The atomic bomb may have helped end World War II, but its effects negatively changed the lives of those who survived it. On August 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the first bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Almost every structure within one mile was destroyed, and almost every building within three miles from the impact was damaged. Within minutes, nine out of ten people within half a mile or less from “ground zero” were killed. In fact, 150,000 people were killed or wounded after the atomic bomb. However, after years and years it still effects one generation after another. For decades, people were diagnosed with leukemia (“atomic bomb disease”) or other cancers. The atomic bomb affected the health, dreams, and education of many generations.
As a matter of fact, the suffering health was one of the biggest effects that survivors experienced. The horrors caused by the destructive bomb were immediate, and reminders of the destruction remain this day. In fact: “Nearly 70 years after the bombings occurred, most of the generation that was alive during the attack has passed away. Now much more attention has turned to the children born to the survivors” (Listwa). Significantly, this article proves that health is a big concern from one generation to another; children that didn’t exist during the bombing can still be affected with (atomic bomb disease). Immediately after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, 70,000 Japanese men, women and children were killed, and at least the same number instantly injured. Several thousand more deaths were caused in the short term by radiation sickness. Recovering patients began suffering from this strange new sickness. A lot of diseases did not exist before this event. In the long term, the incidence of leukemia was extremely high, especially among those exposed at a young age. Leukemia became recognized as an aftereffect of the atomic bomb. There were also teenagers who suffered severe thyroid disease which disfigured their body and kept them from growing. Some people could no longer do anything, became severely disabled, and spent most of their lives in hospitals. Radiation related diseases plagued families for generations. Even children who didn’t exist during the bombing were affected with cancerous diseases such as leukemia.
After the atomic bomb, the young felt they could not live a normal life just like many children and teenagers. They wanted to go to school and live a normal life like everybody else, but it was not the same. They struggled to live with their sickness. It’s not possible to live a normal life when one had to carry atomic bomb diseases with them. There is a nonfiction book called Sadako and The Thousand Paper Cranes. I read this book when I first came to Pittsburgh. This book broke my heart into pieces and taught me so much about life.
It’s about a little girl named Sadako Sasaki. Sadako was two years old when the atomic bomb detonated over Hiroshima. Her family lived very close to the bomb blast center. Amazingly, her brother, mother, and grandmother survived the explosion, although her grandmother died later that day. Sadako’s parents both suffered illnesses from the effects of radiation months later, but Sadako and her brother somehow escaped without any significant injury. Sadako was a particularly athletic child who loved to run. Several years after the bomb’s blast, she experienced a painful swelling under her ears. Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia and the doctors gave her just three months to a year to live. Sadako had made friends with a young girl named Kyo, who had tuberculosis. One day Kyo delivered hundreds of folded paper cranes to the hospital to Sadako and told her about the Japanese legend, which promises that anyone who folds 1,000 paper origami cranes will be granted a wish with great enthusiasm. Sadako had a huge desire to live, wished to be healed and to be able to run again. She wished for more than that though; she wished to end all suffering in the world and to bring peace to mankind despite her deteriorating health. Sadako reached the 500 crane goal in only three weeks. However, her health was so poor she could no longer continue to 1,000 cranes. Sadako only folded 644 cranes before her death. Sadako died on the morning of October 25, 1955 at the age of 12. The atomic bomb affected the youngs’ dreams and their futures. There are so many other children that had to go through the same experience like Sadako or even worse than her. Many children had to give up their hopes and dreams because of their illness (Eleanor Coerr).
The atomic bomb affected people’s education, especially children, or even children who hadn’t even been born at the time of the bombing because they were affected with all kinds of atomic bomb disease. People who were affected by the disease spent most of their lives in the hospital and couldn’t do anything else. According to YouTube: “Shizuko Nishimoto was one of the victims of the atomic bomb. Her son, husband and herself were severely wounded” and “Shizuko could no longer do any housework and spent most of her time hospitalized”. This video source explains that there is no hope for the future when one whole family is affected by the atomic bomb. Many lives included suffering and people had to give up their hopes and dreams because they couldn’t go to school.
Likewise, children that had not been born at the time the bombing, but they were affected with atomic bomb related-diseases later in life, causing them to face unexpected obstacles in their lives. For example, in Sadako’s story, nobody knew that she was affected by the disease after nice years after the bomb. Which mean this young girl lived a full life and go to school like everybody else in school. It’s the most painful thing when one finds out they can’t go to school and enjoy their time with family and friends like they used to because of this. Many lives were similar to Sadako’s stories. Many children were born with mutations or other changes from their parents who survived the bombing, and later became ill with different illnesses like cancer from those mutations.
In summary, while the atomic bomb helped end such a terrible war, it affected large populations who lived through it. I think it’s not fair for children or anybody that had to go through this because nobody deserves to suffer and end their life like this. I truly understand that Americans tried to resolve the impossible problem of war, but I wish they could find other ways to do it without negatively affecting so many people’s lives, health, dreams, and education. Also, especially children who didn’t exist during the bombing and they were affected with atomic bomb-related illnesses. Lastly, I want to end this essay with my favorite quote about the war: “War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children” (Carter).