atomic Bomb, nicknamed "Little Boy". In the moments that followed the bomb exploding, "nearly 70,000 residents died in the searing flash of heat, and nearly 60% of the city had been destroyed. Whether the use of this particular weapon to be used was justified or not, the world will never know, but for me it was the proper attack. Dr. Leo Szilard, 62, is a Hungarian-born physicist who helped persuade President Roosevelt to launch the A-bomb project and who had a major share in it. In later years, Truman was elected President and he had to make the decision on whether or not to launch the bombs on Japan.

Dr. Leo was totally against the use of the bombs on the Japanese and thought that the President was making a wrong choice. When reporters asked Dr. Leo if President Truman really though the whole process through, he states, I don't think Japan would have surrendered unconditionally without the use of force. He is saying that there was a need to use force in order for the Japanese to surrender. There is some evidence saying that Japanese were waiting for any chance to surrender to the U. S but there is no actual proof. Dr. Leo is a physicist not a world leader, he does not know all the things that a President of the U.S. would know. A decision of that kind could not be chosen by a scientist, they are only involved in making a product.

They know what the product does inside and out but on a worldly issue they are pretty blinded to the real facts. The opinions of our scientific colleagues on the initial use of these weapons are not unanimous: they range from a purely technical demonstration to that of the military application best designed to induce surrender. With regard to these general aspects of the use of atomic energy, it is clear that we, as scientific men, have no proprietary rights. Powerful leaders have to make big decisions. The decision to drop the bomb may have been wrong in the eyes of many people, but as a leader of the most powerful country in the world you have to be strong and assertive. As a citizen of the U. S I feel safer because the bomb was dropped and many of my relative's lives may have been spared because of it.

We recognize our obligation to our nation to use the weapons to help save American lives in the Japanese war. With the U. S acting with quick retaliation Japan will never again attack the U.S. without actually declaring war on us. Instead of writing another opinionated book, John Hersey goes to Japan after the bomb had been dropped and interviewed many people who had survived the bomb. He would listen to their stories in vivid detail and write about exactly what had happened through the eyes of the survivors. Paying close attention to the gory details and the feelings that arose right after the bomb. Four decades later he went back to Hiroshima to find the people who had told the stories, and to interview them again on how their lives had turned out after being affected so much by this bomb.

It is truly sad to read about these Japanese people but we cannot forget about our fellow Americans that suffered. This book makes you really sympathize for the Japanese but that doesn't make the U.S. the bad guy. It is just another book accounting the results from the bombings. Don't get me wrong the people should receive sympathy and so should the American victims but future leaders will receive a greater knowledge from these happenings. The world will always look at the deaths and happenings and argue over whether it was justified or not.

It is very difficult to picture exactly how the world looked without actually being there; and by documenting the stories, Hersey shows us the survivor's feelings first hand. Hersey shows us that these were regular people, all living in fear of death, but becoming very accustomed to the allied planes flying overhead and potentially dropping bombs. The people of this city were continually hearing stories of nearby cities and towns being bombed or attacked, and were constantly filled with anxiety that soon enough there turn would come. How it would come, they would never see coming. These people had a chance to leave the area and move to a different location or do something to live in a better environment.

The people at Pearl Harbor had absolutely no clue of what was going on. Bay deftly captures the patriotism and the loss of innocence of the young men and women who were suddenly thrust into the war. If you watch the movie directed by Michael Bay, he gives us a view that makes us feel extremely unhappy for what happened to our fellow Americans. In each the countries people were trying to earn a regular living, and live their lives in peace. Since the U.S. was stabbed in the back by the Japanese, the U.S. was not in the wrong to fight fire with fire.

After the bomb had been dropped, and these 6 people had miraculously survived, these survivors were aptly named "hibakushas" or "explosion-affected persons. One story that stuck with me was the story of Hatsuyo Nakamura. Before the bomb had hit, Mrs. Nakamura was a tailor's widow, living with her three children: a ten-year-old boy, Toshio, an eight-year-old girl, Ya eko, and a five-year-old, Myeko. After her husbands death in the military, all Hatsuyo was left was a sewing machine which she was using to support her and her children, barely making ends meet. Hatsuyo was looking out the window at her neighbor working on his house when the flash came and next thing she knew she was under a lot of timbers and she could hear the cries of her youngest child, Myeko.

After frantically working to free herself, she finally found her other two children, she started digging them out. Much to her happiness, all three children were fine with nothing as much as a scratch. In the following days, only the horror of what Hatsuyo and her children saw could be described through their eyes alone. Thousands of dead bodies everywhere, people crying for help in many different residences, houses toppled to the ground, fires ravaging much of the houses.

Her and her children had been very lucky. As Nakamura-san struggled to get from day to day, she had no time for attitudinizing about the bomb or anything else. In the years that followed, the effects of the radiation started to take their effect on Hatsuyo and she became extremely ill. She was often weak, struggling to find jobs, and could barely earn enough for food for her family. After awhile, non-hibakusha employers became aware of the ailments that affected those survivors from the bombing, and would not take the chance to hire them.

It took her many years to finally find a job that would take her, and she worked her way up in the job and continued working there for 13 years. Her children grew up and were able to support themselves, and Toshio took it upon himself to make sure his mother received proper care. Though it took her many years, she was finally able to bury the memory of that horrendous day and be happy. She never felt any hatred towards what the Americans did but instead felt that it was the collective world that caused what happened. The war, Japan's actions, and the United States actions all cumulated into one destructive day, there was no one to blame directly. As a survivor she felt "involved" in the war because she was directly affected by its aftermath.

Though she may not have been at the front lines shooting at the enemy directly, she was brought into it once the United States had dropped the atomic bomb on their city. She was living a peaceful life and getting by, and once the atomic bomb hit their city, she became involved, because now her life was going to change forever. The memories of that dreadful day had been burned into their memories, and everything they had known had been turned upside down. The way they describe the war in their individual stories throughout the book leads the reader to believe that they thought they were involved in it by the way they were affected. If you look at what she actually feels about the U.S.'s decision on whether to drop the bomb or not, she says that Japan deserved what they got. She says that Japan took action and then the U. S did also.

She doesn't say that they U.S. could have found an alternative way or that it wasn't right. When you take a risk there are things that you must deal with in return, and that's what happened in this case. Decades later, we can see that people faced illnesses, became social outcasts, poverty, and that the victims had to change their life in some way. What happened to these people is upsetting and it is a shame that their lives were ruined.

We can not forget about what these people's leaders did to our fellow Americans. The Japanese did not drop any atomic bombs on the U.S., but they killed many innocent victims. The families of the victims had to live with the fact that the Japanese army sent troops over and killed their family member for no reason. The U.S. made a statement with the dropping of the two atomic bombs. It was a statement of power; it was the U.S. saying there is no way you are getting away with murder.

Justice was served and if that's what is takes for justice to be served then so be it. In conclusion, the dropping of the atomic bombs was the right decision made. World leaders make very hard decisions all the time and when President Truman decided to drop the bombs he made the world a better place. It is unfortunate that the Japanese people had to pay the consequences in such a harsh way. John Hersey gives us a true account of the feelings and end results that six Japanese people experienced. The movie Pearl Harbor by Michael Bay shows us the American side of things.

The bombing had to be done and the nations of the world have learned a valuable lesson from the events that happened between the U.S. and Japan. Hersey, John. "Hiroshima". Random House, Inc.

: 1985. p. 92. Rothman, Steve. "The Publication of "Hiroshima" in the New Yorker". January 8, 1987. Date accessed 11/19/04 Sanders, David. (New Haven, Conn: T wayne, 1967) p. 41.

The Truman Library. "Atomic Bomb-Truman Press Release - August 6, 1945". Date accessed: 12/8/03. Bay Michael.

"Pear Harbor" Movie: Released May 25, 2001. Szilard Leo. "President Truman Did Not Understand" in the U.S. News & World Report". August 15, 1960. web Oppenheimer J.R... U.S. National Archives "Recommendations on the Immediate Use of Nuclear Weapons, by the Scientific Panel of the Interim Committee on Nuclear Power- June 16, 1945". web Date accessed 12/8/04.