Kaelin's Page: The Atomic Bombs

Once Harry Truman learned that the Manhattan Project (the research and development of an atomic bomb by the US), he realized that he would have to make a decision. He knew the bomb had the capability to end the war with Japan, but he also knew that the bomb would kill many innocent civilians. By this time, the Allies had already won in Europe, but the war in Japan was still going strong. The Allies demanded surrender of the Japanese and warned of mass destruction if they would not, but the Japanese said they would rather fight till the end then surrender unconditionally. After that, Truman decided to drop the bomb. The bombs left awful short term effects of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Health problems came in phases. In the first few weeks, the injuries were mostly burns and broken bones and wounds from falling structures. The next couple of weeks led to damage from the radioactive rays. Victims suffered from loss of hair, anemia, and loss of white blood cells. And the damage lasted forever, victims dealt with deformities, abnormal scarring, sterility, as well as psychosomatic disorders. In addition, they had to somehow count the dead, which was difficult because some bodies were completely vaporized by the bomb and others didn't die immediately, but were killed from the effects of the bombing. In addition to short term health effects, there were also social effects from the bombings. First, the population of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were effected, and many people were left with broken families. The effects from the bombings leaves many people, including myself, wondering, was it really worth it?