Harry S. Truman, Diary, July 25, 1945

President Truman told his diary on July 25, 1945, that he had ordered the bomb used. Emphasis has been added to highlight Truman's apparent belief that he had ordered the bomb dropped on a "purely military" target, so that "military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children."

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.
Anyway we "think" we have found the way to cause a disintegration of the atom. An experiment in the New Mexico desert was startling - to put it mildly. Thirteen pounds of the explosive caused the complete disintegration of a steel tower 60 feet high, created a crater 6 feet deep and 1,200 feet in diameter, knocked over a steel tower 1/2 mile away and knocked men down 10,000 yards away. The explosion was visible for more than 200 miles and audible for 40 miles and more.
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 S. Truman (New York: Harper and Row, 1980) pp. 55-56. Truman's writings are in the public domain.

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This source supports our thesis because it says that the President did not want any civillians to be killed. The bomb was to be used strictly on military bases. Most people involved with the bomb thought that its use would lead to a quicker end to the war. Because the bomb was so powerful it was thought that Japan would be in awe of America and want to surrender.

Truman Speech, August 9, 1945 (excerpt)

In a radio speech to the nation on August 9, 1945, President Truman called Hiroshima "a military base." It seems likely, considering his July 25 diary entry, that he was not aware that Hiroshima was a city. Otherwise, he was being untruthful about the nature of the target.
Truman delivered his speech from the White House at 10 P.M. Washington time on August 9, 1945. By this time, a second atomic bomb already had destroyed the city of Nagasaki. Because of the great length of the speech, most of which dealt with Germany, only the relevant paragraph is quoted here.

The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians. But that attack is only a warning of things to come. If Japan does not surrender, bombs will have to be dropped on her war industries and, unfortunately, thousands of civilian lives will be lost. I urge Japanese civilians to leave industrial cities immediately, and save themselves from destruction.

Source: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, Containing the Public Messages, Speeches and Statements of the President April 12 to December 31, 1945 (Washington D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1961) page 212. The full text also was published in the New York Times, August 10, 1945, page 12.

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URL: http://www.dannen.com/decision/hst-ag09.html
Gene Dannen / gene@dannen.com

This document shows that President Truman had no intentions of killing civillians. He thought that it would force Japan to surrender. Truman even warned civillians to leave industrialized cities so that they would not be harmed. The use of the first bomb was to scare the Japenese people, and if it didn't do its job then more bombs would be used.

"Over all, the total number of people killed from both atomic bombs adds up to be about 240,000. Many people died instantly, some later died from radiation and burns or other wounds. It is indeed sad that 240,000 people had to die but, compared to how many would’ve died if the war continued, 240,000 is nothing. It is estimated that if we just continued fighting the war and didn’t drop the bombs, then another million or so people would’ve died."

Read more: http://socyberty.com/history/was-the-dropping-of-the-atomic-bomb-justified/#ixzz1FsP5j36m

This document shows that many lives were saved by using the atomic bombs. Less than a quarter of the people that were estimated to die if we continued the war were kill from both bombs. The bombs saved more lives than they took. If we never used them, it's possible that even more than a million people would have lost their lives.

"Other actions could’ve been taken like negotiation, but the fighting style of the Japanese spoke for itself. They would rather take a grenade strapped to their chest than be touched by an American. Negotiating would’ve been inevitable. Dropping the bombs saved way more lives than it took, and in a war, saving as many lives as possible is the best way to go."

Read more: http://socyberty.com/history/was-the-dropping-of-the-atomic-bomb-justified/#ixzz1FsQ3NuC8

The Japanese would never give up. If it were up to the residents of Japan, the war would have continued untill they won or every Japanese man, woman, and child was dead. The bomb scared the public, and government, into bringing the war to an end. Japan's will to win was a major deciding factor on why we dropped the bombs.

"Unspeakable things happened to the American soldiers that were captured by the Japanese. Prisoners of war were tortured to death. Some were put into these marches, called Death Marches. The Japanese would line the American soldiers up into lines and would march them for long periods of time. If a soldier fell, he would often be stabbed by bayonets until he stood again or another soldier would be forced to knock that soldier out and bury him alive. One soldier reports that he had to bury his friend alive and had to knock his friend out again after he woke up while being buried. It was a mental and physical torture for the soldiers and it needed to stop.

The Japanese wouldn’t let the prisoners go. In some ways it was like another Holocaust. No one can debate that it was right to continue to let Americans suffer and die during the war. If we would’ve waited, more could’ve died, if we would’ve launched an invasion, more would’ve been captured but if we dropped the bomb, all of it would’ve stopped."

Read more: http://socyberty.com/history/was-the-dropping-of-the-atomic-bomb-justified/#ixzz1FsRkMTJ6

This document tells of the horrible punishments that were acted upon Americans imprisoned by Japan. The Japanese treated American prisoners in unnacceptable ways. Many were harmed so badly that they either couldn't, or didn't want to continue living. The bombs stopped all of the torture that the Americans had to endure.

"The cost of World War 2 was more than all of the wars that he U.S. was involved in put together. It cost about 300 billion dollars to fight in this war; to stay in it would’ve depleted the U.S. of money and resources. Metal, gasoline, and other natural resources would’ve been used up and the U.S. might not have been able to win the war. The national debt is high right now, but think of the debt the U.S. would’ve been in if the war continued"

Read more: http://socyberty.com/history/was-the-dropping-of-the-atomic-bomb-justified/#ixzz1FsSs6Jrl

Besides wasting lives, world war 2 was also wasting money. Unheard of amounts of money were being spent just to keep us in the war. Winning the war would cost the U.S. even more money than we were capable of spending. Dropping the atomic bombs was a better economic decision than invading Japan.

History:

The Americans were going to execute a plan of “house to house” invasion of the mainland of Japan. Although the Allies had a superior navy, the Japanese front line stayed strong which would have made for a bloody invasion of the Island. The Manhattan project was code named for the United States secret project to develop the first nuclear bomb. The first atomic bomb was exploded a Los Alamos. The scientists were amazed and scared at the power of a nuclear bombing realizing they had created a weapon of greater magnitude than any other weapon. The Potsdam Declaration was the defining terms for Japanese surrender in World War two. Because the Japanese blatantly rejected the Declaration, President Truman decided on the fate of Japan. Anytime after August 3, 1942, the bomb was authorized to drop.

On August 6, 1945, an atomic bombed named Little Boy, was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. Sixty percent of the city was killed instantaneously in an unforgiving flash of heat. Seventy Thousand residents died. Little boy was an atomic bomb made from uranium and plutonium fission. 3 days later on August 9, Fat Man was dropped on Nagasaki. Twenty thousand Japanese people died instantaneously. Fat Man was a different type of bomb than Little Boy. Little boy was referred to as an Atomic bomb while Fat Man was referred to as a Hydrogen bomb because it splits the Hydrogen atom.

Atomic Bomb Argument

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Evidence

Harry S. Truman, Diary, July 25, 1945

Truman Speech, August 9, 1945 (excerpt)

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