The Days of the Bomb

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The Days of the Bomb The main goal of the Pacific War was to stop the Japanese from getting out of control. The U.S. government needed to send a message that Japan cannot be allowed to carry out their military imperialism. By 1945, the War in the Pacific was turning quickly to the United States’ favor. The United States Army was island hopping, taking each island and moving on to the next, toward the Japanese mainland. However, the Japanese refused surrender. They withstood each attack and refused to run until fully defeated. Although, the United States Army was relentlessly and inevitably moving towards the Japanese mainland, the Army was still losing troops and equipment. Army officials estimated it would take until the fall of the following year to reach the main island of Japan. In that time, several hundred thousand lives would be lost on both sides. The Japanese were showing absolutely no sign of surrender. The United States had to do something drastic to end the war. They had just one option: the atomic bomb. An experiment had been conducted in New Mexico involving the harnessing of the power of the atom. This device would be used in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as the United States’ chance to end World War II quickly. The decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima came directly from then President Harry S Truman. Additional American lives were lost each day. However, Truman knew about the successful testing of the atomic bomb. On the advice of his cabinet, he decided that the bomb was to be used as soon as humanly possible. The whole idea of the atomic bomb was to use it solely as a military weapon, just as any gun or grenade. Truman knew that unleashing the power of atomic energy in the form of a weapon would have serious consequences on the entire world. However, looking at the outcome of war, there was no doubt that World War II was already having that affect on the globe. The bomb was just part of the whole war. Truman, in his memoirs, even said, "I regarded the bomb as a military weapon and never had any doubt that it should be used."1 Any effects of the bomb would just be casualties of war. Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain, also saw the bomb as the only way to end the war.

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