The Day the World Went Nuclear Page 13
George H. W. Bush joined the navy in 1942 on his eighteenth birthday, earning his wings as a naval aviator before he turned nineteen. He was assigned to the Pacific on the aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto, where he flew fifty-eight combat missions during the war. On September 2, 1944, exactly one year before the Japanese surrender, he was forced to bail out when his Avenger torpedo bomber was hit by enemy flak. Bush parachuted to safety, spending four hours afloat on a life raft before being rescued by an American submarine. In December 1944, after fifteen months of combat duty, he was reassigned to the naval training station in Norfolk, Virginia, where he served as a flight instructor until his release from the navy upon the Japanese surrender in September 1945.
President George W. Bush offered his opinion on President Truman’s decision.
LITTLE BOY AND FAT MAN
LITTLE BOY
Fuel: Uranium
Weight: 9,700 lb. or 4.85 tons
Length: 120 inches
Diameter: 28 inches
Explosive force: 16,000 tons TNT equivalent
LITTLE BOY AND FAT Man were different kinds of bombs. A gun-like part fired into Little Boy’s uranium to start the nuclear reaction. In Fat Man, the plutonium was surrounded by tons of explosives. Fat Man was the second plutonium bomb ever detonated. The first was the bomb used in the Trinity test in New Mexico on July 16, 1945.
FAT MAN
Fuel: Plutonium
Weight: 10,300 lb. or 5.15 tons
Length: 128 inches
Diameter: 60 inches
Explosive force: 21,000 tons TNT equivalent
HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI: IMMEDIATE AND LASTING EFFECTS
THE DETAILS OF THE DEATHS and injuries inflicted by Little Boy and Fat Man are horrific. In both cases, 90 percent of the people within sixteen hundred feet of the strikes died instantly. Of those within one mile from the strikes, more than two-thirds were injured and at least one-third of those eventually died of their injuries.
We will never know how many people in both cities were instantly evaporated.
The bombs exploded and sent fire and heat waves in all directions. Many victims had excruciating flash burns over their faces and hands and other skin exposed when their clothing burned away. Thousands of others were crushed in the buildings they were in, or fatally cut by glass projectiles as they tried to escape. Radiation released by the bombs penetrated deep into human tissue and injured cells. It was often hard to know if one had radiation sickness until hair began to fall out or skin became discolored. Many who lived would discover they had cancer as many as thirty years after the bombings.
The total deaths from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will never be known. It was impossible to keep records in the chaos. Although possibly conservative, these numbers are generally agreed upon.
Hiroshima: 90,000–130,000 dead by December 1945
Nagasaki: 60,000–80,000 dead by December 1945
The effects of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were felt for decades. Both cities have been rebuilt in remarkable fashion, with almost all buildings possessing the same concrete-and-steel construction as the structures that survived the initial blasts. In Hiroshima, the Genbaku Dome was the only building left standing beneath the center of the blast. Preserved today as part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, it has become the most enduring symbol of the first atomic bomb. The T-shaped Aioi Bridge, which served as Enola Gay’s aiming point, survived the bombing and remained in place for several years afterward. However, structural damage caused by the A-bomb eventually took its toll, and the bridge was rebuilt.
People were terribly burned from the atomic heat and radiation unleashed by the bombs in Japan. [National Archives]
This photograph shows burns in the pattern of the kimono the woman was wearing at the time of the explosion. [National Archives]
The Genbaku Dome in Hiroshima was the only large structure remaining after the atomic bomb was dropped. Today it is part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, a UNESCO world heritage site. [Mary Evans Picture Library]
Nagasaki is less than four hours by bullet train to the southwest of Hiroshima. The rugged nature of the countryside is a subtle reminder that the Operation Olympic invasion would have required overcoming very formidable terrain. Nagasaki’s bustling port and dockland are a popular port of call for cruise lines, cargo ships, and Japanese naval vessels. A large monument of polished stone two miles by streetcar from downtown Nagasaki marks the A-bomb’s hypocenter, the ground directly beneath the bomb’s explosion. (It’s a stark contrast to the Hiroshima hypocenter, a small plaque located in an alley, with the words “Enola Gay” misspelled as “Enora Gay.”)
Like Hiroshima, Nagasaki does not define itself by the atomic bomb. But both cities are tourist sites because of the explosions and have museums detailing the bombs’ damage.
PEARL HARBOR
FOR YEARS, THE JAPANESE military had known its primary adversary might eventually be the United States. Knowing a long war would be disastrous for Japan, the commander in chief of Japan’s Combined Fleet, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, with the support of Prime Minister Tojo, favored a surprise preemptive attack that would destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the “dagger being pointed at our throats,” and force the Americans into an agreement that would allow Japan free rein in East Asia.
He devised an audacious attack plan. It would happen on a Sunday morning, a time when most sailors would be sleeping in after a night on the town. Waves of carrier-launched Japanese planes would drop from the skies, unloading torpedoes and bombs that would sink destroyers and demolish airplanes, forever ending America’s naval presence in the Pacific.
Yamamoto knew just where to find these ships. They were anchored bow to stern and side by side at a balmy tropical U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii—a place known as Pearl Harbor.
On November 8, 1941, Prime Minister Tojo presented Emperor Hirohito with specific details about the surprise attack. After very little deliberation, he approved the plan.
An aerial view of Pearl Harbor in October 1941. [National Archives]
On December 7, 1941, at 7:55 A.M. Hawaii time, hundreds of Japanese planes appeared in the skies. In less than ninety minutes, they destroyed or damaged 328 airplanes and nineteen naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships. More than twenty-four hundred Americans lost their lives. The attack was a complete surprise. The eight battleships were the Nevada, Arizona, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Maryland, and California. Five were sunk in the attack, along with the target ship Utah. The Nevada, West Virginia, and California were later refloated and returned to service; the Oklahoma was raised but was damaged beyond repair and scrapped. The wreckage of the USS Arizona and USS Utah can still be seen today on the floor of Pearl Harbor, memorials to the men who died. The bodies of the sailors within have never been removed.
The day after the attack, President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan.
President Roosevelt signs the declaration of war against Japan, December 8, 1941. [National Archives]
SHAME ON AMERICAN SOIL: RELOCATION CENTERS
AS THE SHOCK OF PEARL HARBOR settled across America, citizens became suspicious of anything associated with Japan. On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt, citing wartime necessity, signed Executive Order 9066. The order authorized the removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast, which had been declared a military zone. Having committed no crime other than having ancestors from Japan, more than 120,000 people were taken to relocation centers and kept against their will. At least seventy thousand of them were U.S. citizens.
Children of Japanese ancestry play baseball at the Santa Anita Assembly Center, an internment camp in Arcadia, California, April 6, 1942. [National Archives]
Entire families were rounded up and sent to live for the duration of the war in ten camps in isolated areas of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Most people were kept for two to three years, sleeping side by
side in barracks surrounded by barbed-wire fences. Armed guards looked down from high sentry towers, scrutinizing their every movement.
FDR’S “DAY OF INFAMY” SPEECH DECEMBER 8, 1941
YESTERDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to the Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack.
It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.
Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island. This morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.
Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.
As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.
Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.
I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.
With confidence in our armed forces—with the unbounded determination of our people—we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God.
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December seventh, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.
[Source: The National D-Day Museum]
EMPEROR HIROHITO’S SURRENDER SPEECH THE “JEWEL VOICE” BROADCAST AUGUST 15, 1945
TO OUR GOOD and loyal subjects: After pondering deeply the general trends of the world and the actual conditions obtaining in our empire today, we have decided to effect a settlement of the present situation by resorting to an extraordinary measure.
We have ordered our Government to communicate to the Governments of the United States, Great Britain, China and the Soviet Union that our empire accepts the provisions of their joint declaration.
To strive for the common prosperity and happiness of all nations as well as the security and well-being of our subjects is the solemn obligation which has been handed down by our imperial ancestors and which we lay close to the heart.
Indeed, we declared war on America and Britain out of our sincere desire to insure Japan’s self-preservation and the stabilization of East Asia, it being far from our thought either to infringe upon the sovereignty of other nations or to embark upon territorial aggrandizement.
But now the war has lasted for nearly four years. Despite the best that has been done by everyone—the gallant fighting of our military and naval forces, the diligence and assiduity of our servants of the State, and the devoted service of our one hundred million people—the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage, while the general trends of the world have all turned against her interest.
Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, it would not only result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization.
Such being the case, how are we to save the millions of our subjects, or to atone ourselves before the hallowed spirits of our imperial ancestors? This is the reason why we have ordered the acceptance of the provisions of the joint declaration of the powers.
We cannot but express the deepest sense of regret to our allied nations of East Asia, who have consistently cooperated with the Empire toward the emancipation of East Asia.
The thought of those officers and men as well as others who have fallen in the fields of battle, those who died at their posts of duty, or those who met death [otherwise] and all their bereaved families, pains our heart night and day.
The welfare of the wounded and the war sufferers and of those who lost their homes and livelihood is the object of our profound solicitude. The hardships and sufferings to which our nation is to be subjected hereafter will be certainly great.
We are keenly aware of the inmost feelings of all of you, our subjects. However, it is according to the dictates of time and fate that we have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all the generations to come by enduring the [unavoidable] and suffering what is unsufferable. Having been able to safeguard and maintain the structure of the Imperial State, we are always with you, our good and loyal subjects, relying upon your sincerity and integrity.
Beware most strictly of any outbursts of emotion that may engender needless complications, of any fraternal contention and strife that may create confusion, lead you astray and cause you to lose the confidence of the world.
Let the entire nation continue as one family from generation to generation, ever firm in its faith of the imperishableness of its divine land, and mindful of its heavy burden of responsibilities, and the long road before it. Unite your total strength to be devoted to the construction for the future. Cultivate the ways of rectitude, nobility of spirit, and work with resolution so that you may enhance the innate glory of the Imperial State and keep pace with the progress of the world.
[Source: Federal Communications Commission]
JAPANESE WAR CRIMES TRIALS
BOTH JAPANESE AND AMERICAN forces committed horrendous acts in the name of winning the war. General Curtis LeMay believed that if America had lost, his decision to firebomb Tokyo would most certainly have seen him indicted for war crimes. But it is the victor who metes out final punishment. Just as the Nazi leadership went on trial in Nuremberg, so too were Japan’s generals held accountable for their acts of terror.
Twenty-eight of the country’s top military and political leaders were charged with Class A crimes against peace, in other words, waging an aggressive war. Twenty-five were convicted; seven were sentenced to death. In addition, Allied prosecutors held tribunals against thousands of Japanese generals, government officials, soldiers, and camp guards throughout Asia and the Pacific. Forty-three hundred were found guilty of rape, abuse of POWs, and murder. About a thousand of those men were sentenced to death, and hundreds were given life imprisonment.
On May 3, 1946, the world began to hear the list of atrocities committed by Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and the troops under his control, beginning with the cold-blooded murders of millions of Chinese civilians and surrendered soldiers and thousands
of Allied prisoners of war. In one incident during the Second Sino-Japanese War, after the Japanese army conquered the town of Nanking in China and the Chinese troops fled, Tojo’s men remained and killed three hundred thousand civilians in a six-week bloodbath. The International Military Tribunal for the Far East decreed that he should be hanged by the neck until dead. On December 22, 1948, that sentence was carried out.
International judges at the war crimes trials in Tokyo, May 12, 1946. [Harry S. Truman Library]
THE NUCLEAR WORLD
TODAY, NINE NATIONS have nuclear weapons: the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Israel, Pakistan, and North Korea. In all, it is estimated there are 15,350 nuclear weapons in existence. The weapons are developed and stored largely as deterrents to warfare. None have been used in any war since World War II. The United States and Russia cooperate to reduce and limit each country’s supply, as agreed upon in New START, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Many experts feel that nuclear weapons are not useful in the kinds of political struggles that exist in the twenty-first century, ones that take place in extreme terrains and busy cities, against small groups of enemy.
AFTER THE WAR
EMPEROR HIROHITO WAS STRIPPED of all power by General Douglas MacArthur. However, the general felt that Hirohito was symbolically vital to healing the nation’s postwar wounds. Therefore, MacArthur quietly decreed that Hirohito be absolved of all responsibility for war crimes. To maintain the ruse that the emperor was not directly involved in the war effort and its many atrocities, MacArthur and Hirohito collaborated to slant testimony of the war crimes defendants away from the emperor.