ON DECEMBER 7, 1941 JAPAN DECLARES WAR ON AMERICA BY BOMBING PEARL HARBOR .

WARNING: This slide show contains

graphic material and may not be appropriate for some

viewers.

Viewer Discretion is Advised

ON DECEMBER 7, 1941 JAPAN DECLARES WAR ON AMERICA BY BOMBING PEARL

HARBOR .

A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY

During the final stages of World War II, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against Japan in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Little Boy Mushroom cloud over Hiroshima

FAT MAN

Mushroom cloud over Nagasaki

HIROSHIMA BEFORE THE BLAST

HIROSHIMA AFTER THE BLAST

NAGASAKI BEFORE, AND AFTER THE BOMB HIT!

This is the closest building to the hypocenter of the blast that did not collapse. It still stands today.

THE PEOPLE OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI NEVER KNEW WHAT HIT THEM

Every person within one mile of the center of the explosion was either vaporized or incinerated.

The heat wave was so intense that the outline of this mans figure was scorched onto the building

behind him.

This person was also vaporized, leaving only a black outline.

One witness recalls “Like a song of death the moans, and screams of people burning or close to death as they took their last breaths became louder and louder”.

The massive shockwave flattened over 90% of the buildings in Hiroshima.

This is the only mass slaughter of people by the use of nuclear warfare in the history of war.

Doctors reported people having their bones charred and their internal organs boiled.

For those who did not die, the agonizing pain and memory of the bombings will haunt them forever.

Second and third degree burns are a dark reminder of that day.

Countless numbers of children were orphaned.

Few children had their mothers left to comfort them.

These horrific images were documented, but kept hidden by the government for fear that the Japanese people would panic.

The U.S. claims that the bombings were the only way to end the war, while others say Japans surrender could

have come without this massive slaughter.

August 1945: Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister, Mamoru Shigemitsu, signs the Japanese instrument of surrender.

Emperor Hirohito told General MacArthur that he accepted all responsibility for the war.

Today, both cities have been completely rebuilt, and Hiroshima is one of the most technologically

advanced cities in the world.

This slide show is dedicated to the victims of the bombings of

Hiroshima and Nagasaki.