At the time this photo was made, smoke billowed 20,000 feet above Hiroshima while smoke from the burst of the first atomic bomb had spread over 10,000 feet on the target at the base of the rising column, 08/06/1945 (National Archives)
On August 6th, 1945 the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. The United States government later published a report titled “The Effects of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” A telling final conclusion outlines the moral obligations of the United States with regards to nuclear weapons in the future.
“No more forceful arguments for peace and for the international machinery of peace than the sight of the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have ever been devised. As the developer and exploiter of this ominous weapon, our nation has a responsibility, which no American should shirk, to lead in establishing and implementing the international guarantees and controls which will prevent its future use.”
For more information about today’s efforts to control nuclear weapons visit Global Zero.
Author William Lambers 