Existing comment:
The Final Act:
In July 1945, as planning for the invasion of Japan continued, an event occurred that altered the course of the war -- and global history. On July 16, scientists exploded the world's first atomic bomb near Alamogordo, New Mexico. As the bomb lit up the sky, Robert Oppenheimer, director of the scientific team, recalled words from the Bhagavad Gita: "If the radiance of a thousand suns, were to burst at once in the sky, That would be like the splendor of the Mighty One... I am become death. The shatterer of worlds." A terrifying new weapon entered America's arsenal.
The new weapon had taken more than three years and $2 billion to develop. America's largest and costliest weapons project to that date, it had employed more than 100,000 people. President Truman was at the Potsdam Conference in Germany when he learned of the test. He authorized use of the new weapon. Truman always maintained that he used the bomb to shorten the war and save lives. But his action became the subject of a controversy that persists to this day. Were atomic weapons needed to bring about Japan's surrender? Did they save more lives than they cost? Were there alternatives for ending the war? Over half a century later, the debate continues. |