Bakker, Don. "Push Ahead to Final Victory.

" Ending the War Against Japan: Science,

Morality, and the Atomic Bomb (2002): 50. Rpt. in Providence: Brown U, 2002.
Print.
This article was found within a book full of articles about the Second World War.
This article depicts and illustrates the militant American point of view during the
end of the Second World War. As I read this article I began to develop a greater
understanding as to why so many Americans saw it fit to drop the nuclear bombs
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A very pressing reason, especially to President
Truman, was that he felt that it was necessary to end the war as quickly as
possible, while simultaneously preserving as many American lives as possible.
The nuclear bombs looked like a very viable option. To add to the pressure to use
these weapons, Truman felt that it was his moral responsibility to use the bomb
after having spent two billion dollars developing nuclear arms. Many Americans
believed that the Japanese would fight like barbarians, down to the very last man.
Truman believed that calling for a nuclear strike on Japanese cities would be the
most effective method of ending the war on our terms; that even if the Japanese
did not surrender after the first nuclear strike, they would be forced to surrender
after the second, or third. Japan committed terrible and atrocious crimes against
humanity, such as the, Bataan Death March or the, torture and extinction of
allied prisoners. President Truman was presented with this idea, The Japanese
will admit defeat only in the face of overwhelming military force. It is too late for
negotiations, the Japanese militarists must not be permitted to reach a face-saving
compromise that will rescue them from utter defeat in other words, Japan will
not give up until they are all dead, or America is all dead. It was also stated that
the Japanese emperor legitimized Japans aggression and that a, demonstration
of the atomic bomb would serve no purpose, and is less convincing than one that
flattens thousands of buildings. In addition, we can not risk the possibility that
Japan would shoot down the plane dropping a demonstration bomb. What all of
these texts are saying is that there are extremely negative repercussions if America
choose not to drop the bomb on Japan, and that this seems to be the only option
left for America, in order to prevent tens of thousands of young Americans from
dying.
This article stems from a compilation of articles found and put together by the
Watson Institute for International Studies, at Brown University. Brown University
is well known and respected establishment of education.
I found this article useful because it will help me to give readers a different
viewpoint on the conflict. I have heard that different nations view history
differently. I believe that this is no exception, however, to try to get to the bottom
of why there was ever a conflict to begin with, we will need to look at the conflict
from either sides perspective. As you know, many times during global conflicts,
yellow journalism and exaggeration gets out of control. Here we have found an
extremely militant view as to why America needed to use the nuclear bomb in
order to end the war on our terms. I am not sure what our terms means in this
context, I can only assume that it would mean a brilliant display of American
power.

Brewster, Emily, ed. "Terrorism." Def. 1. Merriam-Webster. N.d. Merriam-Webster.

Britannica. Web. 24 July 2015. I chose this article because I would like to be able
to give my readers the ability to read what exactly "terrorism" is, and whether
they would consider the act dropping two nuclear bombs on Japan to be "terrorist"
activity. I would like this article to provoke thought from my readers; I would like
my readers to wonder, "Has America committed terrorist activity?" The first
definition of terrorism on Merriam-Webster's dictionary is, "the use of violent acts
to frighten the people in an area as a way of trying to achieve a political goal." my
readers need to get the chance to begin to wonder whether a nuclear strike on a
Japanese city, filled with civilians was a violent act used to frighten people in that
area, in order to achieve a goal.
Merriam-Webster is a well-known Dictionary; it is well established, having been
founded in 1831.
This source is useful to my essay because I personally consider the Bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki to be Terrorist activity, and I would like my readers to be
able to determine for them selves if they deem that the definition of, terrorist
matches the damage done to the people of Japan.
Durham, Helen, comp. "Section 3, Session 2." Proc. of Expert Meeting Explosive
Weapons In Populated Areas Humanitarian, Legal, Technical, and Military
Aspects, Switzerland, Chavannes-De-Bogis. ICRC. International Committee of
the Red Cross, Feb. 2015. Web. July 2015. In this comprehensive and complete
expert's meeting, Different Government experts and humanitarian leaders met in
Switzerland in order to discuss a sad topic, the use of weapons in highly
populated civilian areas. The meeting's booklet is very detailed; it chronicles
procedures for all different types of explosives commonly used in modern
warfare, from grenades to improvised explosive devices. This expert's meeting
covers it all. On page 8 of this article the committee of the red cross releases this
statement, "when armed conflicts are fought in populated areas, every civilian
home destroyed means a family left homeless; every neighborhood reduced to
rubble means livelihoods lost; every dry water tap and power cut threatens
peoples health and lives. In the face of this devastation, surviving civilians often
have no choice but to leave, and their displacement is often long-lasting."
unfortunately this is true for many areas f the globe currently ravaged by global
conflict, and the same applies to Japan. After japan was struck, millions of lives
were changed forever. Many times during warfare in urban areas the civilians are
not thought of, however according to the committee of the Red Cross the attacker
has, "the obligation to take all feasible precautions to minimize incidental loss of
civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects." I find this material
relevant because America did the exact opposite of that. Not only did America not
Bomb a military base, with fair warning as was stated by Truman; instead, the
American government dropped two bombs, on civilian areas, with no intention to
kill any military personnel, and with no regard for civilian life.
This Article comes form a meeting held by the "Red Cross," an internationally
recognized humanitarian organization, with a particularly strong focus on human
life.

My purpose for including this source is to be able to give my readers the chance
to hold the American government and the choices that it has made, to an
internationally recognized standard.
McDonald, Mark. Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Survivor of 2 Atomic Blasts, Dies at 93. OchsSulzberger, 6 Jan. 2010. Web. 23 July. 2015
This article elaborates on the lasting effects in Japan as a result of the American
nuclear strikes, but it is from none other than the only man to have survived both
bombings, Tsutomu Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi was an engineer for Mitsubishi. He
was in Hiroshima on a business trip when America dropped the bomb named
little boy on the city. According to Mr. Yamaguchi, he was less than two miles
away from ground zero that day. The blast ruptured his eardrums, as well as
managed to burn his entire upper torso. The force of the explosion also managed
to level most of the citys buildings and kill 80,000 people. Unfortunately, after
spending the night in a bomb shelter, Yamaguchi decided to make his way back to
Nagasaki. When Yamaguchi arrived in his hometown, he went to work, and he
began telling his boss all about the Hiroshima explosion when suddenly, in his
own words, Suddenly the same white light filled the room. I thought the
mushroom cloud had followed me from Hiroshima. Soon after, Japan
surrendered. However, the massacre was far from over, all of Yamaguchis
daughters believe that the black rain poison from the nuclear fallout, as they
called it, was passed on to them. This source stems from an interview of Tsutomu
Yamaguchi himself, conducted by writers and staff of, The New York Times a
well-known Newspaper, founded during the year 1851.
This source is relevant because this text provides a much needed first hand
account of an actual historic event that claimed the lives of hundreds of
thousands.
McDougal, Marina. Remembering Nagasaki. Exploratorium Museum of Art Science and
Human Perception. Web. 24 Jul. 2015.
I chose to cite this entire website because it gives valuable information, texts and
perspectives from a humanitarian point of view. One text, in particular that
fascinated me was, Why did America kill 100,000 Japanese in a fire-bombing
raid less than 10 hours before the surrender, less that 10 hours after Nagasaki?
Why did America use two bombs, instead of one? Why civilian areas? The bomb
is a penultimate symbol of the racism and genocide. This quote is very deep to
me because it brings up very interesting questions, Why did America kill
100,000 Japanese in a fire bombing raid less than 10 hours before the surrender?
Or perhaps, Why did America use two bombs instead of one? all of these
questions are excellent and I would like to be able to point them out so that my
reader can think for themselves and wonder for themselves, why does the school
system overlook the fact that America killed countless women and children. This
website also gives a very detailed account of a man, Yosuke Yamahata, who
decided to photograph and chronicle Nagasaki after it was bombed. Yamahata
speaks of all of the mass carnage in his statement, Around two in the afternoon
[shortly after the bombing] doctors and nurses arrived at Michino-o Train Station,
but my impression is that only a few hundred people received medical treatment,
and all the rest died. This was the terrible reality of the Bombing in Japan,

thousands died; its safe to say that America wasnt aiming for soldiers either.
From his own perspective, It [the bombing] was perhaps unforgivable, but in fact
at the time, I was completely calm and composed. In other words, perhaps it was
just too much, too enormous to absorb. This is an unfortunate reality of the
Japanese people during the nuclear strikes of World War Two. This website is
credible because there are no ads, and the creators of the website want nothing
more than to educate the masses.
This website comes form the Exploratorium Museum of Art, Science, and
Human Perspective.
This article is useful because it employs the use of pictures and powerful quotes
from survivors to show the audience the brutal reality of the damage that atomic
power can cause.
Stimson, Henry and McBundy, George. "How the Decision Was Made." Harper's
Magazine 21 Oct. 1945: 101+. Print.
This article was released shortly after World War Two, it was released in order to
explain the decision making process to the American people. What is most
interesting about this article is the fact that it acknowledges the fact that
Americans knew that the Japanese had already begun negotiating surrender to the
U.S. with the Soviet Union, in hopes that the Soviet Union would be the mediator.
However, American leaders did not consider these negotiations seriously.
American leaders were still focused on how many men were left in the Japanese
fighting forces, as well as how many American lives could potentially be lost
during a full scale invasion of Japan. Unable to see hopes of the Japanese
delegates having any form of integrity, and without any empathy for the families
in Japan, American leaders made the decision to drop the nuclear bombs on Japan.
This is relevant because I want my readers to be able to understand why the
American people stood behind a nuclear attack. Once you read what the
magazines of that time were posting and what they were indoctrinating the
citizens of America with, then you will be able to understand how the decision
was made.
This source is reputable because it was written shortly after the end of the war
against Japan, with the company, Harpers Magazines being founded way back
in 1850.
I would like my reader to be able to look through the American militants point of
view, and gain a better understanding as to why the American leaders dropped the
nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Truman, Harry S. "July 25, 1945." Letter to Harry Truman. 25 July 1947.
Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. National Archives and Records
Administration, 2001. Web. 24 July 2015.
This source comes directly from the man himself - President Harry Truman.
Without the approval of President Truman, the nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and
Nagasaki would have never been dropped. It was the Presidents decision to drop
these bombs. In his letter, the reader is granted the opportunity to be able to
witness the gravity and intensity of the situation. The reader almost feels the panic
that so easily emerges from the stressed writing of President Truman. The reader
sees President Truman justify dropping, what he calls, "the most terrible bomb in

the history of the world." President Truman justifies dropping the bomb on Japan,
not on a civilian city, but on a naval base, or an army base. President Truman took
special care in making sure that no women and children would be harmed as a
result of this, "terrible bomb." this source comes from the "Harry S. Truman
Library and Museum."
The Harry S. Truman Library is one of just ten presidential libraries, all of which
are administered by the National Archives and Records Administration.
This source is useful because it allows its readers to see another firsthand account
of history. This source will allow my readers to see how the President Himself
was struggling with his own moral reservations and setbacks before dropping this
this bomb. This source will be one of many intended to provoke free thought and
analysis on whether it was morally justifiable to have used nuclear power.
Zinn, Howard. Voices of a Peoples History of the United States. 140 Watts Street, New
York, N.Y. 10013: Seven Stories Press, 2004 Print.
This exert from the book, voices of a peoples History of the United States speaks
volumes about the damage inflicted on the Japanese by the nuclear strikes of
America. Rather than incorporating the viewpoint of a soldier, or a general, Zinn
decides to do something different; he chose to listen to the terrible story of the
nuclear strike on Japan by someone who had experienced it first hand, a little girl
named Yamaoka Michiko. Yamaoka describes in detail how her day went, and the
events leading up to the bombing. Yamaoka speaks of her mothers warnings to be
careful and to, watch out, the B-29s might come again. (A B-29 was a large
airplane, nicknamed the Super-fortress it was commonly used during WWII
bombing runs) She goes on to describe her last thoughts before what she thought
was going to be her early death, that the bombing was soundless and that she
felt colors. She addressed all of the carnage that she had to endure. After
surviving, Yamaoka spoke of how she couldnt recognize herself, and how her
skin was hanging like a monster. The only medicine was tempura oil, as she put
it on her self, flies swarmed her, covering her wounds. She goes on to speak on
how she looked like such a monster, her own mother tried to choke her to death.
The Japanese government offered no help; they simply stated, You are not the
only victims of war.
This exert was taken from Howard Zinn, who was a historian, playwright, activist,
and political science professor at Boston University. I found this source useful,
because it provokes an emotional response from the readers. I am not using this
article to try to manipulate my readers to think a certain way about my essay. I
believe that this source is among the most accurate sources that anyone could
hope to find, when researching and looking for information about an event as
terrible as this a first hand account.
I also believe that this article is objective as it is a young womans first hand
account of the Nuclear strike, she also has no reason to lie. I found this material
useful because I want my readers to realize the essence of human suffering that
came as a result of the nuclear strike.