Hiroshima Bombing Persuasive Essay

Introduction
The most devastating bombing in the history of the United States occurred during the peak of World War II, when the United States dropped the atomic bomb, twice, on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. According to Edward Bond: “We are still living in the aftershock of Hiroshima, people are still the scars of history” (Brainyquote). Although voices within the US military expressed caution regarding the use of the new weapon against Japan, President Truman was convinced that the bomb was the correct and only option to end World War II while minimizing casualties. Six months of intense strategic fire-bombing of 37 Japanese cities had done little to break the Hirohito regime’s resolve. In such circumstances, the United States was …show more content…
The president publicly announced to American that the alternative to dropping the bomb would be a U.S. invasion on Japan. There were estimates that the number of Japanese soldiers in Kyushu reached over one million in strength. That means the Americans would have been outnumbered from the beginning. A working group that consisted of the Army and the Navy came up with estimates “that 25,000 U.S. soldiers would be killed in an invasion of Kyushu on two fronts; 40,000 might die if an invasion on a single front was followed by invasion of the island of Honshu, and 46,000 deaths were estimated as a result of a two-front invasion of Kyushu followed by an invasion of Honshu.” (Truman Library) Many Americans thought the calculations of the death toll for the projected invasion into Japan was based on an outrageous theory that they did not understand. Observers believed the numbers were dramatically fluctuated and that making the decision to drop the bomb was based off of hatred emotions towards the Japanese and the “contemplated invasion was largely theory rather than actuality.” (Washington Post) Many fleet commanders believed that these estimates were extremely low and estimated that the loss of U.S. casualties could reach up to 250,000. Their main concern was the death of American

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