Truman's Decision To Drop The A-Bombs On Japan

Above, the Nagasaki hypocenter monument. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The new Christopher Nolan movie, Oppenheimer, is igniting debate over atomic and nuclear bombs. As well it should. 

This month marks 78 years since the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan.

From the Harry S Truman Library & Museum website:

After President Roosevelt died on April 12th, 1945, it became Harry Truman’s job to decide how to end the war. The thought of invading Japan gave Truman and his advisors pause. The war had shown that the Japanese were fighting for the Emperor who convinced them that it was better to die than surrender. Women and children had been taught how to kill with basic weapons. Japanese kamikaze pilots could turn planes into guided missiles. The cost of invasion, they knew, would be high.

Upon becoming president, Harry Truman learned of the Manhattan Project, a secret scientific effort to create an atomic bomb. After a successful test of the weapon, Truman issued the Potsdam Declaration demanding the unconditional surrender of the Japanese government, warning of “prompt and utter destruction.” Eleven days later, on August 6, 1945, having received no reply, an American bomber called the Enola Gay left the Tinian Island in route toward Japan. In the belly of the bomber was “Little Boy,” an atomic bomb. At 8:15 am Hiroshima time, “Little Boy” was dropped. The result was approximately 80,000 deaths in just the first few minutes. Thousands died later from radiation sickness. On August 9, 1945, another bomber was in route to Japan, only this time they were heading for Nagasaki with “Fat Man,” another atomic bomb. After the first minute of dropping “Fat Man,” 39,000 men, women and children were killed. 25,000 more were injured. Both cities were leveled from the bombs and this, in turn, forced Japan to surrender to the United States. The war was finally over.

Today, historians continue to debate this decision. Was there another way to end the war?

Above, the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima in 2004. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I have been to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Looking at those cities today, one would never suspect that both were obliterated instantly in 1945.