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Summary Of Thank God For The Atomic Bomb By Paul Fussell

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The first perspective that came out of the dropping of the bombs is known as the traditional, or the orthodox perspective. This perspective expresses the idea that the bombs were needed to bring about the end of World WarIIand save countless numbers of lives. This was the claim that President Truman publicly expressed and is believed by numerous historians. One of these key historians is Paul Fussell, who clearly expressed his perspective in his famous 1981 essay, ‘Thank God For the Atom Bomb’. Fussell strongly supported the idea that the only way to quickly end the war and save lives was to drop the atomic bombs on Japan, “The purpose of the bombs wasn't to ‘punish people' but to stop war.” (Fussell, 1981, p. 1). One of the main reasons this perspective is held is because it is widely felt that the bombs were needed in order …show more content…

Not only would the bombs save the lives of Allies troops, but also the lives of countless Japanese. Prior to the bombs dropping, an Allied invasion of the Japanese coast was planned to take place from late November 1945 and was anticipated to continue until at least November 1946 before the Japanese would surrender.The invasion known as Operation Downfall was originally expected to cause one million American casualties and even more on the Japaneseside; “ Planners of the invasion assumed that it would require a full year, to November 1946, for theJapanese to be sufficiently worn down by land-combat attrition to surrender. By that time, one million American casualties was the expected price. (Fussell, 1981, p. 2) With this number in mind, it is understandable as to why President Truman would have decided to drop the bomb. The fate of millions of lives rested in his hands. When comparing this to the approximate final death tolls

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As stated in document A, President Truman believed that it was his duty as president to use every weapon available to save American lives. By making the decision to employ atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it successfully brought an end to World War II. Now, while these bombs did ultimately spare thousands of American lives, it did also put an end to about 200,000 lives as shown in document E. Document A stated that Admiral William Leahy, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, opposed using the bomb because it killed civilians indiscriminately. He believed that an economic blockade and conventional bombing would convince Japan to surrender. As an opposite end of the spectrum though Truman’s advisor, James Byrnes thought that the use of “the A-bombs would not only cause Japan to surrender, but also impress the Soviet Union, and hopefully stop its expansion” (Doc C).

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On August 6, 1945, the U.S. made history with a fatal blow to the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended WWII. To this day there is a controversy on whether the dropping of the atomic bomb, ordered by President Harry S. Truman, was justified or not, but in fact, it was. Thousands of Japanese would perish, but this act would, in turn, saved American lives and end the war. Throughout various battles, the Japanese consistently crossed lines of ethics of warfare, and in an attempt to bring justice and an end to the war Truman put forth a plan to bomb Japan. President Truman warned Japan of the upcoming attack and gave demands, but in the end, the Japanese denied those negotiations which led to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

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According to Document G, a memoir of General H. H. Arnold, whether or not the bombs were dropped, the Japanese were already on the verge of surrendering. The United States had already killed about 241,000 people, wounded 313,000, and destroyed about 2,333,000 homes, making it increasingly evident that their decision to drop the bomb was just a selfish and easy manner to end the war. The document also states that the air force was aware that the destruction of most Japanese industries and the prevention of the arrival of the incoming cargo had made it impossible for Japan to carry out a large-scale war. With this fact, the knowledge of their increasing vulnerability was in effect throughout the military and the white house, bringing to light the leverage the United States had going through with the bombings. Overall, the decision to drop the bombs can be viewed as unnecessary as the U.S could have kept fighting knowing that

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Jane Runyon stated that “some civilian leaders even declared the bombs a good thing”. These leaders concluded that if the war continued without the bombs at least a million

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To conclude, the bombs dropped saved the lives of Americans and Japanese people supporting making the necessary decision by the military to drop the atomic

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This shows that not just Truman thought it would save American lives and end the war quickier. In document H, which is a WWII soldiers opinion, it says “only a few weeks before Hiroshima, 123,000 Japanese and Americans killed each other. War is immoral. War is cruel.” If we hadn't dropped the atomic bomb more would be dead and that would affect the world as we know it like, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the new population from 1941-1946 (time of war) dropped so more people were dying than being born then if one million more died our population would of dropped even more and there wouldn’t be enough men to repopulate, so if we didn’t

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The deployment of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by President Truman during WWII is a contentious issue still debated today. With an aim to achieve victory over Japan without any further loss of life or military resources, some say that his decision was logical and ultimately successful in accomplishing national goals. However, others regard this act as immoral claiming that such violence could never be justifiable under any circumstance. In support of dropping the atomic bomb, proponents asserted that it was crucial to quickly end the war and avoid further loss of American lives. According to Document 3, Secretary Stimson believed that deploying the bomb was crucial to quickly end the conflict and avoid a land invasion of Japan, which would have caused more American lives to be lost.

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The atomic bombs had been developed by the U.S. over the course of World War II under the Manhattan Project. President Harry Truman then decided to use them on Japan in a desperate attempt to end the war. Despite the fact that it saved American lives, the dropping of the atomic bombs on

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“Lewis estimates that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to the extent that it induced Japanese surrender, saved the lives of roughly 30 million people” (Dr. Daniel McIntosh). In the press release announcing the dropping of the atomic bomb Truman made a statement that would strongly support the dropping of the bomb. He states, “We have used it to shorten the agony of the war, in order to save the lives of thousands of young Americans.” World War 2 was an agonizing war that America helped. On Top of saving American lives, lives of all nationalities were saved with the end of the

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First, many lives of American soldiers were saved. One unique perspective of this is from Professor Paul Fussell, who without the bombs would have had to invade Tokyo, and would most likely have died. As Paul Fussell said in response to hearing the news of the bombs, ”We were going to live. We were going to grow to adulthood after all”(Doc. H).

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Although the dropping of the Atomic bomb ended the war quickly it was not justified because it was morally and ethically wrong, Japan was ready to surrender, and it led to the start of nuclear warfare. The dropping of the Atomic bomb introduced nuclear warfare. “From this point of view, the way in which the nuclear weapons, now secretly developed in this country,

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was right in dropping the bomb is because if we didn’t, then we had the possibility of losing supplies. If we were to fight on the front then we would have to supply our men with weapons, food, and clothing, making it hard to keep supplies in stock for the people back home. Paul Fussell states, “The people who preferred invasion to A-Bombing seemed to have no intention of proceeding to the Japanese front themselves”. This quote shows that people didn’t want to fight on the front so it would be a waste of our supplies that we could use for something else. And one of the most important reasons of why we would’ve run out of supplies is because trade was slow and not many countries wanted to trade so we wouldn’t have sufficient supplies.

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To think of the Second World War is to think of a very strategic game of chess. The objective is not to beat your opponent simply through fierce head on offense, but to understand the power of a well-planned defense. What moves can you make to keep them in check, how can you determine the threat of your opponent’s next move? The decision to drop the atomic bombs on the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima were just that, a strategic chess move. I argue that the decision to drop the Atomic bombs in Japan were necessary in order to end the war in the pacific, but to also to detour the impending invasion of Japan by the Soviets.

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President Harry Truman gave an executive order in 1945 to drop to atomic bombs in popular downtown cities in Japan. With the guidance of many scientists and political leaders President Truman made the extremely tough decision to drop the bombs. After listening to arguments from both sides President Truman came to the conclusion that dropping bombs would be the best thing to do for this war. It would also show that the United States had an extreme military power. Many American politicians were for the idea of dropping the bomb, because they believed that it was the only way to end the war and get Japan to surrender.

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The dropping of the atomic bombs on World War II on the city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a very important part of World War II. The atomic bomb ended the war between America and Japan. This was just one of the important events during the battle in World War II. The Battle at Pearl Harbor, where the Japanese attacked U.S. soil was also why the americans bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Some believe that the United States was correct in dropping these bombs on Japan because of the attack on Pearl Harbor while others believe that it was very wrong to dropped the bomb.

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