Hiroshima

The history of destruction dates back as far as mankind has existed. The constant wars, battles, and death have left an imprint that will forever be engrained into our past. When disastrous events occur, our world begins to change in some way. We often read about the great destruction of World War I, but it's very difficult to know the true feelings and opinions of what was happening during that time. This is one small example in the history of destruction. World War II followed suit when it turned out to be a prime example of human nature reaching the greatest heights of destruction. World War II was ending and the Japanese unexpectingly attacked the U.S. at Pearl Harbor. The U.S. would in turn bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the events that unfolded at the very end of this war, many writings came up regarding the weapons and techniques used during the war, often being very opinionated. A book that does a very good job of giving an outlook to the actual emotions and feelings of the people devastated is "Hiroshima" by John Hersey. Hersey does an amazing job of writing more as a mediator, writing in such a calm and dry manner, that the actual stories of the people involved bring out the true emotions during that dreadful day and their stories speak for themselves. His book was so wonderful that it was published in The New Yorker. The article was based on interviews with atomic bomb survivors and tells their experiences the morning of the blast and for the next few days and weeks. Even after the usage of the atomic bomb, it was necessary and in their best interest for the U.S. to take this action to assure ourselves as a strong and powerful country.

On August 6, 1945 at exactly 8:15 am, the worst of mankind rang free. The United States had for a few years been working on a new weapon of mass destruction called the atomic bomb. Little was known about it in the world, and nothing was known about the amount of destruction it could create. The United States was an allied power and was feeling the pressure of the Japanese military, and knew that they had to resort quickly and powerfully in order to keep control of the war. United States had lost nearly 75,000 soldiers in battles at Okinawa and Iwo Jima. That's when President Truman gave the go ahead on the dropping of the first Atomic Bomb, nicknamed "Little Boy." In the moments that followed the bomb exploding, "nearly 70,000 residents died in the searing flash of heat, and nearly 60% of the city had been destroyed. Whether the use of this particular weapon to be used was justified or not, the world will never know, but for me it was the proper attack. Dr. Leo Szilard, 62, is a Hungarian-born physicist who helped persuade President Roosevelt to launch the A-bomb project and who had a major share in it. In later years, Truman was elected President and he had to make the decision on whether or not to launch the bombs on Japan. Dr .Leo was totally against the use of the bombs on the Japanese and thought that the President was making a wrong choice. When reporters asked Dr. Leo if President Truman really though the whole process through, he states, I don't think Japan would have surrendered unconditionally without the use of force. He is saying that there was a need to use force in order for the Japanese to surrender. There is some evidence saying that Japanese were waiting for any chance to surrender to the U.S but there is no actual proof. Dr. Leo is a physicist not a world leader, he does not know all the things that a President of the U.S. would know. A decision of that kind could not be chosen by a scientist, they are only involved in making a product. They know what the product does inside and out but on a worldly issue they are pretty blinded to the real facts. The opinions of our scientific colleagues on the initial use of these weapons are not unanimous: they range from a purely technical demonstration to that of the military application best designed to induce surrender. With regard to these general aspects of the use of atomic energy, it is clear that we, as scientific men, have no proprietary rights. Powerful leaders have to make big decisions. The decision to drop the bomb may have been wrong in the eyes of many people, but as a leader of the most powerful country in the world you have to be strong and assertive. As a citizen of the U.S I feel safer because the bomb was dropped and many of my relative's lives may have been spared because of it. We recognize our obligation to our nation to use the weapons to help save American lives in the Japanese war. With the U.S acting with quick retaliation Japan will never again attack the U.S. without actually declaring war on us.

Instead of writing another opinionated book, John Hersey goes to Japan after the bomb had been dropped and interviewed many people who had survived the bomb. He would listen to their stories in vivid detail and write about exactly what had happened through the eyes of the survivors. Paying close attention to the gory details and the feelings that arose right after the bomb. Four decades later he went back to Hiroshima to find the people who had told the stories, and to interview them again on how their lives had turned out after being affected so much by this bomb. It is truly sad to read about these Japanese people but we cannot forget about our fellow Americans that suffered. This book makes you really sympathize for the Japanese but that doesn't make the U.S. the bad guy. It is just another book accounting the results from the bombings. Don't get me wrong the people should receive sympathy and so should the American victims but future leaders will receive a greater knowledge from these happenings.

The world will always look at the deaths and happenings and argue over whether it was justified or not. It is very difficult to picture exactly how the world looked without actually being there; and by documenting the stories, Hersey shows us the survivor's feelings first hand. Hersey shows us that these were regular people, all living in fear of death, but becoming very accustomed to the allied planes flying overhead and potentially dropping bombs. The people of this city were continually hearing stories of nearby cities and towns being bombed or attacked, and were constantly filled with anxiety that soon enough there turn would come. How it would come, they would never see coming. These people had a chance to leave the area and move to a different location or do something to live in a better environment. The people at Pearl Harbor had absolutely no clue of what was going on. Bay deftly captures the patriotism and the loss of innocence of the young men and women who were suddenly thrust into the war. If you watch the movie directed by Michael Bay, he gives us a view that makes us feel extremely unhappy for what happened to our fellow