The Survivor

A 93 year old man named Tsutomu Yamaguchi is the only recognized survivor of not only one, but both atomic bombings. He died January 4, 2010 from stomach cancer. As a resident of Nagasaki, Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip when his city was bombed at 8:15am on August 6, 1945. He returned home just before the second attack. He lost hearing in his left ear as a result of the Hiroshima explosion. His wife suffered from radiation poisoning after the Nagasaki explosion and died in 2008 at the age of 88. She died from liver and kidney cancer after a lifetime of illness. They had three children that reported to have suffered from health problems that they thought they got from their parent's exposure.

Albert Einstein's Letter to Roosevelt

Albert Einstein Old Grove Rd. Nassau Point Peconic, Long Island August 2nd 1939 F.D. Roosevelt President of the United States White House Washington, D.C. Sir: Some recent work by E.Fermi and L. Szilard, which has been com- municated to me in manuscript, leads me to expect that the element uran- ium may be turned into a new and important source of energy in the im- mediate future. Certain aspects of the situation which has arisen seem to call for watchfulness and, if necessary, quick action on the part of the Administration. I believe therefore that it is my duty to bring to your attention the following facts and recommendations: In the course of the last four months it has been made probable - through the work of Joliot in France as well as Fermi and Szilard in America - that it may become possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium,by which vast amounts of power and large quant- ities of new radium-like elements would be generated. Now it appears almost certain that this could be achieved in the immediate future. This new phenomenon would also lead to the construction of bombs, and it is conceivable - though much less certain - that extremely power- ful bombs of a new type may thus be constructed. A single bomb of this type, carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory. However, such bombs might very well prove to be too heavy for transportation by air.

-2- The United States has only very poor ores of uranium in moderate quantities. There is some good ore in Canada and the former Czechoslovakia. while the most important source of uranium is Belgian Congo. In view of the situation you may think it desirable to have more permanent contact maintained between the Administration and the group of physicists working on chain reactions in America. One possible way of achieving this might be for you to entrust with this task a person who has your confidence and who could perhaps serve in an inofficial capacity. His task might comprise the following: a) to approach Government Departments, keep them informed of the further development, and put forward recommendations for Government action, giving particular attention to the problem of securing a supply of uran- ium ore for the United States; b) to speed up the experimental work,which is at present being car- ried on within the limits of the budgets of University laboratories, by providing funds, if such funds be required, through his contacts with y private persons who are willing to make contributions for this cause, and perhaps also by obtaining the co-operation of industrial laboratories which have the necessary equipment. I understand that Germany has actually stopped the sale of uranium from the Czechoslovakian mines which she has taken over. That she should have taken such early action might perhaps be understood on the ground that the son of the German Under-Secretary of State, von Weizsäcker, is attached to the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut in Berlin where some of the American work on uranium is now being repeated. Yours very truly, (Albert Einstein)

Einstein consulted with a number of groups
 working on the bomb, but people didn’t trust him.
 He was unable to work with them full time on 
the project so he worked with Vannevar Bush on the side. The atomic bomb could have been built without 
the letters Einstein wrote, but it was the US’s 
early work on the Atom Bomb that allowed them to
 win the war against Japan before Russia could
 enter.

The Big Decision at the Potsdam Conference

An early morning meeting on April 2nd, the "Big Three" leaders met at Potsdam, Germany. President Truman, Soviet Premier Stalin and British Prime Minister Churchill and Atlee dissertated post-war arrangements in Europe as well as future plans in the war against Japan. These plans included the dropping of the Atomic Bombs.

The atom bomb was no "great decision." It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness.

Harry S. Truman

On July 24 I casually mentioned to Stalin that we had a new weapon of unusual destructive force. The Russian Premier showed no special interest. All he said was he was glad to hear it and hoped we would make "good use of it against the Japanese."

Winston Churchill

Thesis and Abstract

The United States was unjustified in dropping the two atomic bombs because thousands of people died and physical deformities plagued the japanese people for many generations. The bombs also caused countries to distrust the U.S. and started the confusion of the Cold War.

If atomic bombs were morally correct, why haven't they been used since Nagasaki dropping? The Americans suffered from more than 50,000 deaths, while the Vietnamese numbers doubled and had over 1 million deaths. The Atomic Bomb was supposed to be used to end the war and to save lives. It may have ended the war, but it did exactly the opposite of saving lives.

No matter what the political goal may be, intentionally killing an agglomeration of non-combatants is not a morally acceptable decision.