Remembering More than Just the Bomb

Was it right to drop two atomic bombs on Japan during World War II? That question is now being actively discussed once more within the United States. In the summer of 1945, the United States detonated the atomic bombs “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, showing people all over the world the power of nuclear weapons in the only active use of such weapons against an enemy to date.

For many Japanese, the atomic bombs did not necessarily factor into their personal suffering, as by the summer of 1945 the United States had commenced a large-scale air campaign against industrial centers and strategic targets within Japanese home territories. It was the most devastating bombing campaign in history, leaving 68 Japanese cities (including Hiroshima and Nagasaki) either partially or completely in ruins, 300,000 people dead and 750,000 wounded, and yet it still failed to produce an unconditional surrender from Japan.

However, of the pains endured by those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the atomic bombings inevitably must head the list. I recently returned from a trip to Hiroshima. At the time of the nuclear attack, there were 350,000 people living in the city; now, 300,000 of those people have passed on, whether killed by the initial blast, having succumbed to ailments linked to the nuclear aftermath or due to natural causes, and surviving bombing victims are growing ever fewer, lingering on as they bear the scars of seven decades past. Each year now, 10 million paper cranes decorate Hiroshima’s Children’s Peace Monument where large remembrance events are held.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki will never cease to mark each anniversary of the attack, just as the debate surrounding the bombing will continue. Was it truly necessary for the United States to use atomic weapons? Was Truman’s authorization given in the hope of ending the war as soon as possible, or was it born of political motives? Aside from the atomic option, were there other possible choices? Was the very use of the bomb itself an immoral act?

My view is that history always plays out live — there are no dress rehearsals, and all of the controversy surrounding the use of atomic weapons on that day only hold academic and societal value insofar as they encapsulate part of history while bearing in mind our future. Instead of ruminating upon whether or not the United States should have dropped atomic bombs during World War II, it is better to reflect upon whether or not a nation should be free to massacre noncombatants. On this point, perhaps, the United States could bear some self-reflection. Prior to dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the United States attacked 66 major Japanese population centers through an air campaign that utilized an enormous quantity of incendiary bombs. Cities were obliterated and industrial centers and strategic targets were razed, but a fair amount of civilians were able to escape from the cities and avoid the worst. However, the indiscriminate slaughter of combatants and noncombatants alike when the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki — and civilians had nowhere to flee — should certainly be condemned.

Similarly, we should also take a look at the real considerations that factored into the United States’ war policy at the time. That is, if the war went on at length and U.S. troops had to take the fight to Japan’s home islands, American casualties would continue to mount as the war progressed. The United States made a determination that ending the war as soon as possible to minimize the loss of American life was necessary regardless of what method was required to accomplish that end. No matter how else we might ponder and reflect, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki serve as a constant reminder that war does not engender tenderness, but cruelty. Accordingly, remembering the destruction wrought at Hiroshima and Nagasaki should also aid in avoiding a reenactment of that history.

We must remember that day, but even more importantly, we must reflect upon the war in its entirety. The U.S. nuclear attack on Japan occurred under a much larger backdrop, that of years of Japanese invasions throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The number of noncombatants in every corner of Asia who suffered or died at the hands of the Japanese far surpassed the amount of civilians who perished when the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Without deep reflection on the part of Japan upon its history of aggression, it is meaningless to blindly hope that history does not repeat itself. We cannot forget to remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but all the more importantly, we must not forget Japan’s history of aggression.

The author is a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of American Studies.