V-J Day flashback to Japan bombings
On Aug. 6, 1945, the "Enola Gay" dropped an atomic bomb named "Little Boy" on Hiroshima. "Fat Man" was the atomic bomb dropped by "Bockscar" on Nagasaki on Aug. 9. The detonation on Hiroshima killed 90,000-166,000, and Nagasaki lost 60,000-80,000. Half of the total deaths occurred immediately upon detonation of the bombs in each city.
Not as well known is the firebombing campaign of Japanese cities starting in February, 1945. To supplement traditional bombing raids over Japan, incendiary devices (napalm) were employed, and was a tactic espoused by Army Air Forces as early as the 1920s. The first target of this campaign was the shipyard city of Kobe. On March 16-17, a fleet of B-29s carried a mix of 13 tons of traditional high explosive bombs, and 159 tons of incendiary bombs, which severely damaged two shipyards and destroyed 1,000 buildings. 67 cities were targeted during the February to August campaign. Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Niigata and Kokura were kept off the firebombing list. The campaign continued to try and demoralize the enemy population by showing the Japanese just how totally helpless they were, but no matter how many square miles, and how many civilians died, the Japanese military wanted to keep fighting.
On April 12, 1945, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (born 1882) died, and Vice President Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) was sworn into office. On that day, Truman was briefed on an ultra secret project by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. The Manhattan Project was a program to develop "extremely powerful bombs of a new type," and was headquartered at Los Alamos, N.M. FDR approved the program in October, 1941 "to use uranium to provide a possible source of bombs with a destructiveness vastly greater than anything now known." Truman learned of the successful July 16 Trinity test detonation at White Sands Proving Grounds, N.M., while attending the Potsdam Conference in Potsdam, occupied Germany, during July 17 to Aug. 2. The goals of the conference included the establishment of post-war order, peace treaties issues, and countering the effects of war. Truman, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Premier Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union gathered to administer punishment to the defeated Nazi Germany, which had agreed to unconditional surrender on May 8, known as V-E Day (Victory Europe). On July 26 (there sure are a lot of dates to keep track of) the Potsdam Declaration was issued by the United States, United Kingdom, and the Nationalist Government of China (Chiang Kai-shek) calling for the unconditional surrender for the Empire of Japan. It was presented as an ultimatum for Japan to surrender, stating that without a surrender, the Allies would attack, resulting in "the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland." Japan refused to surrender, confirmed by intercepting and decoding secret Japanese dispatches, as well as July 28th Japanese newspaper reporting the press conference where Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki said that the Japanese government intended to ignore the ultimatum. Also, Emperor Hirohito made it clear to his advisor, Koichi Kido, that "the Imperial Regalia of Japan had to be defended at all costs."
Prompted by Churchill, and considering a study done for Secretary Stimson estimating that conquering Japan would cost 1.7 - 4 million American casualties, including 400,000-800,000 fatalities, and five to 10 million Japanese fatalities, Truman made the decision to use the atomic weapons to force the surrender. In his diary, Truman wrote: "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."
Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender of Japan on Aug. 15, which became known as V-J Day (Victory Japan). The surrender ceremony was held on the deck of the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, officiated by Supreme Allied Commander Douglas McArthur. It was the end of World War II.
Jack Evensizer is a resident of Dalton Gardens.