Harry S. Truman, Diary, July 25, 1945 ‘We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesied in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark. ‘This weapon is to be used against Japan between now and August 10th. I have told the Sec. of War, Mr. Stimson, to use it so that military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children. Even if the Japs are savages, ruthless, merciless and fanatic, we as the leader of the world for the common welfare cannot drop that terrible bomb on the old capital or the new. He and I are in accord. The target will be a purely military one and we will issue a warning statement asking the Japs to surrender and save lives. I'm sure they will not do that, but we will have given them the chance. It is certainly a good thing for the world that Hitler's crowd or Stalin's did not discover this atomic bomb. It seems to be the most terrible thing ever discovered, but it can be made the most useful... ‘truman quoted in Robert H. Ferrell, Off the Record: The Private Papers of Harry 8. Truman (New ‘York: Harper and Row, 1980) pp. 58-56. Henry Lewis Stimson February 1947 - “The decision to sue the bomb” ‘The strategic plans of our armed forces for the defeat of Japan, as they stood in July, had been prepared without reliance upon the atomic bomb, which had not yet been tested in New Mexico.We were planning an intensified sea and air blockade, and greatly intensified strategic airbombing, through the summer and earlyfall, to be followed on November 1 by an invasion of the southern island of Kyushu. This would be followed in turn by an invasion of the main island of Honshu in the spring of 1946. The total U.S. military and naval foree involved in this grand design was of the order of 5,000,000 men; if all those indirectly concerned are included, it was larger still. ‘We estimated that if we should be forced to carry this plan to its conclusion, the major fighting would not end until the latter part of 1946, at the earliest. Iwas informed that such operations might be expected to cost over a million casualties, to American forces alone. Additional large losses might be expected among our allies, and, of course, if our campaign were successful and if we could judge by previous experience, enemy casualties would be much larger than our own.DWIGHT EISENHOWER in [July] 1945... Secretary of War Stimson, visiting my headquarters in ermany, informed me that our government was preparing to drop an atomic ‘bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act. ...the Secretary, upon giving me the news of the successful bomb test in New Mexico, and of the plan for using it, asked for my reaction, apparently expecting a vigorous assent. "During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, sooking some way to surrender with a sminimum loss of face’. The Secretary was deeply perturbed by my attitude...” - Dwight Bisenhower, Mandate For Change, pé. 380 ‘In a Newsweek interview, Eisenhower again recalled the meeting with Stimson: the Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing." = Ike on The, Nowsweok, 11/11/63 Memorandum. 4 June 1945-G.AL “In destroying Germany, the nation which set out to dominate Europe using force, ‘we have made Russia, a nation with an economic system of national monopoly, the unquestionably dominant power in Europe. If we carry out announced war aims in the Far east and we completely destroy Japan, in doing so we eliminate the one effective check on Russia in the Far east which has existed, thus making Russia almost dominant in the area. At the same time we make it easy for Russia to take over politically and economically Manchuria and huge areas of China. The author's solution is to assure the continuance of a Japan as a nation of some ‘weight in the Far east and to cut U.S. expenditure and men and resources by achieving a negotiated peace.Report of the Franck Committee on the Social and Political Implications of a Demonstration of the Atomic Bomb (Fora Non-Combat Demonstration), June, 1945 ‘The way in which the nuclear weapons, now secretly developed in this country, will first be revealed to the world appears of great, perhaps fateful importance.one possible way-which may particularly appeal to those who consider the nuclear bombs primarily as a secret weapon developed to help win the present war--is to «use it without warning on an appropriately selected object in Japan. Certain and perhaps important tactical results undoubtedly can be achieved, but we nevertheless think that the question of the use of the very first available atomic bombs in the Japanese war should be weighed very carefully, not only by military authority, but by the highest political leadership of this country. If we consider international agreement on total prevention of nuclear warfare as, the paramount objective and believe that it can be achieved, this kind of introduction of atomic weapons to the world may easily destroy all our chances of success, Russia, and even allied countries which bear less mistrust of our ways and intentions, as well as neutral countries, will be deeply shocked. It will be very difficult to persuade the world that @ nation which was capable of secretly preparing and suddenly releasing a weapon, as indiscriminate as the rocket bomb and a thousand times more destructive, is to be trusted in its proclaimed desire of having such weapons abolished by international agreement. ‘Thus, from the "optimistic" point of view-looking forward to an international agreement on prevention of nuclear warfare-the military advantages and the saving of American lives, achieved by the sudden use of atomic bombs against Japan, may be outweighed by the ensuing loss of confidence and wave of horror and repulsion, sweeping over the rest of the world, and perhaps dividing even the public opinion at home. ‘From this point of view a demonstration of the new weapon may best be made before the eyes of representatives of all United Nations, on the desert or a barren island. The best possible atmosphere for the achievement of an international agreement could be achieved if America would be able to say to the world, "You see what weapon we had but did not use, We are ready to renounce its use in the future and to join other nations in working out sdequate supervision of the use of this nuclear weapon."Testimony of Isao Kita WWext is Mr, Isao Kita. He was 33 years old when the bomb fell. He was working for the Hiroshima District Weather Bureau 5.7 km from the hypocenter. ‘The atomic bomb does not discriminate. Of course, those who were fighting may have to suffer. But the atomic bomb kills everyone from little babies to old people. And it's not an easy death. It's avery cruel and very painful way to die. I think that this cannot be allowed to happen again anywhere in the world, I don't say this just because I'm a Japanese atomic bomb survivor. I feel that people all over the world must speak out. ‘My division, like most of the ones transferred from Europe was going to take part in the invasion at Honshu (an island of Japan). The people who preferred invasion to A-bombing seemed to have no intention of proceeding to the Japanese front: themselves. I have already noted what a few more days would mean to the luckless troops and sailors on the spot.... On Okinawa, only a few weeks before Hiroshima, 12,000 Japanese and Americans killed each other. War is immoral. War is cruel. Source: Paul Fussell, a World War II Soldier, Thank God for the Atom Bomb, 1990. ‘The increased level of Japanese resistance on Okinawa was of particular significance to military planners, especially the resistance of civilians. This was a concern for the American troops as well. In the Ken Burns documentary The War (2007), a veteran Marine pilot of the Okinawa campaign relates his thoughts at the time about invading the home islands: By then, our sense of the strangeness of the Japanese opposition had become stronger. And I could imagine every farmer with his pitchfork coming at my guts; every pretty girl with a hand grenade strapped to her bottom, or something; that everyone would be an enemy.Testimony of Akiko Takakura ‘Ms. Akiko Takakura was 80 years old when the bomb fell. She was in the Bank of Hiroshima, 500 meters away from the hypocenter. Ms. Takakura miraculously escaped death despite over 100 lacerated wounds on her back. She is one of the few survivors who was within 500 meters of the hypocenter. She now runs @ ‘kindergarten and she relates her experience of the atomic bombing to children. TAKAKURA: Well, it was like a white magnesium flash. I lost consciousness right after or almost at the same time I saw the flash. When I regained consciousness, I found myself in the dark. I heard my friends, Ms. Asami, crying for her mother. We first thought to escape to the parade grounds, but we couldn't because there was a huge sheet of fire in front of us. So instead, we squatted down in the street, next to a big water pool for fighting fires, which was about the size of this table. Since Hiroshima was completely enveloped in flames, we felt terribly hot and could not breathe well at all. After a while, a whirlpool of fire approached us from the south. It was like a big tornado of fire spreading over the full width of the street. Whenever the fire touched, wherever the fire touched, it burned. It burned my ear and leg, I didn’t realize that I had burned myself at that moment, but IT noticed it later. ‘The whirlpool of fire that was covering the entire street approached us from Ote- machi. 80, everyone just tried so hard to keep away from the fire. It was just like & living hell. After a while, it began to rain. The fire and the smoke made us so thirsty and there was nothing to drink, no water, and the smoke even disturbed our eyes, As it began to rain, people opened their mouths and turned their faces towards the sky and try to drink the rain, but it wasn't easy to catch the rain drops in our mouths. It was a black rain with big drops.They were so big that we even felt pain when they dropped onto us. We opened our mouths just like this, as wide as possible in an effort to quench our thirst. Everybody did the same thing. But it just wasn't enough. Someone, someone found an empty can and held it to catch the rain. ‘What J felt at that moment was that Hiroshima was entirely covered with only three colors. I remember red, black and brown, but, but, nothing else. Many people on the strest were killed almost instantly. The fingertips of those dead bodies caught fire and the fire gradually spread over their entire bodies from their fingers. A light gray liquid dripped down their hands, scorching their fingers. I, I ‘was 60 shocked to know that fingers and bodies could be burned and deformed like that. I just couldn't believe it. It was horrible. And looking at it, it was more than painful for me to think how the fingers were burned, hands and fingers that would hold babies or turn pages, they just, they just burned away. For a few years after ‘the A-bomb was dropped, I was terribly afraid of fire. I wasn't even able to get close to fire because all my senses remembered how fearful and horrible the fire was, ‘how hot the blaze was, and how hard it was to breathe the hot air. It was really hard to breathe. Maybe because the fire burned all the oxygen, I don't know. I could not open my eyes enough because of the smoke, which was everywhere. Not only me but everyone felt the same. And my parts were covered with holes.Leaflets dropped on cities in Japan warning civilians about the atomic bomb, dropped c. August 6, 1945 ‘TO THE JAPANESE PEOPLE:America asks that you take immediate heed of what ‘we say on this léaflet. ‘We are in possession of the most destructive explosive ever devised by man. A single one of our newly developed atomic ‘bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2000 of our giant B-29s can carry on a, single mission, This awful factis one for you to ponder and we solemnly assure you it is grimly acourate. We have just begun to use this weapon against your homeland. If you still have any doubt, make inquiry as to what happened to Hiroshima when just one atomic bomb fell on that city. Before using this bomb to destroy every resource of the military by which they are prolonging this useless war, we ask that you now petition the Emperor to end the war. Our president has outlined for you the thirteen consequences of an honorable surrender. We urge that you accept these consequences and begin the work of building a new, better and peace-loving Japan. ‘You should take steps now to cease military resistance. Otherwise, we shall resolutely employ this bomb and all our other superior weapons to promptly and forcefully end the war. “when I was rescued, my hair was burned; my face was inflated like a balloon. Pieces of my skin were hanging off my arms. It was hell. I saw people looking for water and they died soon after they dranik it. I saw many people go to the river in search of water and who died. The whole city was destroyed and burning. There ‘was no place to go.A PETITION TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES July 3, 1945 Leo Szilard and 68 co-signers ‘We, the undersigned scientists, have been working in the field of atomic power for a number of years. Until recently we have had to reckon with the possibility that the United States might be attacked by atomic bombs during this war and that her only defense might lie in a counterattack by the same means. Today with this danger averted we feel impelled to say what follows: ‘The war has to be brought speedily to a successful conclusion and the destruction of Japanese cities by means of atomic bombs may very well be an effective method of warfare. We feel, however, that such an attack on Japan could not be justified in the present circumstances. We believe that the United States ought not to resort to the use of atomic bombs in the present phase of the war, at least not unless the terms which will be imposed upon Japan after the war are publicly announced and subsequently Japan is given an opportunity to surrender. If such public announcement gave assurance to the Japanese that they could look forward to a life devoted to peaceful pursuits in their homeland and if Japan still refused to surrender, our nation would then be faced with a situation which might require a re-examination of her position with respect to the use of atomic bombs in the war. Atomie bombs are primarily a means for the ruthless annihilation of cities. Once they were introduced as an instrument of war it would be difficult to resist for long the temptation of putting them to such use. ‘The last few years show a marked tendency toward increasing ruthlessness. At present our Air Forces, striking at the Japanese cities, are using the same methods of warfare which were condemned by American public opinion only a few years ago when applied by the Germans to the cities of England. Our use of atomic bombs in this war would carry the world a long ‘way further on this path of ruthlessness. Atomic power will provide the nations with new means of destruction. The atomic bombs at our disposal represent only the first step in this direction and there is almost no limit to the destructive power which will become available in the course of this development. Thus a nation which sets the precedent of using these newly liberated forces of nature for purposes of destruction may have to bear the responsibility of opening the door to an era of devastation on an unimaginable scale.Testimony of Takehiko Sakai ‘Mr. Takehiko Sakai, 21 years old at that time, was at the west drill ground when the atomic bomb was dropped. He did not lose consciousness and remembers his military uniform catching fire. Around the time of the bombing I heard a voice shout, "A parachute is coming down." I was coming out of the passageway from the lavatory and looked for the parachute, but could not find it. Putting it out of mind, I turned back when there ‘was an intense flash like the magnestum light used for photographing. By reflex, I crouched or rather, I felt down. And that was when I was jolted and knocked down by an immense force. The force and my fall all took place at the same time, all in one moment. When the blow came, I closed my eyes but I could still feel the extreme heat. To say the least, it was like being roasted alive many times over. It ‘was terribly hot. While trying to withstand the terrible heat, I moved my hand, but there was no feeling in it, I also tried to move my feet, but I couldn't tell whether they were still connected to my body. I was completely numb from my knees down, to my feet and from my elbows to my shoulders. I looked out and it was pitch black. It was stifling. The heat was terrible. I took a deep breath and then mud and sand was sucked into my mouth. A Little while later, I noticed that the side of my body was very hot. It was on fire. And I tried to put it out. But it wouldn't go out 80 easily. Here are the scars, these are my burns. I threw away my shirt and I sat down cross-legged, and glanced in front of me. I could see people running in the dark. Some of them were on fire, and some of them were just rolling around on the ground. After a while, perhaps an hour or so later, I realized that my face had become swollen. You could hardly recognize me, my lps and my face were all popped up like this and my eyes, I had to force my eyes open with my fingers in order to see. It must have been a little after nine when the fire got bigger, in the ‘eginning it hadn't been so bad, but later after the fire started. ‘We wanted to rescue the people who were trapped inside. Though we could hear their voices from inside, we were too weak to lift up a big house with its tiled roof ‘because of our injuries. Really, there was nothing much that we could do. Then, after some time, it started to rain heavily like the sudden storm. I suppose that's ‘what's known as the black rain. It was about ten o'clock and I thought where it lasted, the the rain would extinguish the fire. Actually, though, it made very little difference and the fire raged on. ‘The bomb fell on the sixth and we remained here until about 3 o'clock in the afternoon of the tenth. Then, on the evening of August 15, we heard that the war was over. I was happy, I was really happy that the war had ended. But I was also worried, I was worried about what would happen next, I didn’t know if I could be useful to society or not, but I wanted to do something constructive and so I decided to become a teacher. The situation in Japan those days quite pitiful. There was ‘very little to eat. Everyone was very poor. During the period immediately after the bombing, because of my injuries, people had to look after me and it was through their care that I was able to get better. So I tried to repay this dept. by teaching my students to be kind and consider it whenever I had the opportunity to do so.One of my classmates, I think his name is Fujimoto, he muttered something and pointed outside the window, saying, "A B-29 is coming." He pointed outside with his finger. So I began to get up from my chair and asked him, "Where is it?" Looking in the direction that he was pointing towards, I got up on my feet, but Iwas not yetin an upright position when it happened. All I can remember was a pale lightening flash for two or three seconds. Then, I collapsed, I don't know much time passed before I came to. It was awful, awful. The smoke was coming in from somewhere above the debris. Sandy dust was flying around. .. I crawled over the debris, trying to find someone who were still alive. Then, I found one of my classmates lying alive, I held him up in my arms. It is hard to tell, his skull was cracked open, his flesh was dangling out from his head. He had only one eye left, and tt was looking right at me... . he told me to go away. J, so, was running, hands were trying to grab my ankles, they were asking me to take them along. I was only a child then. And I was horrified at so many hands trying to grab me. I was in pain, too. So all I could do was to get rid of them, it s terrible to say, but I kicked their hands away. I still feel bad about that. I went to ‘Miyuki Bridge to get some water. At the river bank, I saw so many people collapsed there. . . I was small, so I pushed on the river along the small steps. The water was dead people. I had to push the bodies aside to drink the muddy water. We didn't know anything about radioactivity that time, I stood up in the water and 60 many bodies were floating away along the stream. Source: Yoshitaka Kawamoto was thirteen years old. He was in the classroom at Zakoba-cho, 0.8 Kilometers away from the hypocenter In 1985, at the annual observance of Hiroshima's destruction, an aging Japanese professor recalled that at war's end, due to the extreme food rationing, he had weighed less than 90 pounds and could scarcely climb a flight of stairs. “Toouldn't have survived another month," he sald, "If the military had its way, we ‘would have fought until all 80 million Japanese were dead. Only the atomic bomb saved me. Not me alone, but many Japanese, ironically speaking, were saved by the atomic bomb."MEMORANDUM ON THE USE OF S-1 BOMB: RALPH A. BARD June 27 1945, Ever since I have been in touch with this program I have had a feeling that before the bomb is actually used against Japan that Japan should have some preliminary warning for say two or three days in advance of use. The position of the United States as a great humanitarian nation and the fair play attitude of our people generally is responsible in the main for this feeling. During recent weeks I have also had the feeling very definitely that the Japanese government may be searching for some opportunity which they could use as a medium of surrender. Following the three-power conference emissaries from this country could contact representatives from Japan somewhere on the China Coast: and make representations with regard to Russia's position and at the same time give them some information regarding the proposed use of atomic power, together with whatever assurances the President might care to make with regard to the Emperor of Japan and the treatment of the Japanese nation following unconditional surrender. It seems quite possible to me that this presents the opportunity which the Japanese are looking for. I don't see that we have anything in particular to lose in following such a program. "The stakes are so tremendous that it is my opinion very real consideration should be given to some plan of this kind. The only way to find outis to try it out. In 1968, the Tokyo District Court, while denying a case for damages brought by Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors against the Japanese government, stated: .. (b) that the dropping of atomic bombs as an act of hostilities was illegal under the rules of positive international law (taking both treaty law and customary law into consideration) then in force... (¢) that the dropping of atomic bombs also constituted a wrongful act on the plane of municipal law, ascribable to the United States and its President, Mr. Harry 8. Truman; ... The aerial bombardment with atomic bombs of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was an illegal act of hostilities according to the rules of international law. It must be regarded as indiscriminate aerial bombardment of undefended cities, even if it were directed at military objectives only, inasmuch as it resulted in damage comparable to that caused by indiscriminate bombardment.Hiroshima after the bombing