When did the United States drop the bomb on Hiroshima, Japan? A short historical essay?

“Hiroshima was like hell.” The 97-year-old man Sagara Katsuzo, who witnessed the Hiroshima nuclear bombing, lamented to the reporter of "Kobe Shimbun". He said that no matter whether the war is won or lost, it is the civilians who are harmed. "I was a militarist when I was young. Now, I am absolutely opposed to war." At 8:15 on August 6, 1945, American bombers dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. The city was reduced to rubble in an instant. About 210,000 people were killed. He died in the explosion, and the survivors suffered from the sequelae for the rest of their lives. August 6, 2020 is the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima nuclear explosion. At the commemorative ceremony that day, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe once again mentioned the three non-nuclear principles of not manufacturing, not possessing, and not transporting nuclear weapons. He hoped that countries around the world would engage in dialogue and finally Achieve a world without nuclear weapons. In addition to the Prime Minister's speech, some people who witnessed the nuclear explosion also gave interviews to the media, describing what they saw and heard, their sad experiences, and their wishes for peace. Witness: Pedestrians on the street were red and swollen, and they didn’t know whether it was clothes or skin hanging on their bodies. "Hiroshima was like hell at that time." Sagara Shozo, a 97-year-old man who witnessed the nuclear bombing in Hiroshima, lamented to the reporter of "Kobe Shimbun". On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The first actual combat of the atomic bomb in human history brought a devastating blow to Japan. Some survivors still suffer from fatal burns, radiation syndrome and cancer. Today, 75 years later, Sagara Katsuzo recalls the scene after the nuclear explosion and still remembers it freshly, "The streets were full of people with red, black and swollen faces and bodies. What hung down from the body was peeling skin, I don't know. The clothes were still in pieces. My body was in severe pain when touched," Sagara Katsuzo said. At that time, the school dormitories were converted into barracks. He himself was affiliated with the Second General Army Headquarters of the Japanese Army in Hiroshima. When the nuclear explosion occurred, he was in school 2.8 kilometers west of the center of the nuclear explosion. "It was very hot and cloudless when I woke up early that day. I could see American military planes circling. Suddenly I saw a brown object hanging from a parachute falling down. I was wondering what it was when suddenly there was a strong light in the sky and a sound. Everything disappeared in an instant. I fell to the ground suddenly, and the hot wind passed by me. I had no idea what was happening." The roar of the earth stopped, and Sagara Shengzo saw a huge mushroom cloud and rainbow-like flames rising into the sky. After that, people on the street kept coming to the school for help. Sagara Katsuzo believed that applying oil could treat burns, but after applying it, the person's skin peeled off like tomato skin, and the whole body was covered in blood. The next day, Sagara Katsuzo came to the streets of the city and saw that everything had been razed to the ground, only the iron frames of the telephone poles were left standing, and countless corpses were floating in the river. After the end of World War II, Sagara Katsuzo did not tell anyone about his nuclear explosion experience for a long time. Now he was worried that if he didn't say anything, he would have no chance. He said that no matter whether the war is won or lost, it is the civilians who are harmed. "I was a militarist when I was young. Now, I am absolutely against war." The bitterness of the victims: It is difficult to recognize the identity of "Black Rain". Recently, the "Atomic Bomb Victims List" records the information of the victims of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The names of 4,943 people who died in the past year were added. At the commemoration ceremony on August 6, the roster was placed back into the stone chamber of the Nuclear Explosion Memorial Monument. According to Japan Jiji News Agency, the list has now increased to 118, with more than 320,000 people in it. In addition to the names of the victims, it also contains the time and age of their death, including a list that is all blank paper. , mainly to commemorate the victims whose names are unknown. After the nuclear explosion disaster, Japanese officials have been counting and updating data on victims. Data released by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare show that as of the end of March this year, a total of 136,682 survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombings were registered in the "Hibakusha Health Handbook", a 60% decrease from the 372,000 in the 1980s. . The average age of the current victims is over 83 years old. It is worth mentioning that there are still some Hiroshima people who have been campaigning for years to seek recognition of the identities of the victims of the nuclear bombing. According to Japan's "Asahi Shimbun" report, after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, radioactive materials formed a "black rain" in the air, and some residents suffered from diseases due to the influence of the "black rain". However, the city of Hiroshima never recognized their identity as victims and refused to provide medical benefits. Until July 29 this year, the Hiroshima District Court ruled that those who experienced the "Black Rain" in the appeals court could be recognized as nuclear bomb victims and would receive government compensation. However, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the government would consider whether to appeal the ruling. On August 6, when reporters asked about the "Black Rain" case, Abe said that he was discussing a response plan with the Hiroshima local government and would make a decision within the appeal period. The "Tokyo Shimbun" editorial believes that the government should pay attention to judicial rulings and immediately compensate the victims of "Black Rain" because most of the victims are old and they do not have much time left. Learn the lesson, "Hiroshima must never happen again." 75 years have passed, and there are fewer and fewer survivors of the nuclear explosion, but the impact and alarm brought by nuclear weapons have never disappeared. 75-year-old Kondo Kokoro is one of the survivors. She was only 8 months old when the nuclear bomb struck. Kondo has had annual tests for years as doctors and scientists study the effects of radiation on the body, a process she calls "humiliating." Kondo Kokoro once swore that she would take revenge after finding the person who dropped the atomic bomb. But in 1955, she changed her mind when she accepted an invitation to appear on NBC and met Robert Lewis, the co-pilot who dropped the atomic bomb.

When the host asked Lewis how he felt after dropping the atomic bomb, his eyes filled with tears. He said that he wrote in the flight log that day: "God, what have we done?" Kondo said that the encounter with Lewis made her realize that she should not hate this person, "If I want to hate something, That is war itself”. She said that from then on, she kept reminding young people to learn lessons from the war and never let what happened in Hiroshima happen again. Today, many victims of nuclear explosions share a common wish, hoping for the complete abolition of nuclear weapons. Japan's "Mainichi Shin_" reported that Japan's nuclear explosion victims' group launched a joint petition called "Last Demand", calling on all countries to give up nuclear weapons. As of August 5, 11.84 million signatures had been collected.

Source: Witnesses of the Nuclear Explosion: Hiroshima was like hell