The Day That Changed the World

       On August 6, 1945 the Enola Gay, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world's first atomic weapon on Hiroshima, Japan on the orders of U.S. President Harry Truman in an attempt to end World War II. The Japanese were relentless during the war, killing and terrorizing hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers and civilians throughout the Far East, vowing to never surrender. The bomb- the direct result of the top secret Manhattan Project started under President Franklin Roosevelt- immediately killed 80,000 people, injuring 35,000; another 60,000 would die later from the effects of nuclear fallout. Despite the devastation, which included thousands of structures destroyed, Japanese Emperor Hirohito refused to end the war. It would take another horrific bomb dropped three days later on the Japanese city of Nagasaki to prompt the Japanese to give up their fight.

       Historians and geopolitical observers have debated these events for decades, some arguing that nuclear weapons can never be justified under any circumstances, others (mostly military experts) noting that this use of nuclear weapons DID end the war, which had raged for almost six years and taken millions of lives. Some people today, in the year 2018 say that there are no circumstances which could possibly justify their usage, regardless of war. Truman knew that the war would rage on for years, the Japanese never surrendering, unless he did something drastic to cause them to relent. More war would mean tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of American lives being lost- and this was unacceptable to him. It is this historian's view that, while the results of the bombings were horrible and essentially unimaginable to us today, Truman made the right decision. Japan surrendered days later, a ceremony aboard the USS Missouri with General Douglas MacArthur overseeing the historic event.

       The lessons of history are often hard to learn. Sometimes we need to see horror so that we can prevent even greater ones from occurring in the future. It is ironic that today Japan is an ally of the United States. Not many people dwell on the fact that Japan brutally attacked our sailors at Pearl Harbor, killing thousands on that day in December 1941. We have the perspective of history now which allows us to review the past, learn from our mistakes and make a better world. On this historic anniversary, let us say a simple prayer for all those who perished at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and throughout World War II... to let them know we have learned our lessons well...