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u st rday, •ugust 6, at 8:15 Japan s
tim , Hiroshima was bomb d by th world¶s
first atomic bomb. It was 2,000 tim s mor
pow rful than any bomb us d in th world to
dat . • B-29 bomb r plan , nam d Enola
Gay, took off from a north Pacific island,
Tinian, with pilot Colon l Paul Tibb ts.
Captain William S. Parsons from th Navy
was r sponsibl for arming th bomb whil in
flight, sinc it was saf r to arm it aft r tak -
off. It took Parsons fift n minut s to arm th
9,000 pound, t n-foot uranium-235 bomb,
nicknam d ³Littl Boy´. Th atomic bomb

 
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ccc was th n s nt whizzing down onto Hiroshima
 c
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plod d 1,900 f t (600 m t rs) in th
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air. Th r was a blast uival nt to 13
c kilotons of TNT and d vastating fiv suar
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mil s of th city. Th d ath toll thus far is stimat d at 70-80,000, but it is too soon to know a
d finit numb r. 70,000 di d imm diat ly from flash and blast injuri s from th a-bomb. Th
th rmal flash cr at d fir s that start d taking ov r
th city in a fir storm, d vastating 90 p rc nt of
Hiroshima¶s buildings. Flash, blast and prompt
radiation w r th caus s of th imm diat
fataliti s at th pic nt r, whom w r hit with
combin d n utron and gamma l thal dos s of
80,000 rad within on minut of th attack. On
survivor d scrib d th d vastation as, ³Th
app aranc of p opl was w ll th y all had skin
black n d by burns. Th y had no hair b caus [ cJcc cc c
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th ir hair was burn d, and at a glanc you 
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couldn't t ll wh th r you w r looking at th m
from in front or in back. Th ir skin - not only on th ir hands, but on th ir fac s and bodi s too -
hung down. If th r had b n only on or two such p opl , p rhaps I would not hav had such a
strong impr ssion. But wh r v r I walk d I m t th s p opl . Many of th m di d along th
road«´Oth rs w r injur d, but said to b
pos d to a fatal dos of radiation, and sci ntists ar
unawar to th tru cons u nc s of th Unit d Stat s¶ action of th a-bombing sinc it is th
world¶s first d ploy d atomic bombing. M mb rs aboard th Enola Gay d scrib d th sc n aft r
³Littl Boy´ hit as, ³Th mushroom cloud its lf was a sp ctacular sight, a bubbling mass of
purpl -gray smok and you could s it had a r d cor in it and v rything was burning insid . It
look d lik lava or molass s cov ring a whol city.´ Th mushroom cloud was stimat d at
40,000 f t high.
³Littl Boy´, th bomb that d vastat d
Hiroshima was 9,000 pounds (4tons), t n f t,
13,000 tons of TNT, and had an l m nt bas of
uranium-235. Th atomic bomb, which cost $2
billion of r s arch, had n v r b n t st d nor
parachut d from a plan b for y st rday. Th a-
bomb was a gravity bomb, lik a gun-typ fission
w apon mad of 60 kg of uranium-235. Th bomb
r l as s nucl ar n rgy that com s from an atom¶s
 
 
 cor by splitting an atom in a proc ss call d fission.
 

 •tomic bombs, in g n ral, produc an int ns flash
of light, th n a fir storm and a mushroom-shap d
cloud th h ight of 40,000 f t. W will hav to
wait to s what th Unit d Stat s n
t mov will b
in th struggl against Japan!cc

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Chicago Tribun •ugust 7, 1951 Chicagoland
Dc c

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Ev n b for th bombing of Hiroshima, Th Unit d Stat s was working on th prosp ct of
atomic bombs. In 1938 in Nazi G rmany, two radio ch mist first discov r d nucl ar fission,
which is th principl b hind atomic bombs and nucl ar pow r plants. Th inv ntion in G rmany
alarm d th Unit d Stat s b caus at th tim G rmany was run by Nazi and th f ar of Nazi¶s
having mor pow r was v ry dang rous. Onc th Unit d Stat s b cam involv d in World War
II, atomic bomb r s arch and d v lopm nt start d in what was call d th µManhattan Proj ct¶.
(Th captain of th Enola Gay, William S. Parsons was chi f of th Ordnanc Division in th
µManhattan Proj ct¶.) Th Manhattan Proj ct was th ffort, l d by th Unit d Stat s with
participation from th Unit d Kingdom and Canada, Th •rmy compon nt of th proj ct was
d signat d th Manhattan District, so b cam known as th Manhattan Proj ct. Th proj ct had
its roots in th Einst in±Szilárd l tt r, which warn d of Nazi G rmany d v loping nucl ar
w apons. Th l tt r was writt n by promin nt physicists, sign d by •lb rt Einst in, and
d liv r d to Pr sid nt Franklin D. Roos v lt in Octob r 1939. Th Manhattan Proj ct, which
b gan as a small r s arch program that y ar, v ntually mploy d mor than 130,000 p opl at a
cost of n arly US$2 billion. R s arch and production took plac at mor than 30 sit s, som
s cr t, including univ rsiti s across th Unit d Stat s, th Unit d Kingdom and Canada. Two
typ s of atomic bombs w r d v lop d during th war, on which was us d against Hiroshima.
In July 1945, th atomic bomb was t st d in th N w M
ico d s rt, and consid r d a succ ss,
concluding th Unit d Stat s as having on of th d adli st w apons of th world. Th atomic
bomb was th n us d on Hiroshima on •ugust 7, 1945. •ft r Pr sid nt Truman issu d anoth r
atomic bombing on Nagasaki, Japan surr nd r d at noon on •ugust 15, 1945. It was an
unconditional surr nd r that only cam from Emp ror Hirohito¶s f ar of mor d struction by th
atomic bomb. Th formal surr nd r agr m nt, th Postdam D claration, was sign d on
S pt mb r 2. •t th tim of th bombing, Hiroshima was known for its industrial and military
significanc . Military camps n arby Hiroshima includ d th h aduart rs of th Fifth Division
and Fi ld Marshal Shunroku Hata's 2nd G n ral •rmy H aduart rs, which command d th
 Dc!c

d f ns of all of south rn Japan. Hiroshima was a minor supply and logistics bas for th
Japan s military. Th city was a communications c ntr , a storag point, and an ass mbly ar a
for troops. It was on of s v ral Japan s citi s l ft d lib rat ly untouch d by •m rican
bombing; th r for it was p rf ct for th first atomic bombing.

• 


c
Sinc th bombing of Hiroshima, th city has
r main d ff ct d by th atomic bomb. In th past si

y ars sinc th bombing, anoth r 80,000 p opl hav
di d. Som survivors
p ri nc d only acut
symptoms of th d lay d radiation ff cts. Th y w r D c c
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said to r cov r from th ir symptoms including: 
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naus a, vomiting, diarrh a, h adach s, insomnia, pilation, w akn ss, bl ding, inflammation
symptoms, and g nital organ symptoms, aft r fiv months. Th r w r a total of 140,000 d aths
in this p riod of acut sickn ss, 20% of th d aths w r from injuri s from th blast, 60% from
burns from th th rmal rays and fir of th blast, and 20% du to radiations disturbanc s, lik
thos list d. Th r w r also survivors who
p ri nc d mor long-t rm, s v r illn ss s from
th radiation, wh th r from b ing pr s nt at th bombing or from th fallout. Burns from th
atomic bomb, h al d but form d k loids, or th
c ss growth of scar tissu . B tw n 1946 to
1947 th r was a p riod of k loid d aths. Ey disord rs such as traumatic cataracts and blood
dyscasias lik l uk mia app ar d around 1947. •ft r last y ar, d aths attribut d to radiation w r
60 l uk mia d aths, 300 oth r canc r d aths and 145 non-canc r d aths. Mor and mor
l uk mia d aths ar pr s nting th ms lv s this y ar. D aths from thyroid canc r, br ast canc r,
lung canc r and salivary gland tumors ar rising as w ll, and still b ing obs rv d. Survivor
r gistri s includ 2,300 individuals
pos d in ut ro, or in th ut rus. Studi s sugg st that
c ss
miscarriag s and f tal d aths numb r d in th doz ns, and
c ss infant d aths (for thos

pos d in ut ro) also in th doz ns. •bout 45 cas s of microc phaly, or brain disord r, ar
known among thos
pos d in ut ro, including at l ast 15 with m ntal r tardation. Th r is
prosp ct that in th coming y ars, mor p opl will continu to di .
Two-thirds of Hiroshima was d stroy d by th
plosion. Clay roof til s, m tal and ston
had all m lt d tog th r in th 60,000 buildings that w r d molish d. Many structur s
compl t ly collaps d, along with wat r lin s br aking. Fir s w r unabl to b distinguish d
b caus of a lack of wat r, and si
w ks aft r th blast th city suff r d from a shortag of
wat r. Th blast also caus d air pollution from dust particl s, radioactiv d bris flying around,
and fir s burning v rywh r . Many plants and animals w r kill d in th blast, but also di d
months lat r from radioactiv pr cipitation. Radioactiv sand clogg d w lls us d for drinking
wat r, causing a wat r shortag that was not asily solvabl . Surfac wat r sourc s w r
pollut d, mainly by radioactiv wast . •gricultur production was damag , for instanc d ad
stalks of ric could b found up to s v n mil s from ground z ro. Th impact of th bombing in
Hiroshima was notic abl within a 10 kilom t r radius around th city. Hiroshima is still b ing
impact d today, si
y ars lat r, wh th r by its surrounding d vastation or fataliti s. c
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