An End to the War

Forcing the Surrender

By the 1940's, war between Japan and the U.S. had escalated to a high casualty toll. The United States needed to do whatever was necassary to preserve the safety of the United States citizens. After the death of President Roosevelt, Vice president Truman had to lead the United states through the rest of World War II.

The Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It was named after the pilot's mother.
"Enola Gay." TRITONES BIKER. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. <http://tritonesbiker.blogspot.com/2011/01/enola-gay.html>.

President Truman now had a decision to make, wether to drop the bomb or not. After being kept secret from Truman until becoming president, he decides to drop the bomb on Japan. Because an estimated one million lives were being saved, it was thought anything to keep national security needed to be done, and dropping the bombs was exactly that. 

The mushroom cloud from the first atomic bomb at Hiroshima. Even though it had been tested in a desert in New Mexico, no one had any idea of exactly how much damage the bomb would do to a populated city.

Shekhawat, Vikas. "U.S. Triggers Another Arms Race With Its New Nuclear Bomb - Weaponsblog." Weaponsblog: Latest News, Reviews, Previews, and Information on Aircraft Carriers, Strategical Weapons, Aircraft Technology, Anti-aircraft Guns, Big Guns, Bazookas, Tactical Weapons, Biological Weapons, WMD, Gears, Bows, Arrows, Silent Killers, Bullets, Ammunition... 16 June 2006. Web. 1 Mar. 2011. <http://www.weaponsblog.org/entry/us-triggers-another-arms-race-with-its-new-nuclear-bomb/>.

The first bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945, after issuing a warning to Japan stating to evacuate Hiroshima describing the power of the bomb they had. Then, three days later, another bomb is dropped on Nagasaki. Following these attacks, Japan surrenders to U.S. ending the war. Because of Japans fearless war tactics, the U.S. had to go to another level to end the war, although necassary for american lives.