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00715474
English 1010
Argumentative Research Paper
11\29\12
Did President Truman Make the Right Decision
In 1945 World War II the European chapter had come to a close early in the year, and
the pacific war was drawing to an end. Many soldiers and civilians were being killed, so the war
had to end fast. The United States dropped the atomic bomb so the war could come to a close .
The events that led up to the bomb being dropped, was the Doolittle Raids, the Fire Bombing
raids, and many innocent civilians were being killed. Because so many lives were being lost,
President Harry Truman decided there needed to be a quick ending to the war . He engaged the
Manhattan project, which lead the atomic weapon to be dropped on Hiroshima, ending the
war. Historians have argued over if dropping the atomic bomb was necessary. They created a
list of pros and cons in an article. Listing the Pro’s: “(1)The Japanese had demonstrated nearfanatical resistance, fighting to almost the last man on Pacific islands, committing mass suicide
on Saipan and unleashing kamikaze attacks at Okinawa. Firebombing had killed 100,000 in
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Tokyo with no discernible political effect. Only the atomic bomb could jolt Japan's leadership to
surrender. (2) With only two bombs ready (and a third on the way by late August 1945) it was
too risky to "waste" one in a demonstration over an unpopulated area. (3) An invasion of Japan
would have caused casualties on both sides that could easily have exceeded the toll at
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (4)The two targeted cities would have been firebombed anyway. (5)
Immediate use of the bomb convinced the world of its horror and prevented future use when
nuclear stockpiles were far larger. (6)The bomb's use impressed the Soviet Union and halted
the war quickly enough that the USSR did not demand joint occupation of Japan” (Dietrich). I
believe with the historians that argued the pros of the bomb . Dropping the bomb was clearly
necessary to prevent a further loss of life on both the American soldiers and Japanese, including
civilians. The whole outcome of the war would’ve changed if we hadn’t, or if we waited .
On April 18, 1942, the United States struck the Japanese homelands, specifically
Honshu, called the Doolittle Raid. The attack was also was the United States way of retaliation
for the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. This demonstrated that Japan was also
vulnerable to Americans striking by air, a crucial morale boost for the American soldiers, which
they badly needed. But the attack didn’t just help them with the boost, it also made Japan
begin to question their leadership. The attack on Japan provoked confusion in their minds,
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because they have always been told that they were invulnerable. The downfall of the raid was
the loss of American, Japanese, and many other lives. The Japanese had killed approximately
250,000 Chinese while searching for the American soldiers fighting in the Doolittle raid . If we
had developed our atomic weapons sooner, I believe this would’ve prevented the loss of lives
of the future raids to come. The Doolittle raids had a huge impact on the United States. The
raid showed American soldiers that they had a chance of winning because for the first time in
this war, they were able to reach Japan by air so they could bomb military targets.
America had fought its way to the homeland of Japan and was conducting fire bomb
raids, killing countless American and Japanese. Fire bombing was another type of raid that gave
a morale boost for American soldiers. Firebombing is an air tactic used by the United States.
Fire bombing was more of a propaganda victory for the United States . Americans would fly over
and bomb Japan; but many planes were taking down, or ditched, due to Japanese defenses.
This raid caused more damage to both sides and didn’t really get anywhere . Roughly 100,000
people were killed. The atomic bomb should’ve been dropped around the time of the Doolittle
raid. Then the firebombing never would have happened, and there would not be so many
deaths of Americans, Japanese, and Chinese people. I find that the fire bombing raid was
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pointless. I don’t get why we thought that it was a better tactic. Many civilians and soldiers
were wounded and killed from the firebombing tactics. The whole raid could have been
prevented, if we either thought to drop the bombs sooner, or we stopped the raids when they
realized that it wasn’t getting them anywhere.
To accomplish same goal without atomic weapons would’ve taken more planes and
more soldiers. Not only would we be using the firebombing tactic, but we would come up with
other war tactics to try and have the same outcome of what we did have. Any other war tactic
would’ve used the soldiers and planes in bigger numbers risking more losses with our
resources. In any case, there would be more dead soldiers on both sides, and civilians . With
the atomic bomb being dropped, it was one plane, one bomb.
The whole outcome of the war would’ve been completely different if we didn’t use the
atomic weapon. We won’t ever know what could’ve happened, and honestly I don’t want to
think about it too hard. The Japanese had the same (if not bigger) change of winning the war as
we did. The United States would have more soldiers killed, and America would be a completely
different place than it is today. The biggest reason for the Japanese surrender was because
they were fearful of United States dropping another bomb . I am happy the war ended with
Japan.
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The historians arguing against dropping the atomic bomb have argued that the bomb
should’ve never been dropped. Radiation still prevails throughout Japan being hazardous to
civilians who live there present day. The main points to their Con list stated “(1) Even if
Hiroshima was necessary, the U.S. did not give enough time for word to filter out of its
devastation before bombing Nagasaki. (2) The bomb was used partly to justify the $2 billion
spent on its development. (3) The two cities ‘were of limited military value’. Civilians
outnumbered troops in Hiroshima five or six to one” (Dietrich). Some of these statements may
be accurate, but they in no way, shape, or form outweigh the good results of dropping the
bomb.
I know that in dropping the atomic bomb, many Japanese civilians were killed. But the
number of deaths would’ve been way less than the number of deaths we have now . If we never
dropped the bomb, the number of deaths in both sides would have increased. Firebombing,
and other raids would’ve continued and it could’ve wiped out many Asian civilizations .
Dropping the atomic bomb was a good decision to it when we did. While I believe that
dropping the atomic bomb was a good thing, I am sad for those civilians who were injured, and
killed during the war; especially those who were affected from the atomic bomb.
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Works Cited
"Tracing the Truman’s." Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. National Archives and Records
Association, 28 2012. Web. 4 Dec 2012. <http://www.trumanlibrary.org/index.php>.
"Atomic Bomb-Truman Press Release." Harry S. Truman. National Archives and Records
Association. Web. 4 Dec 2012. <http://www.trumanlibrary.org/teacher/abomb.htm>.
Allen, Thomas B. and Norman Polmar. 1995. Code-Name Downfall: The Secret Plan to Invade
Japan--and Why Truman Dropped the Bomb. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Walker, J. Samuel. 1997. Prompt & Utter Destruction: Truman and the use of Atomic Bombs
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Against Japan. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
Lewis, Chris. "American Studies." . Sewell Academic Program, 08 2002. Web. 4 Dec 2012.
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<http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/2010/index.htm>.
Dietrich, Bill. "Pro and Con of Dropping The Bomb."Seattle Times Trinity Web. The
Seattle
Times, n.d. Web. 4 Dec 2012.