Bombing+of+Hiroshima


 * History**

World War II was a disturbing, yet necessary, part of our history. It affected the people of Japan greatly, but the U.S. was faced with the difficult task of defeating with the Japanese troops. The atomic bombs that the United States had were the first of its kind. The U.S. saw that the war, as it was unfolding, would result in the loss of thousands of American and Japanese lives. The other option was to end the war quickly by dropping the bomb. The Americans threatened Japan with this new form of warfare, but the Japanese Emperor called the American bluff. The U.S. then decided to use the atomic bomb. When the time came, the cities of Hiroshima, as well as Nagasaki and Kokura were chosen for destruction.

The bomb used on Hiroshima was the equivalent explosive power of 12,500 tons of TNT. With that kind of power, it killed more citizens than soldiers in Japan. On August 6, 1945, the "Little Boy," the first bomb, was dropped, killing about 80,000 people directly from the blast. Two days later, August 9th, the second bomb, or "Fat Man," was dropped in Nagasaki. The bombings of these cities forced the Japanese empire to surrender. Though the U.S. feared this would result in a full out war with Japan, they made their formal surrender on September 2, 1945. The fiery battle was finally over.

Practicly everything in Hiroshima was destroyed, making life extremly difficult. Radiation was a big problem in the affected cites. It seeped into the food and even the water sources for a great number of villages. No food and supplies went in and none came out for fear of further contamination. Some people died instantly and some died weeks later because of radiation and open wounds. The radiation caused by the bomb affected a large amount of people. Cancer formed in many and thousands died.