A Uranium bomb (which weighed in at over 4 & 1/2 tons) nicknamed "Little Boy" was dropped on Hiroshima August 6th, 1945. The Aioi Bridge, one of 81 bridges connecting the seven-branched delta of the Ota River, was the aiming point of the bomb. Ground Zero was set at 1,980 feet. At 0815 hours, the bomb was dropped from the Enola Gay. It missed by only 800 feet. At 0816 hours, in the flash of an instant, 66,000 people were killed and 69,000 people were injured by a 10 kiloton atomic explosion.
The point of total vaporization from the blast measured one half of a mile in diameter. Total destruction ranged at one mile in diameter. Severe blast damage carried as far as two miles in diameter. At two and a half miles, everything flammable in the area burned. The remaining area of the blast zone was riddled with serious blazes that stretched out to the final edge at a little over three miles in diameter.
On August 9th 1945, Nagasaki fell to the same treatment as Hiroshima. Only this time, a Plutonium bomb nicknamed "Fat Man" was dropped on the city. Even though the "Fat Man" missed by over a mile and a half, it still leveled nearly half the city. Nagasaki's population dropped in one split-second from 422,000 to 383,000. 39,000 were killed, over 25,000 were injured. That blast was less than 10 kilotons as well. Estimates from physicists who have studied each atomic explosion state that the bombs that were used had utilized only 1/10th of 1 percent of their respective explosive capabilities.
While the mere explosion from an atomic bomb is deadly enough, its destructive ability doesn't stop there. Atomic fallout creates another hazard as well. The rain that follows any atomic detonation is laden with radioactive particles. Many survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki blasts succumbed to radiation poisoning due to this occurrence.
The atomic detonation also has the hidden lethal surprise of affecting the future generations of those who live through it. Leukemia is among the greatest of afflictions that are passed on to the offspring of survivors. (Quoted from this article)
While it is true that nuclear energy has brought many benefits to modern life, using it as a war machine is horrendous. It scares me to think of what evil world powers may have access to something so utterly devastating, something that has the potential to negatively impact future generations. Today, and every day, let us all hope that such malevolence is never used again to further war, murder, or hate.
I love your last line, "Today, and every day, let us all hope that such malevolence is never used again to further war, murder, or hate". I think that's beautifully written.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine what ANYONE was going through during those times of war 65 years ago. I know nations ALL over the world were hurting, scared, furious, vindictive and petrified. I genuinely hope that we don't see this force used in our lifetime no matter what the circumstance. It is a scary thing. While I realize the effects of the war on America during that time, I also realize that thousands upon thousands of innocent people were killed as the result of our use of force and that's heartbreaking no matter which side you are on. Thanks for posting this and bringing light to something that many have forgotten. As Americans, it seems that all we remember was Pearl Harbor (which was devastating and I'm not taking anything away from that horrific act) but people seem to forget that we have waged war...or, at the least...responded in a much more destructive manner.