The Atomic Bomb

             No one knows exactly how many people were killed in the initial blast, because thousands disappeared without a trace. The official estimates vary between seventy thousand and eighty thousand. Many more were injured. Thousands died after days, months, and years later from radiation effects of the atomic bomb. This explosion, that was used to end World War II, is one of the most controversial subjects in our nations history. Many will argue that this weapon did not have to be used, that it took too many lives, that there was a better way out, but this bombing was a military necessity. On August 6, 1945, a B-29 named Enola Gay left took off to bomb the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The crew of Enola Gay were told that no one could be sure what would happen when the atomic bomb was dropped over Hiroshima. The bomb was dropped from an altitude of 31,600 feet and detonated at 1,800 feet above the center of the city. The atomic bomb wiped out 4.1 square miles of Hiroshima, about sixty !
             percent of the city. The powerful atomic bomb crashed with the explosive power of 20,000 tons of TNT. President Harry S. Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb on two Japanese cities remains one of the most passionately debated historical events of the twentieth century, and is continued to be viewed as preventable. There are many reasons that this weapon of mass destruction needed to be used. The length of the war to that point had been long and many U.S. citizens had lost interest in the war. Furthermore, President Truman did not want to risk losing any more soldiers' lives to fighting. The opposition, the Japanese, continued in their stubbornness and was prepared to fight indefinitely. There were other groups, such as the Soviets, whose advancements worried Truman. The atomic bomb was a way to stop those advancements, and to gain control of the war. Taking all things into consideration, the correct military decision was made. Truman did what was needed f...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
The Atomic Bomb . (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 07:56, March 19, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/63158.html