WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th August, 2021) Friday marks 76 years since US President Harry Truman ordered the use of the first nuclear weapon in war in 1945 to get Japan to surrender and bring World War II to a close.
An atomic bomb, nicknamed "Little Boy," was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, instantly killing 80,000 Japanese, mostly civilians. The total death count increased to 129,000 as a result of side effects the Japanese suffered from the fallout of the bomb.
Three days later, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb, "Fat Boy," on Japan. This time the bomb targeted Nagasaki, killing some 40,000 people instantly, but reaching a death count of 226,000 over the years due to the side effects.
Japan surrendered on August 15, putting an end to World War II.
The United States is the first and only country to use nuclear weapons in a war.
The attacks came not long after testing. On July 16, 1945, the United States detonated the world's first nuclear device in Alamogordo, New Mexico.
President Joe Biden in a statement last month said the bombings "marked the end of World War II but opened our eyes to the truth that a nuclear war must never be fought."
Several anti-nuclear advocacy groups and Japanese forums will be holding vigils and remembrances from Friday through Monday in the United States.
The Nichibei.org Japanese-American community hub is preparing to mark the event with a virtual remembrance on Friday. The second annual online event will focus on the stories of hibakusha, or survivors of the atomic bombings of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the group said on its website, and will be held on Monday, August 9.
The Physicians for Social Responsibility will hold a silent vigil at the War Memorial Flagpole in New Haven, Connecticut on Friday to remember the Hiroshima bombing and a similar one at the Amistad Statue on Monday for Nagasaki.
