The dropping of the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 was a momentous decision made by the United States government that changed the world forever. This act showed the dominance of the United States with one of the greatest scientific achievements to date. However, with this scientific achievement also came great destruction that before what unknown to mankind. While there has been debate for years about whether the two bombs should have been dropped at all, the conversation that is overlooked is how the United States government hid the truth about the effects of the bombs from the American public. The U.S. government withheld information about the effects of radiation poisoning on the survivors of the blasts as well as stopping the public from being able to view pictures and video of the destruction the bombs created. Through controlling what information and documentation left Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to the truths about the effects of radiation, the United States government committed a large injustice by not telling the American people the truth about what happened in Japan. The U.S. government could keep control over information of the bombs destruction for years due to the occupation of Japan following the war. The improper actions of the United States government to withhold the hard truths about the damage the nuclear bombs was a great injustice to the American public. 

Withholding information about the destruction the atom bombs created on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was dishonest on behalf of the American government as well as showed a weakness in the ability for those in charge of this destruction to take claim for what they had done. The U.S. government was unable to be honest with the American public in fear of the reaction to the truth about the devastation that was brought to Japan. Janet Brodie describes how the U.S. government censored information out of Japan to hide the truth about devastation that took place for years after the war. Brodie interviews several high-ranking officials involved with the Manhattan Project as well describes the ways in which the U.S. government stopped the media from reporting on the truths behind the way the Allies won the war. In her article Brodie describes how the U.S. collected reports and documentation of findings after the bombs had been dropped, “American officials confiscated Japanese reports, medical case notes, biopsy slides, medical photographs, and films. Much of the confiscated material was sent to the U.S. where some were translated into English; much remained classified for years (some for decades), stored at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C.” (Brodie 845). Clearly this is representative of how the U.S. wanted to keep secret what had really occurred in Japan because of their actions. Also in this article Brodie mentions how directly after the Nagasaki bombing a professor from Columbia University, Harold Jacobson, stated publicly in the New York Times that the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki claiming the land would be radioactive for the next 70 years. However, this statement was retracted several days later, “Newspapers printed Jacobson’s remarks but also immediately sought to quell public fears” (Brodie 846). While Jacobson’s remarks were exaggerated due to lack of accurate knowledge, this display still shows how the government was censoring information coming from Japan by releasing an article in the New York Times that stated the radioactive material that came from the bomb was gone within hours of the detonation which was later to be found untrue. Another document that was released as a primary source transcript of the conversation amongst the highest-ranking officials of government and military including President Truman about the final decision to drop the atomic bombs. While this transcript does give a very keen and first hand incite to the conversation leading up to a world altering event there is a very important piece of the conversation that appears to be missing. The words atomic bomb is never used in the transcript and the small article following the transcript give explanation to this because there was never any documentation using those words due to the secrecy of the project and in fear that information would be found out by the enemy (Stimson). Throughout the entire conversation loss of life, damage, and logistics are discussed however the effects of radiation on survivors and the land are never discussed. While the effects of radiation were not of consequence before the U.S. dropped the bomb it very quickly became a popular topic in ways of which to stop the American people from finding out about what had taken place.    

While the American public knew of the destruction to the cities and buildings, what the American public was unaware of was the destruction caused by the residual effects of radiation from the bombs. The radiation that the bombs produced from being dropped effected many of the survivors of the blast and caused an increase in cancer death in the area for several years afterward. This can be seen in an article that discusses the number of Japanese people that were treated for radiation poisoning in the years following the war. While anyone within a 1.5-kilometer range of the blast was killed, survivors of the bombs who were closest to the blast sights saw an increase the number of cancer cases by 30% (Jordan 3). These cases were mostly related to stomach, lung, female breast cancer, and smaller increases in various other types of cancer. The relevance of this information is not only to prove that Japanese people were effected by radiation poisoning but this article also points out how this data that was collected after the war was kept confidential by the United States government for several years after the war before being declassified and released to the public. When the United States government made the decision to drop the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki history was made, however after such a large decision is made it is not at the right of the government to decide what information about this world altering moment is released to the public. If the U.S. government was unable to be transparent about their actions against another country in a time of war than the decision to drop the bombs should not have been made. Another article which contains information not released to the public for several years following the war does a very nice job of showing graphically how the people of these cities were effected by radiation poisoning and how they were treated from when the bombs were dropped until the 1980’s. The article published in the Radiation Research journal gives very similar information to that of the Jordan article however, this article also gives further validity to the findings of the information. Following a chart which shows the number of reported cases of radiation poisoning and tumors found in survivors of the bombs many years later the author states, “The Hiroshima and Nagasaki Tumor Registries have HV rates of 67-84%, which are among the highest in Japan and are comparable to that of established registries in other countries” (Kato 59). Essentially this article is helpful for showing how the documentation from the Japanese hospitals where this information was obtained is legitimate for having such a high HV (histologically verified) percentage proving the data about radiation poisoning and tumors is correct after being released to the public years after the war was over.

Arguably one of the worst consequences of the censorship from the U.S. was that the American People were unaware of the suffering that many people in Japan were experiencing as a result of these bombs. Photos and Videos of damage to homes and survivors of the blasts that were not released for years following the war kept the American public disillusioned about the reality of what happened. Hugh Gloster is able to give a first-hand account of the destruction that occurred in Hiroshima as he moved to the city nine years after the bomb had detonated and the city was still rebuilding. During his time in Hiroshima Gloster was able to meet many survivors of the blast and see for his own eyes the damage it caused to the earth, the city, and most importantly to the people. Gloster reflects on what it was like to meet young women and discover operations they went under to fix disfigurations they reseaved from the dropping of the bomb, “These girls, ranging in age from seventeen to thirty-one, underwent the operations for the removal of facial disfigurements which have been impediments to marriage and happiness” (Gloster 276). The strength of the bomb was so large that many people were physically effected and these girls who were able to receive corrective surgery are lucky while many others had damage to their bodies that could not be fixed. While the U.S. government wanted to protect matters of national security by not divulging information about the two largest bombs ever created or used in war, this does not make the censorship and control of information about what happened in Japan acceptable. In an article Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the Eye of the Camera author Barbra Marcoń describes how the only way to truly understand the devastation from Hiroshima and Nagasaki was to see it through pictures and video (Marcoń 787). Marcoń also gives in-depth detail of how pictures and video that was taken of the damage of the bomb for the ten days before the Americans came into the cities were then collected and held as confidential information by the U.S. government for years following the end of the war. The American people not being able to see the destruction of the bomb and only being told what had happened over the news no American could truly understand what devastation took place as a result of the actions of the U.S. government. 

While the U.S. government was merely attempting to protect matters of national security in a time of war there is no justification for hiding the truth about what the atomic bombs did in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Choosing not to inform the public about the Manhattan Project and how the bomb was constructed and works is acceptable to keep American lives safe during a time of war. However, deceiving the American people about the truths of what the bombs had done to these two cities is an inexcusable and great injustice by the U.S. government. Censoring information concerning radiation poisoning, extensive damage and annihilation of two cities, as well as the effects on those who were able to survive the blast was information that the American public had the right to fully know about. Had the U.S. government not been able to explain the effects of the bombs on these two cities than perhaps they should not have been dropped at all. The clear manipulation of power that the American government showed during this time following the end of World War II is an eye opening representation of abuse of power through controlling what information the American public is and is not able to view.    

  