On This Day In History America Drops the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima

On this day, August 6th in 1945, at 8:16 a.m. Japanese time, an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, drops the world’s first atom bomb, over the city of Hiroshima.

As the bomb detonated a thousand feet off the ground, approximately 80,000 people are killed as a direct result of the blast, and another 35,000 are injured. At least another 60,000 would be dead by the end of the year from the effects of the fallout. Eight days later, Japan offered its unconditional surrender.

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the event, and I'm sure there are many in the media and other places, that will condemn our government's decision to drop the bomb. Having been raised by parents who were alive and fought in WWII, I can tell you that their perspective will always color my view of that choice.

I remember my father NOT talking about his experience in the war. He was wounded by a Japanese mortar that killed several members and friends in his SeaBee battalion; something I found out after he passed from my mother. She would tell of class mates she would never see again because they were killed on the Bataan Death March. They had no sympathy for the Japanese, a view prevalent with that generation.

We can look back in hindsight and say they were right or wrong, but it doesn't matter what we think. They made the decision that ended the war with the fewest allied casualties.

Now, our government seems to have forgotten what a horrible weapon of destruction it is and is allowing a nation that sponsors terrorism to build one to use against its neighbors...and possibly us. God help us.