Ever since the American occupation of the Marianas, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, the main Japanese islands had been under constant bombardment by long-range bombers of the United States. The city of Tokyo and many other cities on the Japanese mainland were leveled by day-and-night firebomb raids. As Italy and Germany had already done, Japan was paying the price for its grandiose plans for world conquest. But the island nation wasn’t ready to surrender.
Then the United States unveiled the biggest surprise in the history of warfare. It was the deadliest weapon ever designed–the atomic bomb. And although the initial test detonation at Trinity was several times more powerful than scientists had predicted, U.S. officials questioned if it would be enough to compel Japan’s surrender.
On August 6, 1945, “Little Boy” provided an answer.
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NOTES:
Atomic Bomb History
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/atomic-bomb-history
The Manhattan Project and the Invention of the Atomic Bomb
https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-atomic-the-manhattan-project-1991237
Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – 1945
https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/bombings-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-1945
Boeing B-29 Superfortress “Enola Gay”
https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/boeing-b-29-superfortress-enola-gay/nasm_A19500100000
Sinking of the USS Indianapolis: The Saga of a Ship and Its Crew
https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/disasters-and-phenomena/indianapolis.html
The Man Who Survived Two Atomic Bombs
https://www.history.com/news/the-man-who-survived-two-atomic-bombs
Shoichi Yokoi, the Japanese soldier who held out in Guam
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16681636
And here’s the book Chris was talking about at the beginning of the podcast…
“When the Air Hits Your Brain” by Frank Vertosick, MD
https://www.amazon.com/When-Air-Hits-Your-Brain-ebook/dp/B006WOFB5C
