Historian Michael Barnes, believed that the atomic bomb saved not only America’s lives but also the lives of many Japanese. The study done for Secretary of War Stimson predicted five to ten million Japanese deaths. Despite the large death toll there is support for the bomb even among some Japanese. In 1983, at the annual observance of Hiroshima’s destruction, an old Japanese professor believes that before the war came to an end, Japan had extreme food rationing in place. This caused him to lose weight and weight less than 90 pounds and he claims he could barely climb a flight of stairs. “I couldn't have survived another month”, he states “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 along, but many Japanese, ironically speaking, were saved by the atomic bomb”. (1)
(Name of the elderly man is unknown)
(Name of the elderly man is unknown)
The Japanese had already killed over 2,000 people just in the bombings of Pearl Harbor. America had nothing to aggravate them besides cutting of their trades with Japan and limiting oil supplies. The war was nearing the end when decisions to drop the bomb came in place. Hitler and Germany were already out of the picture, but Japan still held strong by having hundreds of islands in the Indian Ocean. America tried to take out Japan by defeating the Japanese on several islands but because of their kamikazes, the Americans took heavy casualties, a lot more than the Japanese. A full scale invasion of Japan would have cost thousands of Americans lives. Dropping the atomic bomb saved American lives and the Japanese from attacking further, therefore effectively ending Word War 2 in the Pacific Ocean. (2)
References-
1. Authentic History, Argument 1.1: The Bomb Saved Japanese Lives, accessed 28th of April 2015, updated 2013 http://www.authentichistory.com/1939-1945/1-war/4-Pacific/4-abombdecision/2-support/
2. Debate.org, Was the U.S justified in dropping bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? , accessed 6th of May 2015, updated 2015
http://www.debate.org/opinions/was-the-u-s-justified-in-dropping-bombs-on-hiroshima-and-nagasaki
Images-
1. https://firstlightforum.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/hiroshima-japan-atomic-bomb-aftermath.jpg?w=590
1. Authentic History, Argument 1.1: The Bomb Saved Japanese Lives, accessed 28th of April 2015, updated 2013 http://www.authentichistory.com/1939-1945/1-war/4-Pacific/4-abombdecision/2-support/
2. Debate.org, Was the U.S justified in dropping bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? , accessed 6th of May 2015, updated 2015
http://www.debate.org/opinions/was-the-u-s-justified-in-dropping-bombs-on-hiroshima-and-nagasaki
Images-
1. https://firstlightforum.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/hiroshima-japan-atomic-bomb-aftermath.jpg?w=590