August 6, 1945 ~ Truman Drops the A-bomb on Hiroshima

President Harry S. Truman faced a decision of unprecedented gravity.

Any attempt to invade the Japanese home islands would result in horrific American casualties.

Truman concluded that deploying the newly developed Atomic bomb would save nearly 1-million American lives and ultimately Japanese lives by bringing the war to a swift end.

Truman issued a demand for an immediate unconditional surrender and stated that refusal would result in total destruction.

The Japanese Military refused.

On August 6, 1945, the American B-29 bomber Enola Gay piloted by Col. Paul Tibbets dropped the five-ton “Little Boy” bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima

Instantly, 70,000 Japanese citizens were vaporized.

Despite the horrific destruction Japan still refused to surrender.

On August 9, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, where 80,000 Japanese people perished.

Ultimately, on August 14, 1945, the Japanese surrendered unconditionally.