THE DECISION TO DROP THE BOMB

[Music] the decision to drop an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima was perhaps the most important decision of our time the controversy of stirred has gone on with rising intensity ever since how was the decision made why was it made could the instant destruction of Hiroshima of 70,000 Japanese men women and children have been avoided in the spring of 1945 it was known that an atomic bomb would be made all that remained was to decide whether and how to use it this is the story of the 135 days of that decision the first day April 12 1945 we interrupt this program with a special bulletin a press association has announced that President Roosevelt is dead the president died of a cerebral hemorrhage all we know is that the president died in Warm Springs Georgia he has been president for 12 years longer than any other man he is the only president many have known now on this April afternoon with the United States at war around the world he is suddenly gone now someone else must make the life-and-death decisions the Vice President is almost unknown he has been in office less than three months obscured by the dominating figure of the president now he is president the leader by chance of the greatest military coalition in history at 7:09 p.m. harry s truman takes the oath of office he never wanted to hold assumes the responsibilities for which he has had no time to be prepared or briefed he says the moon the Stars and all the planets just fell on me he says pray for me he tells his cabinet no one can fill the void that has been left he says he will try to carry on Roosevelt's policies when the cabinet leaves one man stays behind 78 year old Secretary of War Henry L Stimson weary but iron-willed with a secret he must now tell new president a moment is described by his friend and biographer McGeorge Bundy mr. Truman tells of that conversation in this language Stimson told me he wanted me to know about an important project that was underway a project looking to the development of a new explosive of almost unbelievable destructive power that was all he felt free to say and his statement left me puzzled it was the first information that had come to me about the atomic bomb but he gave me no details the Pentagon the project to build the atomic bomb has been given the codename Manhattan district it is being built under the direction of a recently promoted Brigadier General of a corps of engineers his name is Leslie groves he reports only to army chief of staff George Marshall Secretary of War Stimson and the president a few doors away the future strategy of the war is being planned few of the planners have been told the secret of the bomb Secretary of State's continious and the men in the State Department planning the post-war policy of the United States do not know the secret on Capitol Hill congressmen who have appropriated two billion dollars to the Manhattan district do not know on what the money is being spent in laboratories around the country there are men who know the secret the scientists are deeply worried by the implications of the force they are about to let loose on the world one is Leo Szilard or urged Einstein to tell Roosevelt that the United States ought to try to make an atomic bomb he recorded his views about the bomb before he died they are read by his wife and this is what he said in the spring of 45 it was clear that the boy against Germany would soon end and so I began to ask myself what is the purpose of continuing the development of the bomb and how would the bomb be used the war with Japan has not ended by the time we had the first bomb initially we were strongly motivated to produce the bomb because we feared the Germans would get ahead of us and the only way to prevent them from dropping bombs on us was to have bombs in readiness ourselves but now with the war one it was not clear what we were working for and because of seekers say there was no intermediate level in the government to which we could have gone for a careful consideration of these issues the only man with whom we were sure we were entitled to communicate was the president I knew any number of people who could have reached Roosevelt but I know nobody offhand - could've reached roman truman just did not move in the same circles as Harry Truman comes to speak for the first time to a joint session of Congress he has much on his mind that takes priority over the atomic bomb he is still forming his administration he is still learning his job pressing problems around the world demand his attention foremost among these is the global war the United States is fighting I call upon all Americans to help me keep our nation United in defense of those ideals which have been so eloquently proclaimed by Franklin Roosevelt our demand has been and it remains [Music] the next 11 days the president has no time to think about a secret weapon that may or may not work as he steeped three million American GIs are in Europe fighting their way across Germany and beyond the strategy of the war lies the problem of what to do with Germany after the war how to restore Europe how to deal with the Soviet Union the other side of the world in the Pacific on the islands and coral atolls the Japanese are resisting fanatically the toll of United States dead and wounded on the beaches in the jungles is rising [Music] at this moment far from the war hidden in the hills of East Tennessee at a place not even on a map called Oak Ridge under rigid security restrictions as a plant that uses twice as much electricity as the city of Memphis uses huge amounts of raw material has cost almost a billion dollars but does not seem to produce anything the fact is behind the wall of security slowly painfully Oak Ridge is manufacturing uranium-235 the explosive material for the atomic bomb April 25 1945 as the conference to organize the United Nations begins State Department policy planners still have not been told about the bomb the president still has not been briefed worried by this Secretary of War Stimson arranges to see the president mr. Stimpson took with him to that meeting the memorandum which he kept among his records and which tells very clearly the way in which he then saw the matter he pointed out that while the United States was ahead in developing the weapon it would not remain ahead indefinitely certainly would not preserve a monopoly forever and that the nation which would catch up first would be the Soviet Union pointed out that the weapon and its use were not merely an immediate military question but a political question since this new force threatened the very existence of civilization will secretary Stimson his general groves mr. Truman did not like to read long reports and this report was not long considering the size the project is about 24 pages and he would constantly interrupt his reading to say well I don't like to read papers and mr. Stimpson reply well we can't tell you this in any more concise language this is a big project the president indicated his feeling that it was sound and there was no reason to make any changes in our course of action as maybe ends the Red Army is advancing street-by-street through the burning ruins of Berlin the Nazis announced Hitler is dead the war in Europe is ending but even as the last bitter battle is being fought the problems of post-war Europe the war in the Pacific now begin to occupy the minds of the political leaders Stimson again meets in secret with the president the secretary recommended the establishment of a special committee called the interim committee to consider all aspects of the matter and in particular the immediate impression of this new weapon to the war against Japan may 8th in Europe after four and a half years of war 20 million dead Germany surrenders unconditionally will the same bloody battles have to be repeated across the Japanese home islands it is the question the United States military planners must now answer may 9 1945 the war in Europe is over the nations of Europe lie and ruins thousands are hungry without clothes homeless the United States and the Soviet Union began to quarrel over the future of Germany in Eastern Europe Winston Churchill urges a big three meeting before United States troops are sent to the Pacific Washington in answer to Churchill the president tentatively agrees to a July first meeting secretary Stimson urges delay it may be necessary to have it out with Russia on her relations to Manchuria what Arthur and other parts of North China are there any such tangled weave of problems this secret would be dominant and yet there was a problem as the diary entry goes on to say and the fact that we would not know by the 1st of July in all probability whether or not the weapon was in fact a success the secretary noted that it seemed a terrible thing to gamble with such big stakes in diplomacy without having your master plan in your hand May 25 the Joint Chiefs meet to talk about plans for the war against Japan the next step to be taken after the okinawa campaign the Navy advocates blockading Japan invading the China coast the Air Force wants to force Japan to surrender with its fire raids general marshal favors invasion of the Japanese home islands Admiral Nimitz and General MacArthur concur chief of staff admiral lei agrees but he says the invasion could cost up to a million American lives the decision of the Joint Chiefs is to recommend to the president Operation Olympic against Kyushu in November coronet against Honshu in the string the Joint Chiefs do not consider the atomic bomb they do not know if it will work or how effective it will be meanwhile Japan is being destroyed by conventional weapons a record 400 b-29s attacked Japan with fireballs the Japanese are being burned in their cities from one end of the homeland to the other behind the walls of the Imperial Palace the leaders are divided on how to face the looming disaster marquess Kido Lord privy seal advisor to the Emperor well at least one city and a times two was being turned into ashes daily I don't know how many cities there are in Japan but I realized that they would all be leveled in rhyme with the winter approaching tens of millions of people would die a dog's death from hunger and exposure and I said to them how can we carry on the war under such condition Colonel Hayashi secretary to war minister uh Nami America majority it was our hope that we would be able to deal a heavy blow to the American landing forces and this victory would induce the Americans to propose the termination of the war to us we had no delusion that this blow could finish off the American strength but we clung to the hope that this would give us a bargaining Vantage to ask for better turns in the peace treaty Washington the president delays the big three meeting this is Stimson's idea he wants to have the bomb ready before the president meets Stalin later back at the Pentagon Stimson sentence for general groves he asked me what cities I was planning on bombing or what targets I informed him and told him that Kyoto was the preferred target is the first one because there's of such size that we would have no question about the effects of the bomb he immediately said well I don't want Kyoto bombed and he went on to tell me about its long history is the cultural center of two and the former ancient capital and the great many reasons why he didn't want to see it bombed Kyoto is removed from the target list the second target on the list is Hiroshima May 31 the headlines report the fire raids on Japan have left 1 million homeless the Japanese dead now number in six figures Air Force general LeMay says we are driving the Japanese back to the caves in this atmosphere the interim committee meets to recommend to the presidents how to use the atomic bomb in this connection general Marshall did say as a kind of passing thought I I don't put it any higher than that that perhaps it would be a good idea to invite the Soviet Union to send observers to the test at Alamogordo this suggestion was not taken up by anyone else and was quickly passed by mr. Byrnes felt very strongly at this stage that we should not share any information with the Soviet Union nor should we make any immediate overtures to them the meeting continues behind closed doors other points are raised and I believe that the horror of the war that was on and the horror of the war which military planners expected to continue for a long time was so very great that it was more or less taken for granted that if a new weapon could put an end to this agony it should be so used in a weapon that would be an end to the war and save the lives the save a million casualties among American boys was justified at lunchtime mr. Byrnes asked dr. Lawrence to raise a game the question that had been raised earlier simply in passing namely that the weapons should not be used against the Japanese in the war but that there should be a striking with harmless demonstration of this weapon in the hope that the Japanese might be persuaded to sue for peace coupled with this demonstration of course was the possibility that the weapon might have to be used subsequently if the Japanese were not sufficiently impressed remember none of us and then I was seen a manga wall we had no idea as to what you can do our sort of effect it would have someone finally said unless these this weapon is used with maximum impact it may be very difficult for anyone to see much difference between it and the firebomb raids that were going on at that very time over Tokyo June 1 the headlines say b-29 fire raids burn eighty-two square miles of Japan the divided Japanese leaders continue to argue about what to do how to halt the slaughter as this goes on in Washington the interim committee makes a unanimous recommendation to the president use the atomic bomb against Japan without warning June 18 the main public event in Washington is a hero's welcome for General Dwight Eisenhower as Eisenhower writes down Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House a decision is being made secretary Stimson and the Joint Chiefs meet with the president they tell him there is no alternative to invading Japan they estimate the war will end in the fall 1946 it's mom is mentioned but it has not yet been tested no one knows what it will do a delay and the invasion plans is not considered the president agrees he has no alternative he orders the Joint Chiefs to go ahead machinery for the first stage of the invasion begins to move the invasion will be here Kyushu d-day November 1 in Japan on a similar map the same problem is being examined by Lieutenant General RSCA those of us in the second apartment of the g2 had to consider whether the American forces would try to run in the southern Kyushu or on the Kanto plains our conclusion was that if the Americans landed on southern Kyushu our present forces alone would be sufficient to fight off the Americans as the interim committee confirms its recommendation to use the atomic bomb on Japan the battle for Okinawa ends in three months ninety-eight thousand Japanese have died there have been 80 thousand American casualties on the atoll of Tinian thousand plane b-29 fire raids are being prepared against Japan [Music] standing by is the mysterious 509th composite group and as no bombs goes on no raids it screws do not know the time for its mission is now only six weeks away but now in Washington some are reconsidering that mission I felt rather strongly that we should have a specific warning we should tell them just what it was that this word atom bomb connoted so many things that this would be of deep significance it was definitely seemed to me that the Japanese were ready for surrender they were becoming weaker and weaker they were surrounded by the Navy they couldn't get any imports in and they couldn't export anything and naturally as time went on and the war developed in our favor quite illogical too hope and expect that with the proper kind of a warning that the Japanese would have they would have made peace I remember that we first responded to the question what do scientists think by saying that they think a variety of things and this is only natural on the one hand they hoped that this instrument would never be used in more and therefore they hoped that we would not start out by using it on the other hand they hoped or other people hoped that it would put an end to this war save countless lives put an end to a a a butchery that had been going on for many years and had been marked by atrocities concentration camps murderous raids on cities rotterdam dresden and tokyo itself by a number of people began arguing that we should not use the bomb militarily KO germany was obviously collapsing and the Japanese were soft mini reverses and so there was a great deal of discussion within the laboratory about unwisdom of using the bombs militarily you ask yourself would the Japanese government as then constituted and with the bitter division between li the peace party and the world party would it have been influenced by a an enormous nuclear firecracker detonated at great height doing little damage and your answer is discordant mind I don't know I know only that I was told that an invasion was planned that it would be necessary and that it would be terribly costly and it is this information which op Muhammad told us and it certainly had some effect on me and I began to think that maybe under these conditions such an enormously drastic step as a military use of the bomb would be justified to reduce the total number of casualties and in the war much sunnah nazi July 8 onboard the cruiser Augusta enroute to the big 3 meeting the president now knows the bomb test is scheduled for July 15 how the waiting begins Japan is in ashes the situation is growing more desperate every day but the army and the Foreign Office still quarrel over what to do the army agrees to seek peace but only if the Soviet Union is mediator but Stalin has promised to enter the war against Japan in return for concessions in Manchuria he leaves for the big three meeting in Potsdam on the Agusta the Japanese effort to get Stalin to intercede is known the Japanese diplomatic code has been broken the president knows of the division among the Japanese leaders Alamogordo New Mexico at the bomb Test Site the scientists are working under growing pressure they are told there must be no further delays the President must know the results of the tests when he meets with Stalin in mid-july a car arrives at the test site in the back seat is the plutonium for the bomb it is 48 hours before h-hour at ground zero Sunday July 15 1945 Alma Gordo New Mexico it is d minus 1 for the test of the world's first atomic device in the bunkers the scientists and the generals wait no one is quite sure that the 2 billion dollar device they call the gadget will work the weather is checked preparations continue the scientists make up a pool on the power of the device Fermi suggests it may blow up New Mexico as the waiting goes on the tension increases certain observations couldn't be made and there was even some danger of Fallout goings along places back at the base camp about five minutes two or three minutes before the explosion we all got on the ground face down away with our feet towards the explosion another switch was closed by McKibben at 45 seconds before the zero hour and at that time Don Hornig took over the stop switch my hands were only switched and then I could hear the timer counting three two one it's brighter than sunlight does in New Mexico and on a bright day many miles of the desert while completely blind he can saw I actually lost my vision for a few seconds when it recovered I turned back and I saw a huge ball of fire bright yellow writing so that must hear in the direction of the warm was fueled with strange violet light we knew the world would not be the same few people laughed few people cried most people were silent I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture the bhagavad-gita Vishnu is trying to persuade the prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says now I am become death the divorce I suppose we all thought that one way or another after the atomic test the scientists find the desert at ground zero turns glass the earth lowered nine feet general groves message to the American leaders meeting at potsdam with stalin and churchill is sent in cold it was the news we had been expecting the day after day then it gave us a feeling of confidence to defend our selves in the future bringing him to the war desired by all men we didn't have any celebration but we there isn't any question of the great relief that we had at five ten on the afternoon of July 16 1945 at the Sicilian HOF Palace the meeting of the big three begins Stalin says the Russians will enter the war against Japan by August 8 he does not know is not told about the new card the president now holds in public the big three are cordially in private friction increases they pick her over the boundaries of Poland overeaten Europe over Germany the wartime alliance is breaking up I plants Tom in the moments before he must approve the final order the president once again goes over the alternatives with his advisers and it was it was important to bring about an end to the war and if possible to do that before Russia came into the war it would have come out sooner or later in the congressional hearing if nowhere else just when we could have dropped the bomb if we didn't use it and then knowing American politics you know as well as I do that there'd been an elections fought on the basis that every mother whose son was killed after such-and-such today the blood is on the head of the president the question was whether we want to save our people and Japanese as well and win the more our brother he wanted to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men final decision would rest with him it was an awesome responsibility for him but you could see no alternative and agreed three b-twenty nines arrive at Tinian from the United States bringing the last components of the bomb to the 509th the 509th is now ready for its mission now at Potsdam one final move John McCloy one of the great questions was what we were gonna do about the Russians in the bomb whether we should notify mr. Stalin about it we finally made up our minds that we had to being partners but the question was what his attitude would be and that afternoon at the conclusion of the conference President Truman walked around to Stalin with Chaplin our interpreter and he told him substantially this that we want you to know Generalissimo that we have now developed what we call a secret weapon which is of tremendous power and which in a few days we hope to use in the war against Japan well knowing what he was going to do I watched intently mr. Stalin's face pretty much said well that's fine just with will use it and what's the next item on the agenda it let everybody down terribly because we were so worked up emotionally over this thing I have always been in the opinion that Stalin did not grasp the importance of the statement Potsdam one day after the bomb order goes out an ultimatum is delivered to Japan but despite the urgings of the State Department it does not specifically tell the Japanese what they can expect if they surrender there is still time but little time for the Japanese to save themselves from the destruction which threatens am july 27 the ultimatum reaches Tokyo in Japan a million people have died in the fire raise food fuel clothing are running out isolated behind the palace walls the leaders meet to consider the ultimatum it does not tell them whether or not they will be allowed to keep their ampere if they do surrender once again the leaders are deeply divided July 29 the Japanese answer is we will mock satsu the ultimatum ignore it kill it with contempt August 1 as he leaves the big 3 meeting the president hears the Japanese answer interprets it as a rejection does not recall the bomb order thus the decision which the future will endlessly debate is taken the atomic bomb will be used against Japan tinium August 5 the bad weather of the past three days is cleared final preparations for the dropping of the bomb are made in Tokyo the divided leaders still argue over how to bring the war to an end on board the Agusta at sea the president waits 2:45 they roll down the runway Center one ray of three on the two other runways were observing airplanes between ions which accompanied the strike plane the loaders where I have a remote of the bomb fuel complaining pretty typical pilot held a plane on the runway almost from the last two feet of runway last moment he ditched the 22 sail off and started off towards Japan [Music] now I am become death the destroyer of worlds the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended a war they also made it wholly clear that we must never have another war there is no other choice hiroshima august 1945