HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI
On July 25, 1945, President Truman signed to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. The Japanese were given a last opportunity to surrender under the Potsdam Declaration, which demanded that Japan surrender unconditionally or face destruction. The Japanese refused.
TRUMAN'S WARNING - Click to play.
On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay took flight with the uranium bomb Little Boy. At 9:15 AM, the first atomic bomb ever used in war was released. Forty-five seconds later, the bomb exploded six miles above Hiroshima.
"As the bomb fell over Hiroshima and exploded, we saw an entire city disappear. I wrote in my log the words, 'My God, what have we done?'"
— Captain Robert Lewis, 1945
— Captain Robert Lewis, 1945
Nagasaki was bombed on three days later on August 9, 1945.
NUCLEAR AFTERMATH: HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI
The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ushered in a new era of destruction of nuclear and violence. The attacks revealed the sheer power of nuclear force.
"...everything started falling down; all the buildings started flying around all over the place. Then something wet started coming down, like rain. I guess that's what they call black rain. In my child's mind, I thought it was oil. I thought the Americans were going to burn us to death. And we kept running. And fire was coming out right behind us."
— Tomiko Morimoto, Hiroshima survivor, 2009
— Tomiko Morimoto, Hiroshima survivor, 2009
Click to enlarge.
"[There were] people whose eyeballs had popped out their sockets. There were those who held their babies – burnt black; they themselves had no skin. There were those whose intestines had come out of their bodies, and confused they struggled to put them back in."
— Mikiso Iwasa, Hiroshima survivor, 2010
— Mikiso Iwasa, Hiroshima survivor, 2010
UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER
Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 10, 1945. Oppenheimer became an instant hero, a celebrity-scientist whose name became synonymous to the end of the war, global peace, and American victory. Americans looked towards a bright future, a sentiment expressed in Oppenheimer's letter in response to a congratulatory letter from Monroe Deutsch.
Dear Dr. Deutsch,
Thank you for your generous and thoughtful letter. You will well understand that for all of us this enterprise of the atomic bomb has been heavy with misgiving and concern, and that your words of encouragement were very specially welcome. We must share the hope that in the years to come men will be glad of this development, and find ways to adapt it to the great human problems of our time...
With every warm good wish,
Robert Oppenheimer
However, Oppenheimer would soon become a political martyr.