Hiroshima

[Simpleboy]

No, its was on the Christchurch-Kurashiki Sister city exchange program, but we had a day trip to Hiroshima. But it ended up as a very very long day ending in the night.


Our train arriving at the train station to take us to another station so we would get picked up by our host families.

An of course i had a good time.

[B757300]

The domed building was roughly ground zero for the detonation. Above it was roughly 1,850 feet, Little Boy detonated with a force of between 12.5 and 15 kilotons.

It really is no surprise that the city was rebuilt. People don't realize that the radiation produced by the first generation of nuclear weapons was no where near as much as the later "city buster bombs". Heck, one can take a tour of "Trinity", the site of the first atomic bomb explosion, and the radiation you get is less than a single dental x-ray. (If anyone wants to, I highly recommend it. The tours only happen twice a year, the first Saturday in April and October. I went this past April and it was amazing. Send me a PM if you want all the details on how to take the tour.)

Despite what many think today and revisionist historians preach, the use of nuclear weapons to end WWII was the correct decision. It ended a war that had been raging since 1931, the year Japan first invaded China. Far more lives were saved by the use of the atomic bombs than the two weapons actually killed.

[MD11Forever]

Despite what many think today and revisionist historians preach, the use of nuclear weapons to end WWII was the correct decision. It ended a war that had been raging since 1931, the year Japan first invaded China. Far more lives were saved by the use of the atomic bombs than the two weapons actually killed.

I remember reading somewhere that the predicted casualties for the amphibious invasion of Japan (the alternative to the use of nuclear weapons) was horrendous, on both sides.
If I ever get to Japan, the Hiroshima site is definitely on my list of things to see.

[B757300]

Many estimates of casualties Allied forces would have suffered have been published with preposterous low figures of 25,000 up to a ridiculously high number of 1,000,000. The true number probably falls between 150,000 and 250,000 dead with three to four times this number wounded or MIA. Of course this would all depend on how fanatical the Japanese defense was and on the options to deploy other “special weapons”. Excluding atomic and radiological weapons, the most likely “special weapon” would have been poison gas. President Roosevelt had prohibited the use of poison gas due to the risk of Germany retaliating with gas against the Allies in Europe. With the surrender of Germany on May 8th, 1945, that risk disappeared. The United States had been producing various stockpiles of gas for use in retaliatory strikes should the Axis use it first but now an offensive use of gas was being planned. Bringing back images of the First World War, substances with names of Phosgene, Mustard, and Cyanogen Chloride, were produced and shipped to the Pacific. The U.S. also began shipping gas masks and protective clothing from Europe to the Pacific once the risk of German gas attacks dissipated. MacArthur had the supplies of gas stored in the Pacific shipped to Luzon in preparation for use during Operation Downfall. Even the official planning for the first part of Downfall, Operation Olympic, had sections dealing with offensive and defensive gas attacks.

While the Japanese had issued orders in 1944 NOT to use gas due to fears of American retaliation, the orders for the defense of the Home Islands were calling for “any and all measures” to repel the invaders. The Japanese did have a stockpile of some chemical weapons but how likely the threat was for their use is unknown. The real question on the use of gas during invasion would be casualties. General Marshall advocated the use of gas and President Truman wanted to keep American casualties to a minimum. This set the stage for American invasion forces to eliminate the Japanese defenders with poison gas long before hitting the beaches. Had both sides employed poison gas throughout the Downfall campaign, the battle for Japan would have been eerily reminiscent of the World War I battle of Verdun and would probably surpassed Verdun’s 700,000 casualty figure. If anyone says we should have invaded Japan or just “waited them out” instead of using the atomic bomb, they should consider that another, even more destructive weapon was being prepared for use. A weapon that was available in large quantities and in many ways, far more destructive. As American commanders watched the bodies pile up and casualties mount, it would have become hard to reject the idea of poison gas attacks in order to remove the dug in defenders.

While President Truman and his advisors were primarily concerned with American casualties, the atomic bombs also prevented an even larger number of casualties among the Japanese themselves. With millions of Japanese on the Home Islands, there can be no doubt that the Japanese would have suffered an almost unimaginable number of dead and wounded. Continual firebomb raids, naval bombardment, and the possible use of chemical weapons all could have pushed the number of Japanese casualties into the millions. It was for more merciful to drop two atomic bombs and kill between 150,000 and 250,000 than to kill millions. If these cities had not been atomic targets, they would have been burned to the ground by LeMay’s Superfortresses probably killing just as many people if not more.

"To avert a vast, indefinite butchery, by a few explosions seemed, after all our perils and toils, a miracle of deliverance." -Winston Churchill

I myself would like to visit Hiroshima one day. Nuclear weapons have been one of my primary areas of study including my senior thesis and also will be in Grad School so obviously Hiroshima holds special interest to me.

[N228UA]

Another little known fact that led to the use of the atomic bomb was the fact that the US and Russia had an agreement that if the war was not over by September or October, Russia would join the war. The US needed a tactical base in the western Pacific to defend against the Russians so the decision to drop the bomb was made.

While I do not agree with using nuclear weapons, I think Japan was very lucky not to have had Russian occupation...it would have been very messy had the communists taken over.

[Simpleboy]

I had always belived Russia had already joined the war agaisnt Japan by the time they surrendered.

[YBBN]

I had always belived Russia had already joined the war agaisnt Japan by the time they surrendered.

They did. I do not know off the top of my head when they entered the war, but they did declare war on Japan before Japan surrendered.

Another place of interest would be Nagasaki. It is in Kyushu so it may be a little more out of the way, however it is equally as moving.

Also, photography is not allowed inside the museum. Ignoring that may be seen as rude and disrespectful to the memory of people lost.

[Simpleboy]

I had always belived Russia had already joined the war agaisnt Japan by the time they surrendered.

They did. I do not know off the top of my head when they entered the war, but they did declare war on Japan before Japan surrendered.

Another place of interest would be Nagasaki. It is in Kyushu so it may be a little more out of the way, however it is equally as moving.

Also, photography is not allowed inside the museum. Ignoring that may be seen as rude and disrespectful to the memory of people lost.

It is allowed, but no flash photography. Nagasaki would be a nice place to visit, but our strict timetable didnt alow it.

[B757300]

The Soviet Union declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945 and invaded Manchuria within hours. Of course the next day, Fat Man detonated over Nagasaki. Many historians believe that it was this double blow within hours of each other and only a few days after Hiroshima that convinced the Emperor that surrender was the only option available for Japan or else face annihilation.