“Soldiers and sailors are the target. Not women and children.” <--yet all were affected.
“I’m not thinking about the people who get killed or hurt. I’m thinking about the people who did not get killed or hurt.”
14 July 1945 New Mexico Alamogordo
3 years research. 2 billion dollars.
Equivalent of 67 million sticks of dynamite.
Robert Oppenheimer.
July 1945, war in Europe was over. Nazi Germany surrendered.
Japanese refuse to surrender after fire-bombing.
US 1 million or more casualties
More Japanese.
Prime Minister Suzuki and International Minister Togo.
Japanese wanted to break US’s will to fight.
Emperor was a living God.
General refused to surrender while politicians and Emperor were worried.
Dr. Shuntaro Hida. Suicide bombing.
They were trained to learn that when they got to the front, they wouldn’t return alive.
School girls were trained to attack American soldiers.
Potsdam Conference, Berlim 16 July, 1945, President Truman.
George Elsey
Truman have the Japanese “a chance”. Surrender of armed forces.
Japanese thought US was weakening.
Mokosatsu - kill with silent content.
Paul Tibbets.
2 main members of crew. Bombarder and Navigator.
Theodore Dutch Van Krik.
Hiroshima was Army HQ.
Akiko Takakura.
US deliberately left Hiroshima un-bombed to test how much damage atomic bomb would have on it.
Hiroshima, Kokuro, Nagasagi.
Top secret mission.
5 August Tinnian Island 1945
Plane exploded.
Fredrick Ashworth.
Enola Gay was name of plane.
4 guests from Manchuria. Doctors.
Hida went to help a granddaughter with heat stroke, which is how he got out of Hiroshima and survived.
Russell Gackenbach Navigator of the Necessary Evil.
Suicide pills just in case they fell into Japanese hands.
At first, crew was proud that they had been granted the honor. Later, they were devastated by the effect, shocked, and forever scarred.
Morris “Dick” Jeppson.
Started assembling bomb 15 minutes after takeoff.
6 August 1945.
B20.
Morio Ozaki.
Teruko Fujii.
Kinuko Laskey.
Mushroom cloud.
Tibbet didn’t care (wasn’t emotional).
Blew houses 4 miles away apart.
Shigeru Terasawa. Officer.
Fight between compassion and training.
Acid rain.
20,000 tons of TMT
Ego versus intelligence.
7 August, 1945. Hiroshima. Full scale rescue effort.
Kinuko crawled to railroad station.
2nd bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, but was slightly off. August 9th.
More than 50,000 people died.
Vejade
“My death is my apology for my great crimes.”
Strange illness struck all.
People were rotting. Dying from the inside.
Japan renounced the use of war entirely after what happened.
Sets out lamps every year in remembrance of those who died. Represented soul of people.
Dr. Edward Teller. Father of the Hydrogen Bomb. “To develop the bomb was right. To drop it, was wrong.” Worked on bomb because in a race against Nazi scientists. Wanted to end the war.
The Historical Reader: The Atomic Bomb
Whoops, SS assignment on Hiroshima...