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HIROSHIMA NOTES KAITLIN WENDEL P.

Dwight Eisenhower: "...the Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn't necessary
to hit them with that awful thing.

William D. Leahy; Chief of Staff to Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and


Harry Truman: The lethal possibilities of atomic warfare in the future are
frightening. My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children."

Joseph Grew; Under Secretary of State: "If surrender could have been brought
about in May, 1945, or even in June or July, before the entrance of Soviet Russia into the [Pacific] war and the use of the atomic bomb, the world would have been the gainer."

Albert Einstein: said that he was sure that President Roosevelt would have
forbidden the atomic bombing of Hiroshima had he been alive

The Hiroshima Bomb Size: length - 3 meters, diameter - 0.7 meters. Weight: 4 tons. Nuclear material: Uranium 235. Energy released: equivalent to 12.5 kilotons (roughly 28,000,000 lbs.) of TNT. Code name: "Little Boy". Initial Explosive Conditions Maximum temperature at burst point: several million degrees centigrade. A fireball of 15-meters radius formed in 0.1 millisecond, with a temperature of 300,000 degrees centigrade, and expanded to its huge maximum size in one second. The top of the atomic cloud reached an altitude of 17,000 meters. Black Rain Radioactive debris was deposited by "black rain" that fell heavily for over an hour over a wide area. Damaging Effects of the Atomic Bomb Thermal Hear. Intense thermal heat emitted by the fireball caused severe burns and loss of eyesight. Thermal burns of bare skin occurred as far as 3.5 kilometers from ground zero (directly below the burst point). Most people exposed to thermal rays within 1-kilometer radius of ground zero died. Tile and glass melted; all combustible materials were consumed.

Blast. An atomic explosion causes an enormous shock wave followed instantaneously by a rapid expansion of air called the blast; these represent roughly half the explosion's released energy. Maximum wind pressure of the blast: 35 tons per square meter. Maximum wind velocity: 440 meters per second. Wooden houses within 2.3 kilometers of ground zero collapsed. Concrete buildings near ground zero (thus hit by the blast from above) had ceilings crushed and windows and doors blown off. Many people were trapped under fallen structures and burned to death. Radiation. People exposure within 500 meters of ground zero was fatal. People exposed at distances of 3 to 5 kilometers later showed symptoms of aftereffects, including radiation-induced cancers. Bodily Injuries Acute symptoms. Symptoms appearing in the first four months were called acute. Besides burns and wounds, they included: general malaise, fatigue, headaches, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, abnormally low white blood cell count, bloody discharge, anemia, loss of hair. Aftereffects. Prolonged injuries were associated with aftereffects. The most serious in this category were: keloids (massive scar tissue on burned areas), cataracts, leukemia and other cancers. Atomic Demographics Population. The estimated pre-bomb population was 300,000 to 400,000. Because official documents were burned, the exact population is uncertain. Deaths. With an uncertain population figure, the death toll could only be estimated. According to data submitted to the United Nations by Hiroshima City in 1976, the death count reached 140,000 (plus or minus 10,000) by the end of December, 1945. Health Card Holders. Persons qualifying for treatment under the A-bomb Victims Medical Care law of 1957 received Health Cards; holders as of March 31, 1990, numbered 352,550. Nagasaki. The atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki exploded at 11:02 A.M. on August 9. Using plutonium with an explosive power of 20 kilotons of TNTequivalent, it left an estimated 70,000 dead by the end of 1945, although both population and the deaths are uncertain. Long-range health dangers associated with radiation exposure, such as an increased danger of cancer, would linger for the rest of the victims' lives, as would the psychological effects of the attack. Some 70,000 people probably died as a result of initial blast, heat, and radiation effects. This included about twenty American airmen being held as prisoners in the city. By the end of 1945, because of the lingering effects of radioactive fallout and other after effects, the Hiroshima death toll was probably over 100,000.

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