Hiroshima Bombing Affects
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The Affects of the Atomic Bomb on the People of Hiroshima
The morning of August 6, 1945 in Hiroshima, Japan did not begin in any exceptional way; in fact, the people had no idea that they were about to be part of one of the most significant mornings in all of history. At 8:15 am, the United States Army Air Forces dropped the first atomic bomb, ironically called, when one considers the enormity of the bomb's significance, the "Little Boy" (Neuharth, 2005). Three days later, the U.S. dropped a second bomb, nicknamed the "Fat Man" on the town of Nagasaki, Japan (Wikipedia Encyclopedia, 2006). Historically, the use of the atomic bombs is seen as a decision that the United States made during WWII in order to end the war with Japan; this decision will be further discussed later in the paper (Frank, 2005). Regardless of the motivation for using the bombs, they left a death toll of 210,000 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Neuharth, 2005). This paper will focus on the first bombing, in Hiroshima. The bombing of Hiroshima, Japan not only changed the physical and emotional health, and culture of the Japanese people, but also changed the world.
According to the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the population in Japan in October 1940 was estimated to be 73,114,308; in November 1945 the population was estimated at 71,998,104. Japan was visibly a thriving country that was hit very hard by the bombing.
Why did the United States bomb Japan in August 1945? Was Japan a threat? Or more disturbingly, was the U.S. just testing out their power? In 1945, most people in the
United States thought that it was absolutely necessary to bomb Japan. The citizens of the United States thought that the bombings put an end to the Pacific War, and saved countless lives (Frank, 2005). At the time of the bombing, 50 million people had already died in WWII (Kingsbury, 2005). On the other hand, some critics state that Japan's situation in 1945 was already "catastrophically hopeless," and prior to the bombing, Japanese leaders were preparing to surrender in the summer of 1945(Frank, 2005). It has even been suggested that the United States had decoded Japan's messages, and were aware of the impending surrender when they dropped the bomb, thus making the horrors unleashed on Hiroshima completely unnecessary. Lastly, and most disturbingly, it has been proposed that the bomb may have been dropped because of President Truman's desire to intimidate the USSR (Frank, 2005). It is likely that we will never know the complete truth of why the bomb was dropped, but what is distressingly clear are the facts of what came after the bomb.
The bombings brought about very painful physical effects that crippled the nation of Japan for many years. According to Young and Edwards (2005), after the bombings, any humans that survived the initial blast were suffering from radiation exposure. Forty-five percent of 280,000 people who survived the exposure were still alive, sixty years later, and become part of the largest study ever to be conducted for the long-term effects of radiation poisoning. The study resulted in many upsetting findings. One of the most significant is that exposure to radiation increases the long-term risks of cancer, and that
the risk lasts a lifetime. Unborn children exposed to radiation on average grow to be smaller and less intelligent than their peers, and their risk of developing leukemia peaked
after ten years (Yong& Edwards, 2005). Many of the women that were pregnant at the time of the bombing gave birth to children with congenital malformations that were attributed to the radiation (Ohara, 2005).
In an article written by Ryoko Ohara (2005) about the experiences of nurses immediately following the bombing, the author writes, "Within hours, the enormity of the attacks had become apparent; long queues formed at first aid stations and hospitals, but most of the Atomic Bomb Victims with third-degree burns were unable to reach first aid stations and died on the way" (Ohara, 12). She also states that, "Those who did make it to help had burns so severe that, not only were the person's clothes completely burned away, the extent of their injuries made it impossible to establish their gender". Due to their wounds, only ten percent of the bombing victims were expected to live past two weeks. Not only were the nurses were exhausted, but they quickly ran out of supplies, and their available treatment was not sophisticated enough to help the worst wounded. Ultimately, there was no cure for the unbelievable pain that the victims endured. Feeling helpless, the nurses could only wait for the Atomic Bomb Victims to die. In 1945, there was almost no experience with acute radiation poisoning, and so the nurses believed that the city had been struck with an outbreak of dysentery in the first few weeks following the explosion. Official Figures confirm that 89,833 people died, and probably another 50,000 were killed (but were not identified and cannot be included in official figures) and between
350,000 and 360,000 were subsequently identified as "atomic bomb victims" (Hiroshima City 1971) (Ohara 12).
The number of physical symptoms that survivors experienced following the bombings was significant. According to the Journal of the Hiroshima Medical Association in 1967, common reported symptoms were: Amnesic condition, emotional intolerance, dizziness, having a heavy head or constant headache, insomnia, disturbances of metabolism and nutrition, just to name a few. Also peoples had cases of liver dysfunction, cardiovascular disorder, endocrinological diseases that were a direct result of the bombings.
The affects on the land were devastating. The bomb literally destroyed everything in its path. Almost no one within 800 meters of the bomb's blast survived (Powell 2005). Shockingly, just the shells of two buildings were left standing in the immediate vicinity of the explosion site. The decimated land was such a horrifying site, that the US. Occupation authorities, fearing retaliation from the Japanese even after formal surrender, seized all photographs of the destruction. It is beyond most people's comprehension what it must have been like for the survivors. Already traumatized by the bomb itself, the people still had to face collecting and then disposing of the bodies, and then cleaning up
the wreckage. Over 11.5 sq. km had to be cleared; the process took and exhausting four years to complete (Powell 2005).
One of the most tragic consequences was the damage done to Hiroshima's families. According to the Atomic Bomb Museum in "2005", there were 6,500 orphans in the city of Hiroshima following the bombing. It is estimated that four thousand of these
children were orphaned due to the bombing. Alone in the world with no one to care for them, these children faced a terrifying plight, in a city that was left in ruins. While some found
their way safely through this world, many more were forced to live a life of crime in order to survive or were even less lucky and lost the battle to sickness or suicide.
Another population that was struck extra hard by the bombing was the elderly. Dependent on their offspring or spouses to support them in their later years, many thousands found themselves completely lost when their loved ones were killed (Atomic Bomb Museum 2005). It was very hard for this population to recover from the bomb if they were injured. Because there is little research about this population, we can only guess at what their experience was like.
Although the Japanese culture does not always openly discuss emotions, the people did face emotional damage due to the bombings (Steinkopff 2004). Japanese culture has high expectations that its people should cope with stress on their own (Goto & Wilson 2003). This pain and stress was mostly seen through the somatization symptoms and anxiety. Other symptoms reported were survivor guilt, a sense of being tainted or contaminated, traumatic dreams and flashbacks, avoidance, and emotional detachment. Those that were closer to the explosion reported higher levels of anxiety than those who were located farther away. Even after seventeen years, those that had experienced the bombing were still reporting higher levels of anxiety than their peers who did not experience of the bombing; these findings show the emotional affects of the bomb are
long term (Steinkopff 2004). Such extreme anxiety is completely imaginable when one looks at all the things that the Japanese people were forced to face almost instantaneously.
Not only were people dying everywhere, but for the first time people were faced with the genuine possibility that a weapon had been created that could easily annihilate the entire human race. Also the immensity of the incredible destruction and chaos inflicted on the survivors had never been seen before. Next, never before had one bomb impacted any people, area or environment so greatly. In addition, the medical consequences of radiation exposure were not well understood at that time, making the lives of survivors that much more challenging. Lastly, because the consequences of radiation were poorly understood, survivors were stigmatized in their culture (Goto & Wilson 2003).
Unlike the people of Hiroshima the man that flew the plane that dropped the atomic bomb suffered no emotional trauma. The pilot, Paul Tibbets, says that he has no regrets about using the bomb (Terkel 2002). In fact, he actually named the plane Enola Gay after his mother. Tibbets feels that he, "did was I was told," and that he was defending his country to the best of his ability. He also says that he knew that he would be killing a lot of people, but he would also save a lot of lives because then the US would not have to invade Japan. Tibbets recognizes that innocent people were killed but says, "We've never fought a damn war anywhere in the world where they didn't kill innocent people." The decision to use the atomic bomb was very complicated, and affected many different people in many different ways (Terkel 2002).
"The explosion occurred less than half a mile above the city and destroyed 90 percent of the downtown buildings" (Bowerman 2006). Despite the incredible loss and
hurt the people of Hiroshima they have pushed forward. No city in the world has both the cause and dedication to protest the development of nuclear weapons. Since 1968 to 2004
The mayor's of Hiroshima have written 588 protest letters to all the head of nations that are going or able to conduct nuclear weapons tests (Bowerman 2006). Initially the
survivors were focused on retaliation, but over time their focus has shifted to educating others of what their people had to go through to get to where they are today.
Was the bomb ever really needed? Could we as a country, have gone without killing so many people and still be a striving country? Is there anyway possible that this didn't have to happen? The bombings were not completely necessary and for us to just kill thousands and thousands of innocent people looks ridiculous and not completely thought through. It is a debatable with many individuals whether it really was necessary to drop the bomb, because it did so much damage, yet many are also backing their government because the military is keeping the US safe. But is there more?
Are there other countries that can produce such a deadly force without having any emotion? Are we as a world going to see another country such as the US kill innocent people because we found that it would benefit so many? The countries today that have the bombing capabilities are the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, India and Pakistan (Wikipedia 2006). Countries such as North Korea and Israel strongly believe that they have a bomb that has such a severity.
How can we as a world educate and stop another bombing such as the one that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in the early morning of August 6th, 1945? Is it at all possible? Today, Hiroshima, Japan is a pleasant and prosperous city, totaling 1.1 million
people, but it wasn't always like that. From this information I hope that we all take into consideration that a bombing such as the one in Japan, is not the right thing to do. And
until all other resources don't come to benefit, there is no reason to kill innocent people. And although this bombing changed the world physically and mentally it also killed off
many things needed to make this world a living place. Until we can find peace among on another, bombings and fighting will occur. But lets pray that none with the severity that was left on Hiroshima, Japan in the mid 1940's.
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