The Inhumane Bombing of Hiroshima Edward Bond once gravel stated, “We are still living in the aftershock of Hiroshima, people are still the scars of history.” World War II was an extremely gruesome period of time for both the United States and Japan. Many of the atrocities which took place are yet to be recognized as war crimes despite the clear evidence surrounding them. One of the most common crimes overlooked throughout the World War II era is the bombing or “incineration” of Hiroshima. Both Japanese and United States citizens believe if Japan continues to refuse to admit that they performed many wrong doings, the United States will also continue to deny it 's war crimes (U.S.). Japan citizens feel strongly that a contributing factor to
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It was August 6, 1945 and the day was silent. The bomb was dropped by Americans who were completely aware of the possibility of massive civilian casualties.“It wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing I hated to see our country be the first to use such a weapon.” –Dwight D. Eisenhower The bomb, known as Little Boy, killed more than 140,000 people within the first flush of radiation. Those who lived were considered worse off than those who died. The survivors suffered horrible burns and died a slow, agonizing death (Hiroshima). Approximately two hundred thousand persons were killed in the attacks and through radiation poisoning (Raico). People were literally vaporized by a light brighter than a thousand suns. A firestorm and 600 mph winds sucked the remaining air out of the downtown district (Strongman). Almost 63 percent of the buildings within Hiroshima were completely destroyed and nearly 92 percent of the structures in the city were either destroyed or damaged. Hiroshima was a city with no absolutely no military significance and the United States deliberately used one of the worst weapons ever known to mankind solely to terrorize the government. Killing civilians just to intimidate the government is not a policy or fundamental that the United States was founded on. Although Pearl Harbor was located in the US, there was absolutely no reason for the US to not only retaliate, but to kill hundreds of thousands of innocents. Pearl Harbor was a military base and Hiroshima was a city, which was inhabited by some three hundred thousand people. Such reasoning will not impress anyone who fails to see how the brutality of the Japanese military could justify deadly retaliation against innocent men, women, and children (Raico). On August 17, 1945 David Lawrence, the editor of US News, stated: “Last week we destroyed hundreds of thousands of civilians in
It was August 6, 1945 and the day was silent. The bomb was dropped by Americans who were completely aware of the possibility of massive civilian casualties.“It wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing I hated to see our country be the first to use such a weapon.” –Dwight D. Eisenhower The bomb, known as Little Boy, killed more than 140,000 people within the first flush of radiation. Those who lived were considered worse off than those who died. The survivors suffered horrible burns and died a slow, agonizing death (Hiroshima). Approximately two hundred thousand persons were killed in the attacks and through radiation poisoning (Raico). People were literally vaporized by a light brighter than a thousand suns. A firestorm and 600 mph winds sucked the remaining air out of the downtown district (Strongman). Almost 63 percent of the buildings within Hiroshima were completely destroyed and nearly 92 percent of the structures in the city were either destroyed or damaged. Hiroshima was a city with no absolutely no military significance and the United States deliberately used one of the worst weapons ever known to mankind solely to terrorize the government. Killing civilians just to intimidate the government is not a policy or fundamental that the United States was founded on. Although Pearl Harbor was located in the US, there was absolutely no reason for the US to not only retaliate, but to kill hundreds of thousands of innocents. Pearl Harbor was a military base and Hiroshima was a city, which was inhabited by some three hundred thousand people. Such reasoning will not impress anyone who fails to see how the brutality of the Japanese military could justify deadly retaliation against innocent men, women, and children (Raico). On August 17, 1945 David Lawrence, the editor of US News, stated: “Last week we destroyed hundreds of thousands of civilians in