May 13th, 2010
The Atom Bomb
The atom bomb was man’s deadliest fruit of their scientific labors, a weapon of unprecedented destruction that had the power to wipe out an entire city off the face of the earth—a destructive capability that was once the stuff of science fiction novels, but now a very frighteningly real fact. On August 6th, 1945, man truly had become, in the words of Robert J. Oppenheimer, “Death, destroyer of worlds.”
The bomb’s creation started in the 1930s, but its creation was sped up in the wartime era of the 1940s, created by a group of the world’s most elite physicists in a top-secret project code-named the Manhattan Project. The two types of bombs, originally nicknamed Thin Man (for President Roosevelt) and Fat Man (for Winston Churchill), were both atomic fission bombs. However, Thin Man (after necessary alteration in its shape was made, they re-nicknamed it Little Boy, as it is infamously known today) was a uranium-type bomb, while the bomb that would become known for leveling Nagasaki, Fat Man, was a plutonium-type bomb. Part of what fueled America’s desire to make the bomb was the fear that Germany would develop an atomic bomb and the weapon of seemingly infinite destruction would fall into the hands of Germany’s infamous leader at the time, Adolf Hitler. The bomb was tested in what is known as the “Trinity Test” and the bomb succeeded beyond the scientist’s wildest dreams—or fears.
America was supposedly hesitant to unleash the bomb, but the relentlessly militaristic Japan refused to surrender even in the face of “total annihilation,” and this, possibly paired with a desire to get vengeance for Japan’s earlier attack on Pearl harbor and American racial injustice—Americans seemingly refused to believe the fact that they had dropped bombs that caused insane amounts of suffering on little children and other civilians, and de-humanized Japan in their view of them—made it so on August 6th and August 9th, America dropped the two atomic bombs on Japan’s civilian cities (not military bases!), Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, some say America’s warning was ambiguous and inadequate. One thing was for sure, however: tense relations with the Soviet Union in what were the precursors to the nuclear arms race and Cold War made it necessary for America to drop a bomb somewhere to, for lack of a better word, bully the Soviet Union. So why not drop it on an uninhabited island, and bully both Japan and the U.S.S.R.? The dropping of not even one but TWO bombs on Japan’s civilian populace, making uncountable amounts of innocent babies, women, and elderly killed in the most horrible ways imaginable, scarred both physically and emotionally for life, and being robbed of all their loved ones, was an absolutely unforgivable war crime that is morally inexcusable.
Now, many of the world’s countries are in the “Nuclear Club” (in possession of atomic or hydrogen bombs) and there are thousands of nuclear weapons ready to be used. No, this isn’t the Cold War, but nuclear bombs are a horrible reality. Let’s hope that the world leaders can come back to their senses and put a stop to these weapons of pure suffering, and never, ever make the terrible mistake of dropping another bomb.
Written by E.J. DeAngelis, 6th grade
“Sadako Sasaki” by Elizabeth DeAngelis, chalk and oil pastel. Sadako was two years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Although she didn’t die immediately, ten years later she developed leukemia from radiation, and tried to fold 1,000 paper cranes in order to get better. She died before she finished.
May 22nd, 2010 at 7:56 pm
Wow! My essay!!!
May 29th, 2010 at 10:25 am
Wow, nice job Elizabeth, i am very proud of you. I really like this essay, it is very explanitory.
May 30th, 2010 at 11:01 am
Elizabeth,
What an insightful overview of the events that led up to this event and the destruction which it has created. Kudos to your gift of penmanship!
Keep up your writing you have a great career ahead of yourself!
June 1st, 2010 at 7:21 am
Elizabeth,
Thank you for your insightful essay. I wish more adults, including our elected officials, thought the way that you do.
I encourage you to continue your writing and thinking on this subject, we certainly need your generation to speak out against nuclear destruction.
Best regards,
Steven Starr
June 1st, 2010 at 7:57 pm
What a terrific essay — thoughtful, empathic, and beautifully phrased. I wish my students at the State University of New York/Albany wrote as well!
June 1st, 2010 at 9:13 pm
Dear Elizabeth,
Thank you for joining the effort to bring some common sense to our thinking about nuclear weapons. This is the most important issue facing humanity, yet so few express any concern. Your essay shows a wisdom beyond your years.
Martin Hellman
Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering
Stanford University
June 2nd, 2010 at 11:18 am
Elizabeth,
Your insights are wonderfully astute for someone of your meager years. I think you have a career headed for you.
Helping people communicate and understand is a great gift you can offer the world, and I think you should be encouraged completely, because you have talent. Real Talent!
Keep up the great works.
Rabbi Michael Shevack
Bucks County Free Synagogue
June 2nd, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Dear Elizabeth,
Well done on your essay. Perhaps you would be interested in the youth group Ban All Nukes Generation (BANG). You can find more information on their websites www.bang.org.nz, www.bang-europe.org and www.bang-usa.org.
One suggestion - although you are correct that it was mostly men who built the first atom bomb, I think its more accurate to say that the bomb is the deadliest fruit of ‘human’ endeavour. There are many men who oppose nuclear weapons and unfortunately some women who support it.
All the best
Alyn
New Zealand
June 2nd, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Nice essay Elizabeth. I hope your concern and passion about preventing nuclear weapons from being used again remains with you and that you keep speaking out against their use. We need many more of you to be such articulate spokespersons for the cause.
Peter Brecke
Georgia Institute of Technology
June 2nd, 2010 at 8:44 pm
Elizabeth,
You are obviously a mature and smart young lady, and I am so glad to know that there are young people like you out there!! You are what our world needs, and you will be a wonderful contributor to our society. Keep it up!!
June 5th, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Dear Elizabeth, this is an excellent piece of work. Some of us have been working for decades, trying to rid the world of nuclear weapons, but your generation will have to finish this task, so stick with it!
One comment: Not everyone agrees that the Japanese were not ready to surrender, no matter what military action was taken against them. For instance one respected historian, Gar Alperovitz, published a book in 1996, “The decision to use the atomic bomb”, in which he argues that Japan would have been defeated without the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and without an invasion.
Maybe you’ll be “a respected historian” some day!
Cheers, Peter, Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy
June 10th, 2010 at 9:31 am
Great job on your essay, Elizabeth! I am so glad to have you helping us!
June 10th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Elizabeth,
Wow. What a paper. I think you’re going to do great things in your lifetime. So wonderful to have had the opportunity to read to your class. Even though my book is so much lighter, I think we’re on the same page: respect of family, animals and our precious land. Keep writing!!!
June 10th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Hey Elizabeth,
Wow. What a great paper. I am sure you will make a huge difference in the future. Keep it up. Hope to see you again next year.
Laura Beth