Jaedin Litzinger
Mrs. Carpenter
English 10
21 March 2023
The Effects Of The Bombing Of Hiroshima
At 8:15 on August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb hit Hiroshima, Japan. Hiroshima, a growing city, was left in shambles and forced to begin again. The bombing was a result of the United States wanting to end the war quickly. Due to this, the People of Japan would be impacted forever. The bombing of Hiroshima was an unnecessary and selfish tragedy that left the citizens of Japan heavily affected both physically and mentally.
President Truman knew the effects of atomic warfare and selfishly continued to harm Japan. In July 1945, the first successful testing of the atomic bomb happened in the United States. Truman called it “the most terrible bomb in the
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The decision to use the atomic bomb was not a mistake and the United States knew what they were doing. Truman knew the impact the bomb would have on Japan and just ignored it because he wanted to win the war. On August 9, the day the bomb was dropped, Truman received a telegram from a Protestant clergyman who begged the president to stop the bombing. Two days later, Truman replied and said “The only language they seem to understand is the one we have been using to bombard them. When you have to deal with a beast you have to treat him as a beast.” (“Harry Truman’s Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb U.S”) President Truman did not care about the harm and impact he was causing on Japan. He did not see the lives he took as humans, instead, he saw them as a necessary step to winning the war.The bombing of Hiroshima was a selfish and wrongful act that left thousands of …show more content…
There were direct physical effects of the bomb, but there were also long-lasting effects. Short-term effects included death, radiation, and poisoning. While long-term effects included cancer, blood disorders, and genetic damage. (Hersey) The effects of the bombing wouldn't just go away. Citizens of Japan were going to be harmed for many years. Wilfred Burchett, an Australian journalist who covered the bombing said, “When you arrive in Hiroshima you can look around and for 25 and perhaps 30 square miles you can hardly see a building. It gives you an empty feeling in the stomach to see such man-made devastation.” The entire city of Hiroshima was destroyed and wiped out after the bombing; Hiroshima had to restart completely. The population of Hiroshima was impacted drastically as well. Just 24 hours after the bombing, 70% of the population of Hiroshima was dead. (Wellerstein) Thousands of people lost their lives and would continue to do so. The bombing burnt 70 percent of all buildings and caused at least 140,000 deaths by the end of 1945, also increasing rates of cancer and chronic disease among the survivors. (Wellerstein) Japan and its citizens would be impacted by the bombing and have to live with the effects for years to