Subscribe
to the E-Star!

Hiroshima 65 years later

My Thoughts

Dr. Bill Atwood

(Updated: Thursday, August 05, 2010, 12:00 AM)

In the early morning hours of Monday, August 6, 1945 the brave men of the flight crew on the Enola Gay dropped their payload dubbed "Little Boy" on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The world changed at that very moment. On that day 65 years ago, the United States unleashed nuclear power against an enemy that sent shock waves around the world even greater than the blast that was felt by our enemy.

The world had never seen such an explosive force. The power of that one bomb was as great as all the power of all the bombs used up to that point in the war. The devastation was swift. Half of the100,000 who died from that bombing run died that first day and the rest were dead within four months from the effects of radiation or burns suffered that morning.

Three days later the United States having not heard surrender from the Japanese government bombed the city of Nagasaki and the effects were almost as chilling. The Japanese were quick to transmit their acceptance of a full surrender to the United States and eventually signed that instrument of Surrender on the USS Missouri on Sept. 2.

There are many who still want to debate the issue of the morality of using such weapons and many are quick to show that the United States is the only country ever to use nuclear weapons on another nation or enemy.

Harry Truman showed great leadership in ordering the usage of those weapons. Imagine the pressure on that man from Missouri. At one time he was a haberdasher in little Independence, gets elected to a couple of offices, is selected by FDR to serve as the Vice-President during Roosevelt's fourth term, kept in the dark about the Atomic Bomb development until Roosevelt's death in April of 1945 and then must give the order to use it or put the bomb on hold. To his last days Truman stated he always knew he had made the right decision. It saved more than one million deaths that surely would have occurred during a manned invasion of the island nation of Japan.

Imagine the toll on the leader of the Enola Gay squadron, Paul Tibbets. The Colonel knew the mission and he had to assemble a team, train them, keeping the details secret from the public, families and much from the crew as well. In naming his plane after his mother he made her a part of our history. It is interesting to note that "Enola" spelled backward is "Alone". How alone he and Truman must have felt with their respective aspects of the mission. These two brave men did their duty. No polling data, no focus groups, no examples from history, just the plain and simple fact that real leadership comes from taking the information at hand, making a decision and living with the results. The Enola Gay could have been destroyed in the flight's takeoff due to the weight of the cargo. It could have been destroyed by the blast of the bomb itself. The crew also faced the danger of having to get back to the base at Tinian without being shot down by Japanese aircraft. Tibbets is a true hero.

The German's had surrendered on May 7 and when the Japanese surrender came the world really got to see some of the greatness of the American people. The world saw the rebuilding of our former foes by this country. We helped those two nations develop into world economic powers and now strong allies because of our compassion. That is a part of what is called "American Exceptionalism". We helped two nations rise from the ashes like the Phoenix to soar on their own. We did not take lands as conquerors but helped develop freedom as liberators from the leaders of those nations who lead their peoples down the wrong pathway.

Tomorrow, Friday Aug. 6, please take time to remember President Truman, the crew of the Enola Gay, all those who fought in the Second World War, and those who died in that war. During that moment of prayer in their memories please note that it is because of their actions you are praying in English and not Japanese.

Mission Accomplished!