Ray Cao

History 1700
Professor Mark Welsh
Reflection
In American history, weve had some dark moments one would be the bombing of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Some would say the bombing of the two cities was justified because of
Pearl Harbor. Even though we lost some people in Pearl Harbor it doesnt even compare to how
much Japan lost. At Pearl Harbor, we lost 2,403 people and 1,178 people were injured. While
just only in Hiroshima 80,000 people were killed and then tens of thousands more would die
later of the radiation exposure. Then the second bomb killed an estimate of 40,000 people this
left Japan no choice but to surrender.
Before the bombings, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor engaging us into WW2. A
group of scientists, also refugees from Europe, were concerned of Germany conducting research
on nuclear weapons. We decided to conduct our own development of atomic weapons with the
help of these scientists. The development was called the Manhattan Project; over the years they
have tested with key materials used for nuclear fissure such as uranium and plutonium. One test
proved to be successful on the morning of July 16, 1945 the first plutonium bomb was detonated.
The bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima was called Little Boy and the one dropped on
Nagasaki was called Fat Man. The creation of these atomic weapons made the United States one
of the feared countrys in the world which lead to the development of other atomic weapons in
other states and countries. I have seen videos of the bombings and it make me so scared and sad
how much damage they can do. These weapons should have never been developed but if we
didnt have them other countries would.

References
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki