Lately, there has been a lot of talk about Obama 's recent visit to Hiroshima, Japan. As the first acting United States President to visit ground zero, and a supporter of ending the use of nuclear weapons, many people were anticipating an apology from President Obama. Additionally, his visit to Japan had risen much controversy over whether bombing Japan needs an apology, and what an apology would say about our country. Although Obama did not issue an apology on his visit, there is still a debate about whether one should be issued in the future. The United States should not apologize for dropping an atomic bomb on Japan since dropping the bomb saved many civilians by avoiding the invasion of Japan. Also, Japan has never apologized for their own war crimes. Lastly, those questioning the wartime decision of 70 years ago did not feel the necessity to end the war, thus, all the speculation over the bombs is after thought. In 1945, President Truman approved the use of two Atomic Bombs on Japan; one went to Hiroshima on August 6th, and another on Nagasaki three days later. On these two infamous days, United States sent planes with equal to 15 to 21 kilotons of TNT to Japan. These bombs flattened more than a one-mile radius around ground zero within seconds of the blast. The total cost of both bombs is above 135,000 lives of mostly women, elders, and children. The decision to drop two bombs came from General Leslie Groves, the director of the Manhattan Project, after he spoke with an admiral who had studied Japanese character, Japanese wartime reactions, and served in the orient during the interwar period. This decision, although it had dire consequences, stopped the ongoing war, which was predicted to last until 1947 if the United States chose to invade Japan. Although many would argue that Japan was on the verge of defeat, Japan refused both an unconditional and conditional surrender offer given to them by the United States. Due to Japan 's intense pride and they 're being unwilling to admit defeat, Japan suffered nuclear blasts to end a tiresome war. Dropping the atomic bombs saved many lives by avoiding invading Japan’s mainland.
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Before dropping the two bombs in Japan, there were many studies done throughout United Stated Military Officials to estimate the number of lives an invasion of Japan’s mainland would cost. A study was done in May and then another done in August of 1945 indicated that an invasion would cost a half a million American lives, along with a half million more Japanese lives (Kagan 20). Anyone can understand the fear these military leaders had of risking a half million of their own troops and citizens to a such a cause. Although calculations could not compare a number of casualties the bomb would leave versus the amount of casualties invading Japan would cost, a pretest for the atomic bomb, performed in Alamogordo, New Mexico, showed the effects of the atom bomb. It could not show the destruction a bomb of such power could inflict on an inhabited city, but those involved in the study could understand the big difference between destroying a city and destroying a country. Furthermore, many critics today say that invading Japan would not have cost near as many lives as suggested in the study explained above. This could be true, but the reality is that no matter what the study says, we do not know the number of lives that victory in Japan would have cost (Kagan 20). The use of the atomic bombs ended the war quicker than a land invasion saved the lives of countless American and Japanese soldiers. The fact that the atomic bombs saved more than 500,000 American soldiers should be enough to prove that the atomic bombs were a justified, if not a necessary military decision. Additionally, the United States prepared for the cost of lives invading Japan would have. As part of the United States’ Preparation, they printed out a lot of purple hearts, which is a medal given to those wounded or killed in battle. The United States printed Approximately 500,000 purple hearts in anticipation of the Japan invasion of 1945 (Moore, Giangreco). That is one for every man to be
Before dropping the two bombs in Japan, there were many studies done throughout United Stated Military Officials to estimate the number of lives an invasion of Japan’s mainland would cost. A study was done in May and then another done in August of 1945 indicated that an invasion would cost a half a million American lives, along with a half million more Japanese lives (Kagan 20). Anyone can understand the fear these military leaders had of risking a half million of their own troops and citizens to a such a cause. Although calculations could not compare a number of casualties the bomb would leave versus the amount of casualties invading Japan would cost, a pretest for the atomic bomb, performed in Alamogordo, New Mexico, showed the effects of the atom bomb. It could not show the destruction a bomb of such power could inflict on an inhabited city, but those involved in the study could understand the big difference between destroying a city and destroying a country. Furthermore, many critics today say that invading Japan would not have cost near as many lives as suggested in the study explained above. This could be true, but the reality is that no matter what the study says, we do not know the number of lives that victory in Japan would have cost (Kagan 20). The use of the atomic bombs ended the war quicker than a land invasion saved the lives of countless American and Japanese soldiers. The fact that the atomic bombs saved more than 500,000 American soldiers should be enough to prove that the atomic bombs were a justified, if not a necessary military decision. Additionally, the United States prepared for the cost of lives invading Japan would have. As part of the United States’ Preparation, they printed out a lot of purple hearts, which is a medal given to those wounded or killed in battle. The United States printed Approximately 500,000 purple hearts in anticipation of the Japan invasion of 1945 (Moore, Giangreco). That is one for every man to be