Why dropped the atomic bomb

With him that day were copilot Capt. Robert Lewis , bombardier Maj. Thomas Ferebee , navigator Capt. Theodore Van Kirk , weaponeer Capt. William Parsons , assistant weaponeer Lt. Morris Jeppson , electronic countermeasure operator Lt. Jacob Beser , radar operator Sgt. Joseph Stiborik , radio operator Pvt. Richard Nelson , flight engineer Staff Sgt. Wyatt Duzenbury , assistant flight engineer Sgt. Robert H. Shumard and tail gunner Staff Sgt. Robert Caron. Beser would also fly on the mission to Nagasaki on August 9 aboard the Bockscar , the B that delivered Fat Man , the second atomic bomb dropped in war.

As the Enola Gay made its final approach to Hiroshima that day, Tibbets ascended to 31, feet, then turned over controls to Ferebee. He released the bomb at that morning. As the 10,pound Little Boy fell away, the aircraft lurched violently upward. Tibbets began evasive maneuvers and banked hard to return to base. Forty-three seconds later, the bomb detonated at its predetermined height of 1, feet with the force of 15, tons of TNT.

A huge mushroom cloud appeared over what had been the heart of Hiroshima. The Enola Gay was then buffeted violently when struck by two shock waves—one direct and the other reflected from the ground. Caron took photos from the tail of the plane and described what he saw over the intercom for the rest of the crew. He later recounted the experience in his book Fire of a Thousand Suns :.

A few crewmen claimed they heard him say them. The devastation of Hiroshima was apocalyptic. The city was almost completely leveled while a conservative estimate places the death toll at , people. Of course, this was not a fleet of Bs.

This was two planes—the Enola Gay and the backup plane. The Japanese understandably assumed they were just weather planes. We flew them over Japan all the time in advance of bombing missions. So nobody went into the shelters.

In his book, Rhodes wrote about what happened on the ground just after Little Boy detonated. Mosquitoes and flies, squirrels, family pets crackled and were gone. The fireball flashed an enormous photograph of the city at the instant of its immolation fixed on the mineral, vegetable and animal surfaces of the city itself. A spiral ladder left its shadow in unburned paint on the surface of a steel storage tank. Leaves shielded reverse silhouettes on charred telephone poles.

A human being left the memorial of his outline in unspalled granite on the steps of a bank. It is believed that another , Japanese citizens died when Fat Man erupted over Nagasaki on August 9. At the time, most Allied military and political leaders believed they had no other option.

However, it's estimated roughly 70, to , people died in Hiroshima and 60, to 80, people died in Nagasaki, both from acute exposure to the blasts and from long-term side effects of radiation.

But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. In early August , warfare changed forever when the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, devastating the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and killing more than , people.

The atomic bomb, and nuclear bombs, are powerful weapons that use nuclear reactions as their source of explosive energy. Scientists first developed nuclear weapons technology during World War II. Atomic bombs have been used only twice in war—both times by the United States Soon after arriving at the Potsdam Conference in July , U. President Harry S. On July 24, eight days Ever since America dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, , the question has persisted: Was that magnitude of death and destruction really needed to end World War II?

American leadership apparently thought so. A few days earlier, just 16 hours after the Ever since August 6, , when the first atomic bomb detonated over Hiroshima, the human race has lived in fear of nuclear annihilation. In the annals of history, few events have had more import than this first atomic bombing, and no historical figure has been associated with The instability created in Europe by the First World War set the stage for another international conflict—World War II—which broke out two decades later and would prove even more devastating.

Maier said, "Suicide attacks are fairly common today, [but] at the time, the Japanese use of suicidal Kamikaze attacks had made a strong psychological impact on US military decision-makers who reckoned that the whole country would be mobilized to defend the home islands.

Maier said some historians have speculated that the possibility of the Soviet Union's entry into the war helped spur the decision to bring the war to a quick end by using the bomb. Rushay said that Hiroshima was one of four potential targets and that Truman left it up to the military to decide which city to strike.

Hiroshima was chosen as a target because of its military importance. Nagasaki was bombed a few days later. The US remains the only country to have used nuclear weapons.

What was the result? At least 70, people were killed in the initial blast, while approximately 70, more died from radiation exposure. Japan unconditionally agreed to accept the terms of surrender on August What do the critics say?

The utter devastation caused by the bombing has led many to criticize the decision. Eisenhower criticized the use of the atomic bombs, saying they weren't necessary to force the surrender of Japan.

Maier said that the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings "did move the Japanese Emperor to intervene with a divided military and advocate for surrender. In , the City Council of Hiroshima passed a resolution condemning Truman for refusing to express remorse for using atomic bombs and for continuing to advocate their use in an emergency situation.

The resolution said the city's residents "consider it their sublime duty to be a cornerstone of world peace and no nation of the world should ever be permitted to repeat the error of using of nuclear weapons. The resolution called the ex-president's stance a "gross defilement committed on the people of Hiroshima and their fallen victims.

Photos: Drawings show haunting memories of Hiroshima. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum has collected thousands of drawings made by survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. The drawings document survivors' memories surrounding that horrible day. In this rendering, Hideo Kimura shows burned and screaming classmates. Some were trapped under heavy gates and houses. Others were in the river, holding onto a stone embankment. This drawing by survivor Akira Onogi shows a woman pinned under a pillar from her collapsed house as deadly flames approach.

Next to the woman, a sobbing girl pleads for help from neighbors. The neighbors couldn't move the pillar. Chisako Sasaki drew this image of a girl at a window on the second floor of a burning house.

Sasaki remembers the girl crying for help. Mitsuko Taguchi is haunted by this scene, depicted in her drawing, of a dead mother and child who had fallen while trying to outrun flames. Her eyes were open wide. I cannot forget that shocking sight. Torazuchi Matsunaga remembered soldiers carrying children's corpses on stretchers to a temporary crematorium.

My chest suddenly seized with emotion. Survivor Asako Fujise drew this image of a bomb shelter that was being used as a makeshift hospital.

It was "filled with moans and the smell of zinc oxide and Mercurochome mixed with sweat. Sueko Sumimoto remembered a mother standing on a bridge. She was screaming her child's name while the bodies of dead students floated on the river below.