On August 6, 1945 the atomic bomb was dropped on the

Japanese city of Hiroshima. The Enola Gay, piloted by

Colonel Tibbetts, was chosen to make the mission. The

mission was recorded as successful by Capt. William S.

Parson at 9:20 A.M. This was an extremely controversial

military strategy in the United States. Was the United States

justified in the dropping of the atomic bomb? Yes, they were

justified for many reasons. The primary reason was, that it

would stop the war. Why is it that this war needed to be

stopped so badly? Even though in some ways it was helping

our economy, it was very costly in both money and lives.

Also, the United States soldiers were undergoing harsh

treatment by the unmerciful Japanese. Another reason the

war needed to be stopped was to defend ourselves from

another attack on U.S. soil, which in turn would kill many of

our U.S. citizens. This is why the war needed to be stopped;

thus, justifying the use of the atomic bomb. World War II

was the costliest war in history, in terms of lives lost. No

exact figures exist, but approximately between 15 and 20

million military personnel were killed. Of these, 292,000

were Americans and 6,000 innocent United States citizens

were murdered by our enemies. It has been estimated that if

the United States had not dropped the bomb and had

invaded Japan instead, the United States would have lost

about a million soldiers. The Japanese suicidal fighting

strategies greatly effected this number. The Japanese would

rather die than surrender. This is demonstrated by the battle

of Saipan. At this battle over half of the population of Saipan

walked off a cliff instead of surrendering to the United

States. This was often very effective. Many times when a

Japanese soldier decided to blow himself up instead of

surrendering he would kill many Americans with the same

blast. Also the kamikaze techniques of the Japanese fighters

killed many soldiers. If this war would have continued we... [continues]

Read full essay

Cite This Essay

APA

(1999, 10). World War Ii. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 10, 1999, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/World-War-Ii-17245.html

MLA

"World War Ii" StudyMode.com. 10 1999. 10 1999 <http://www.studymode.com/essays/World-War-Ii-17245.html>.

CHICAGO

"World War Ii." StudyMode.com. 10, 1999. Accessed 10, 1999. http://www.studymode.com/essays/World-War-Ii-17245.html.