Full transcript
0:10this is the story of the first ever use
0:12of a weapon of mass
0:14destruction very recently the weapon we
0:16are about to deliver was successfully
0:18tested in the states we have received
0:20orders to drop it on the enemy it is the
0:22most destructive weapon ever
0:25produced the target was an Empire with
0:28its own secret weapon
0:30the suicide
0:34bomber I trained myself that I could die
0:37at any
0:40time on the 6th of August 1945 a bomb
0:44unlike any other fell from the skies
0:46above
0:52Hiroshima the bomb was designed by some
0:54of the world's finest
0:57scientists using it was one of the most
1:00momentous political decisions ever made
1:02Soldiers and Sailors of the target not
1:05women and
1:07[Music]
1:11children this is the story of the air
1:13crew who flew the mission and dropped
1:15the bomb I'm not thinking about the
1:17people that got killed or hurt I'm
1:19thinking about the ones that did not get
1:21killed or hurt and it's the story of the
1:24people of Hiroshima who were the first
1:26ever victims of a nuclear attack
1:30when something as devastating as a
1:32nuclear weapon is used people are
1:35powerless just like ants or
1:40insect the entire city of hoshima was
1:43annihilated in just a few
1:45seconds the bomb helped bring the second
1:48world war to an end and it marked the
1:51beginning of a new chapter in human
1:53history
1:58[Music]
2:13July the 14th
2:151945 at the top secret research facility
2:18in Los Alamos New Mexico a heavily armed
2:21Convoy was loaded with parts for a new
2:23kind of
2:26bomb this was the start of a journey
2:29that would end in
2:35hoshima this bomb was the product of 3
2:38years research and had cost $2 billion
2:41to
2:46develop but at this stage the technology
2:48was still completely untested
2:57[Music]
3:07two days later there was a chance to
3:09find
3:11out in the desert of New Mexico the
3:14scientists and soldiers of the Manhattan
3:16Project gathered for the first ever test
3:18explosion of an atomic
3:23bomb 100 to one we cracked the Earth's
3:26crust and destroy the whole world 50 to1
3:30we ignite the atmosphere and only
3:32destroy New Mexico someone shut firm me
3:34up he's fighting the MPS 10 to one It
3:37Fizzles out if that weapon Fizzles out
3:40each of you can look forward to a
3:41lifetime testifying in front of
3:43congressional investigation
3:47committees 6 5 4 3 2 1 zero
3:58[Music]
4:11the explosion vaporized the steel Tower
4:13holding the
4:14bomb the intense heat melted the desert
4:18sand leaving an area of glass
4:20[Music]
4:35the force of the explosion was estimated
4:37to be the equivalent of 67 million
4:40sticks of
4:52[Applause]
4:57dynamite the bomb had originally been
4:59intended for use against Nazi Germany
5:02but its backers now had another Target
5:04in
5:05mind I'm very proud of you thank you
5:09well done War's over General yep as soon
5:11as we dropped a few of these things on
5:15Japan good
5:18work for scientific director Robert
5:20Oppenheimer it was a moment of terrible
5:26truth now I am become death the
5:30destroyer of
5:34[Music]
5:40[Music]
5:43worlds by July 1945 the war in Europe
5:47was over Nazi Germany was
5:51defeated but in the Pacific the war
5:53against Japan was raging on
5:59after the surprise attack on Pearl
6:01Harbor American forces had fought their
6:04way back across the Pacific island by
6:06island with Savage hand toand
6:15fighting but Japan's main armies were
6:18still intact and
6:21undefeated the Americans had tried
6:23firebombing the Japanese into
6:27submission city after City with is
6:29reduced to Rubble but still the Japanese
6:32refuse to
6:35[Music]
6:36surrender so the Allies now face the
6:39prospect of a fullscale Invasion with
6:42some estimates putting their losses as
6:44high as a million casualties and many
6:46more Japanese
6:49[Music]
6:59[Music]
7:07in Japan at the time the emperor was
7:10head of state and also a living God but
7:13day-to-day power rested with the special
7:15War Direction
7:18Council prime minister Suzuki and
7:20foreign minister Togo were considering a
7:22negotiated
7:26settlement but Army Minister General
7:28Keta an army was determined to fight
7:55on Ani's plan was for an allout final
7:59battle
8:10fore
8:16foree foree
8:31[Music]
8:38in Hiroshima as in the rest of Japan
8:41soldiers and civilians were being
8:43prepared for the coming
8:46Invasion the Japanese military were
8:49relying on a powerful
8:51weapon people's willingness to die for
8:53the emperor
8:57[Music]
9:00ordinary soldiers learned how to strap
9:02bombs to their bodies and throw
9:04themselves under
9:05[Music]
9:12tanks Dr shintaro Heda was working at
9:15the Army hospital in Hiroshima one of
9:18his duties was to train medical
9:20orderlies as suicide
9:23[Music]
9:25bombers the soldiers were trained to
9:27strap bombs to their bodies and throw
9:30themselves against the
9:32tanks at the military hospital we had to
9:35teach
9:46this the officers in particular were
9:49resigned to the fact that once we had
9:50gone to the front we would not return we
9:54would
9:56[Applause]
9:57die I trained myself that I could die at
10:01any
10:08time the whole population was to be part
10:11of the battle against the
10:13Invaders even skoo girl were trained to
10:16attack American soldiers with sharpened
10:18bamboo
10:20Spears a bloodbath seemed inevitable
10:27[Applause]
10:28[Music]
10:30[Applause]
10:36I don't know the man who would have to
10:38authorize the invasion was American
10:41president Harry
10:45Truman on the 16th of July he had just
10:48arrived in Berlin for the potam
10:51conference where he was meeting his
10:52fellow Allied
10:54Leaders Mr
10:56President that very night came news of
10:59the successful New Mexico bomb
11:02test listen to
11:04this operated on this morning the
11:08results seem satisfactory the test has
11:12already exceeded
11:14expectation they did it now the boys may
11:18be spared an invasion of the Japanese
11:20home Islands I'll drink to
11:26that but before going ahead with the new
11:29bomb Truman gave the Japanese one last
11:32chance to
11:34[Music]
11:36surrender the Americans had broken
11:38secret Japanese codes and could decipher
11:41military and diplomatic
11:45cables so they knew their demands for
11:48total unconditional surrender had been
11:50seen as a threat to the
11:53emperor now they decided to alter the
11:55terms and give the Japanese a way out
12:00[Music]
12:02on Truman's staff was a young Naval
12:04leftenant George Elsie the last
12:07surviving witness to these
12:11events the Potsdam declaration called
12:14upon unconditional
12:16surrender it was modified in the light
12:19of this what we were learning from the
12:22intercepts to read unconditional
12:26surrender of the Armed Forces of
12:29Japan we call upon the government of
12:32Japan to Proclaim now the unconditional
12:35surrender of all Japanese armed forces
12:39that left the door open for a retention
12:42of the
12:44[Music]
12:48emperor the modified ultimatum was
12:51broadcast to Japan
13:01but ironically the softening of the
13:02surrender term seems to have
13:28backfired
13:37[Music]
13:42for prime minister Suzuki announced that
13:45his government would ignore the potam
13:47Declaration he used the word mokusatsu
13:52meaning to kill with silent
13:55contempt from that moment the dropping
13:58of the bomb on him Rima was
14:07[Applause]
14:11inevitable the bomb left San Francisco
14:14on board the USS Indianapolis 2 hours
14:17after the successful Trinity test in New
14:21Mexico it traveled across the Pacific on
14:24a 10-day Voyage to the island of tinian
14:27just 6 hours flying time from
14:33Japan the island was the biggest Air
14:36Base in the world with four large
14:39runways and it was home to more than 500
14:42b29 super
14:54fortresses it was also home to the 509th
14:57composite group The man who would drop
14:59the atom bomb on
15:04Japan in charge was Commanding Officer
15:07Colonel Paul tibits a veteran of the
15:09bombing campaign against the
15:12Germans at 29 years of age I was so shot
15:15in the ass with confidence to anything I
15:17couldn't
15:22[Music]
15:24do the two key members of his crew were
15:27bombarder Tom FY
15:30and Navigator Dutch Van
15:33Kirk you never heard the word Atomic
15:36nuclear or anything of that type around
15:38the group we always refer to the weapon
15:40as the gimmick the weapon uh uh that
15:43sort of thing and um if you did figure
15:46it out you better be smart enough not to
15:48talk about it all right gentlemen cities
15:51have been signed off iyota is out
15:54Stimson likes the temples too much but
15:57we've got Nia Ada kakura Nagasaki and
16:02Hiroshima and the only major cities left
16:04we haven't roasted and the primary the
16:07primary is Hiroshima all right have you
16:10worked out an Aiming
16:15Point t-shaped bridge
16:23here it's the most perfect AP I've seen
16:25in this whole damn world angle of
16:27approach bomb drop like like this
16:29prevailing winds from the north you may
16:31want to come in this way then you'll be
16:33flying with the wind and you'll clear
16:34the target sooner too risky we'll fly
16:36into the wind that way we're slower and
16:38more
16:39accurate you may get caught in the blast
16:42once I make the dive turn I'll have a
16:43Tailwind we'll be out quicker anyway
16:46we'll take that risk we want to be as
16:48accurate as possible don't
16:54we Hiroshima was an important military
16:57base the headquarters of the second
16:59General army with a key role in the
17:01defense against the expected
17:08Invasion Akiko takakura who was 19 and
17:12working as a bank clerk in the city
17:13center remembers the atmosphere at the
17:17[Music]
17:19time people called it an army city
17:23everywhere you looked you saw the
17:26Army and there were always a lot of
17:28ships transporting soldiers from the
17:32port all the major cities in Japan had
17:35already been the targets of bombing
17:36raids so everybody living in Hiroshima
17:39expected that Hiroshima would be
17:41targeted
17:49soon what no one could realize was that
17:52the city had been preserved for a
17:55reason the Americans had deliberately
17:57avoided Fireball Bing Oshima so they
18:00could measure the precise effects of the
18:02atom
18:03[Music]
18:16bomb on the evening of the 4th of August
18:19Paul Tietz called his men
18:23together the bombing mission was set for
18:25the following night when the clouds over
18:27Japan were due to clear
18:31yeah the moment has
18:33arrived this is what we've all been
18:35working
18:36towards very recently the weapon we are
18:38about to deliver was successfully tested
18:40in the states we have received orders to
18:43drop it on the
18:47enemy there will be three possible
18:49Targets in order of priority they are
18:52Hiroshima Cura
18:55nasaki the bomb you are going to drop is
18:57something new in the history of
18:59warfare it is the most destructive
19:02weapon ever
19:03produced we think it's going to knock
19:05out everything within a 3em
19:11area roll film Kill the
19:16Lights Weapon Specialist de Parsons had
19:19brought film of the New Mexico
19:22[Applause]
19:25explosion but the projector jammed
19:30the uh film you are now not about to see
19:34was made of the only test we
19:37perform I was in a b29 looking down in
19:39the Target in the darkness and I can say
19:42that it is the brightest and the hottest
19:44thing on this Earth since
19:46creation this is what happened the flash
19:50of the explosion was seen for 10 miles a
19:53soldier 10,000 ft away was knocked off
19:56his feet another Soldier more than 5
19:59miles away was temporarily
20:01blinded those of us who were there knew
20:05it was beginning of a new
20:07age no one knows exactly what will
20:09happen when the bomb has dropped from
20:10the air that has never been done before
20:13but we expect a
20:16cloud this
20:19shape rise to at least 30,000 ft maybe
20:2460,000 ft preceded by a flash of light
20:27much brighter than the sun
20:29on a combat version of the
20:32bomb has now been assembled and
20:36ready all we are waiting for is an end
20:38to rainstorms over Japan so we can see
20:40our Target Colonel
20:42tibits right men I know some of you seen
20:46a lot of action already and I picked you
20:47cuz you're the best
20:48available but let me tell you all beside
20:51this Mission whatever you've done before
20:53in this war is Small
20:55Potatoes I personally honored and I'm
20:58sure you are to been chosen to take part
21:01in this raid which will shorten the war
21:03by at least 6
21:04months you're now the hottest crews in
21:07the Air
21:08Force there will be no talking about
21:10this to
21:11anyone no talking even among
21:14yourselves no letters no writing home no
21:18mentioning of the slightest possibility
21:19of a
21:21mission is that clear yes sir
21:30[Music]
21:35the next morning the air crws onion woke
21:38to a disturbing
21:44sound once again a b29 had crashed on
21:48the runway
21:58the crash alarm Parsons The Weapon
22:02Specialist it was the day of the mission
22:06and they were planning to load the bomb
22:08onto the plane fully
22:12armed the bomb's firing mechanism used
22:15gunpowder to force two separate pieces
22:17of uranium together to start a nuclear
22:23reaction Parson's worry was that if the
22:25plane crashed on takeoff the firing
22:27mechanism would be triggered and they
22:29would blow up the whole
22:32island so without
22:34authorization he changed the plan I
22:38think it's better if I load the powder
22:39charges into the gun barrel after we
22:41cleared the island but have you made the
22:43assembly with the powder charges before
22:45do you know how to do it
22:48nope but I got all day and night to
22:50learn we don't take off low 200 there's
22:53time
22:58if Parsons got it wrong there was a
23:01serious risk the whole mission and the
23:03bomb would be
23:07wasted Parson sat in that airplane for
23:10several hours rehearsing exactly what he
23:14was going to have to do removal of the
23:16breach plug inserting the powder hooking
23:19up the thing he made at this time this
23:21is when he made his detailed check off
23:23list
23:26[Music]
23:38and he practiced that for half a day and
23:40his his his hands were beaten up from
23:45handling this thing for God's sakes man
23:48why don't you let me lend you a pair of
23:49pig skin gloves I wouldn't dare I got a
23:52feel the
23:53touch looks like we'll be bombing a Japs
23:56with dirty hands
24:04Paul Tietz had reached a decision of his
24:07own as commanding officer he was also
24:09planning to Pilot the strike
24:12plane as was traditional he chose a name
24:15for
24:16it I said I'd like to name it after my
24:18mother her name is Inola gay and I know
24:22that there'll never be another b29 or I
24:24don't think there be another airplane
24:25flying that will have the name Gay on it
24:28I I think the airplane will go down in
24:29history and I want to be with a good
24:34omen tibet's decision came as a shock to
24:38Captain Bob Lewis he had always flown
24:41that plane and assumed he would be the
24:43pilot why the hell are they putting that
24:45on my airplane what's going on well
24:48number one it's not your airplane it
24:49belongs to the United States Army
24:51aircore number two I'm the or I'm the
24:54organization Commander I can do anything
24:55I want with anyone any one of those
24:56airplanes including yours
24:59he shut up that was was the only
25:02discussion
25:12[Music]
25:16dismissed for most citizens of hoshima
25:19the 5th of August was
25:23[Music]
25:26uneventful as the day closed people
25:29prepared themselves for more air a
25:31sirens and more Disturbed
25:34sleep Dr hedo was still on duty after a
25:38busy day he remembers the fifth quite
25:45clearly I returned to the hospital at
25:47around 8:00
25:49p.m. an officer on night shift came and
25:52told me that four guests from Manchuria
25:54were in
25:56Hiroshima they were high ranking arm
26:01doctors I was told to look after
26:14them eventually I put everybody to bed
26:17and then I laid down beside
26:21them then in the middle of the night an
26:24old man from The Village came on his
26:26bicycle to see me
26:41there weren't any doctors where he lived
26:43they were all at the front thinking it
26:45couldn't be helped I went with him in
26:48the middle of the night I was very
26:51drunk they were no cars at that time and
26:53so I sat on the back of the old man's
26:57bicycle that is how I
27:00survived okay there are three planes
27:02involved in the
27:04mission that night in the last minutes
27:07before departure there was a final
27:09briefing for all the crews who were
27:11heading to
27:13Hiroshima there are three planes
27:14involved in the mission number one
27:19theola gay caring the
27:22bomb number two the great
27:26artiste carrying the reporting
27:29equipment number three the necessary
27:33evil we were the photographic
27:41ship do your jobs obey orders don't cut
27:47Corners that is all
28:05the mission was so secret Tibbets was
28:07given suicide pills in case they fell
28:09into Japanese
28:12hands daddyy you didn't want to came out
28:14of the mess hle flight surgeon gave me
28:16the pill he told me what they were I
28:19hope you don't need them but he said if
28:20you do they're uh sanide he said here if
28:24you need him one for each Man On The
28:26Crew He said
28:28you never know anything within 6 minutes
28:30you're gone you never feel anything
28:32different you never know a thing I told
28:34the guys outside the airplane before we
28:36climbed up I give you any one of you
28:37pill if you want the pill and uh nobody
28:40said anything but Captain Parsons He
28:42said I'd like to have one and I
28:45understood his position cuz see he had
28:47knew more technical stuff about that
28:49bomb than
28:51anybody well we got to the anol that was
28:53our first big surprise because we had uh
28:57there were light all over the
28:59place and everything this was unlike any
29:01Mission we'd ever FL before you know it
29:03was like a Hollywood
29:13Premiere photographers and film Crews
29:16had been ordered to record the historic
29:19Mission we had climbed into the
29:21airplanes all to start the engines and
29:23there were people all around there were
29:24Cay lights right there right in front of
29:26the number two engine
29:29and I couldn't do anything with that
29:31thing there so uh I opened the window
29:34stuck my head out I stand
29:37back move out of the way but I just wav
29:41my hand like that and some guy says wave
29:43at us so I
29:45waved and that's what you
29:50[Music]
29:55got it was another day it was another
29:57bombing run on and that was it it was my
30:02responsibility di 82 to North teni Tower
30:05taxi out and take off
30:10instructions the bomb weighed more than
30:124 tons making takeoff even more
30:15dangerous than usual 15 seconds to
30:20go the takeoff I remember the most
30:23dangerous part of flying is in takeoff 5
30:27Seconds
30:29get
30:33ready everyone on board I'm sure felt
30:36the same way I did waiting for for it to
30:39lift
30:41off and it seemed like it took an
30:43inordinate amount of time
30:46[Music]
30:53[Music]
31:00I wanted to hold the airplane on the
31:01ground to get all the air flying over
31:03the tail that I could
31:05get I held it down longer than what Bob
31:09been used to seeing the airplane took
31:10off at 140 45 M hour I held it down to
31:13was over 150 Mi down and he reached for
31:16the Yol started to pull it back said
31:17pull it back pull back now get your damn
31:19hands off this Yol I'm flying this
31:22airplane and he pulled back right quick
31:34[Music]
31:44but eventually it lifted off and we
31:46didn't crash at the end of the worm l so
31:48we were off
31:54[Music]
32:0815 minutes after takeoff with the plane
32:11still at low altitude Parsons was ready
32:13to assemble the
32:15bomb they're
32:21[Music]
32:22starting temples 82 to northan Tower
32:26judge going to work
32:28I repeat judge going to
32:31work it's about maybe 8 in wide around
32:35the outside to the back end of the
32:39weapon which had those big fins a very
32:43cramped quarters you had to squat down
32:47in order to peer into the back end of
32:49this bomb and that's the position that
32:53Parsons took is to work inside these the
33:01fins they all knew a mistake would
33:04jeopardize the entire
33:07Mission unscrewing
33:14breach asserting charges
33:17Jack Parsons would then take the powder
33:21charges about the size of a loaf of
33:23bread that would he would put those in
33:26there one at a time
33:28then he'd pick up the breach block put
33:32it in the where it was supposed to go
33:34turn it just make the seal inserting
33:37breach each one of these Maneuvers he
33:40would check off on his check off list to
33:42ensure that he had made no
33:47mistakes and returning home Jack
33:53[Music]
33:572 hours later the anola Gay met up with
34:00the scientific and photographic
34:03planes they were now 3 hours from
34:06Hiroshima Dawn is Breaking and it's now
34:09is just a beautiful beautiful morning
34:11you know look we're at about 9,000 ft at
34:13that time and we always marked about
34:16what a beautiful sunrise it was that
34:18particular
34:20morning dick Jepson Parson's assistant
34:23had one task left to arm the bomb before
34:27the plane went to altitude I had to
34:29climb into the Bom Bay and remove these
34:33three green plugs and replace them with
34:38three arming plugs which enabled the
34:41fusing circuit to fire the weapon
34:45causing it to detonate
34:54[Music]
35:00and the only time I felt really nervous
35:03on this mission was the time when I
35:07inserted these red plugs into the
35:11[Music]
35:16bomb the bomb was now armed and
35:19[Music]
35:23live after they were in place I breathed
35:27this High Rel Rel because nothing had
35:29happened at this point in
35:33time evidently with the action of
35:36replacing these plugs or switching these
35:38plugs I became the last person to put a
35:41hand on this
35:43bomb I hadn't realized that at the time
35:47[Music]
36:09we're at 30,000
36:20ft ahead of the anola gay another b29
36:24was already flying over hoshima checking
36:27the weather it triggered an
36:33[Music]
36:36[Applause]
36:41[Music]
36:43alert there was an air raid warning it
36:46was the type that warned that a raid was
36:48a possibility
36:55[Music]
37:00as the people waited in air raid
37:02shelters the weather plane reported its
37:04findings to the anol by coded
37:08message Clover less than 3/10 at all
37:12altitudes advice bomb
37:19primary it's hirosima
37:26the the weather plane now headed away
37:29for a time it seemed that the threat had
37:34[Music]
37:38passed about 30 minutes later they
37:41sounded the all
37:43clear it meant there was not going to be
37:46an air raid so everyone went about their
37:49business going to offices and
37:53factories I think that was the reason
37:55why such a large number died and could
37:57not be found
37:58[Music]
38:06afterwards on the drill ground thousands
38:09of soldiers were doing their early
38:11morning
38:12[Music]
38:18exercises Dr Heder had spent the night
38:21at a farm outside Hiroshima looking
38:23after the girl with heat
38:26stroke best
38:29it was just after 8:00 when I woke
38:32up I was already late I had to go back
38:35to the
38:38hospital I got myself ready took the
38:41child's pulse and then examined her
38:43chest with a stethoscope
38:46[Music]
38:51[Applause]
38:51[Music]
39:0316-year-old Tero Fuji had enlisted as a
39:05tram driver to support the war
39:10effort the men were sent to the front
39:12with the
39:13Army because their numbers gradually
39:16declined they wanted students to drive
39:18the
39:19[Music]
39:22trams Clark Akiko takakura and her
39:25friend were the first to arrive at the
39:27bank in central Hiroshima just 260 M
39:31from the aiming point the t-shaped
39:36bridge at the bank I stamped the arrival
39:39book you would stamp next to your name
39:41when you arrived so I stamped the
39:45book in those days female staff was
39:48supposed to arrive 30 minutes before the
39:50men to do the
39:54cleaning that sort of thing would be
39:56Unthinkable now
39:58[Music]
40:00kinoo was working as a nurse at the
40:03communications Hospital also near the
40:05center of the
40:06[Music]
40:10city my first job of the day was to
40:13sterilize the hospital tools and prepare
40:16the patients for
40:21surgery thank you than the weather was
40:24beautiful the sky was clear blue
40:28not a cloud in
40:33sight in another part of the city
40:368-year-old Takashi tanori was on his way
40:39to school every morning soon we get to
40:42school we're going to play the game Hide
40:44and
40:46Seek then uh we starting picking who's
40:50going to be it and so we ran to the main
40:54gate
40:57[Music]
40:59and I was become it that
41:01[Music]
41:05morning shig hiratsuka died in 2002 but
41:09her extraordinary story is taken from
41:11her written
41:13[Music]
41:14account it had just gone past 8: in the
41:17morning we had finished
41:21breakfast our two children were playing
41:23beside
41:24us my husband was reading the newspaper
41:28[Music]
41:36Paul Tom deak and I are all three up
41:40there confirming yes this was a Target
41:42yes that was Bridge yes that was the
41:44aiming Point might say we're having
41:46convention up the nose of the
41:48plane okay we're about to start the bomb
41:50run put on your goggles
41:59and we were on that bomb run for three
42:01three and a half minutes now Tom and I
42:03are talking cross Dutch we never sat on
42:05a bomb run this long over Germany they'
42:08have blasted us out the sky yeah he said
42:11nothing there no opposition no nothing
42:14or anything of that type just you know
42:16just going to bom the target
42:26[Music]
42:41[Music]
42:47I saw an aircraft like a tiny silver
42:50drop entering the sky above
42:55Hiroshima I instantly Rec recognized it
42:57as an American
42:59plane as no Japanese aircraft could fly
43:02at that altitude at the
43:05time it was just one plane so I assumed
43:08that it was passing by as
43:20usual I was Cent
43:27[Music]
43:29of we did I was wiping the desktop that
43:33was when the bomb was
43:38[Music]
43:44dropped away
44:15now it took about 45 seconds from the
44:18time the bomb left the airplane until it
44:20exploded and I think there wasn't a man
44:22in the airplane that wasn't either
44:24timing it with his watch or or counting
44:28or doing something I was sure the bomb
44:30was a dud I sure it wasn't going to work
44:39[Music]
44:52[Music]
45:11after falling for 43 seconds the time
45:14and barometric triggers started the
45:16firing mechanism a uranium bullet fired
45:19down a barrel into a uranium Target
45:22together they started a nuclear chain
45:25reaction solid matter began to come
45:28apart releasing Untold quantities of
45:31energy
46:34there was a white light in the window a
46:37flash white like
46:41magnesium the bomb delivered its
46:44destruction in
46:46stages The Flash came from a giant
46:49Fireball 300 M
46:52wide I was
46:54astonished it was a startling light even
46:57if you had your back turned to it you
47:00felt the shock go through right to the
47:02center of your brain at the same time
47:05any area of skin that was exposed became
47:08very hot heat such burning
47:17heat temperatures directly below the
47:19fireball were 4,000 de
47:22C the heat Rays left Shadows ladders
47:26railing even people left their outlines
47:28on Stone and
47:32metal anyone in the open air was either
47:35vaporized or turned to carbon in an
47:39[Music]
47:41instant at the same time the flash sent
47:44out powerful infrared radiation and
47:46gamma
47:49rays these could penetrate walls and
47:51attack the cells in human bodies
48:00then I slowly opened my eyes and for the
48:04first time looked in the direction of
48:05the
48:11light just at that moment a mushroom
48:15cloud
48:18appeared people who saw this in
48:20Hiroshima are nearly all dead by
48:23now there is barely anyone left now who
48:26can say they actually saw it
48:30happen a fraction of a second later came
48:33a powerful shock wave which moved at the
48:35speed of sound it turned everyday
48:38windows and walls into
48:54shrapnel as soon as the blast hit I was
48:57thrown across the room my body was flung
49:00from wall to wall and from the ceiling
49:02to the
49:04floor my body was thrown around like it
49:06was a
49:11ball a jet black belt of cloud came
49:14towards me it came from there over the
49:16lip of the
49:18mountain the black clouds spread between
49:20the mountains and came rolling in my
49:22direction swirling like this
49:31just like that my body was scooped up it
49:34was the blast it sent me flying through
49:36the
49:41house flash is very brilliant and it
49:43only lasted a very short period of time
49:46it was over in
49:48a few short
49:52seconds we didn't see any bodies down
49:55there or anything of thatp type you
49:58didn't see any buildings collapse you
49:59can't really distinguish things like
50:01that and even if we had been able to we
50:04couldn't do it anyhow because there was
50:06just a it was all covered with smok and
50:08dust and
50:16everything I'm not emotional I didn't
50:18have a first goddamn thought all right
50:20to tell you what it
50:22was I did the job and I was so relieved
50:25that it was successful you can't
50:26understand
50:32it seeing the fires in on the ground and
50:35the cloud coming up then you
50:38get pretty uh distressed that there's
50:42such Havoc down there and people are
50:47[Music]
50:51suffering there are no exact figures for
50:54the number who died in the instant of
50:56the explosion
50:57but tens of thousands of people in the
50:59open near the fireball vanished in a
51:02fraction of a
51:12second for the survivors the ordeal was
51:15just
51:17beginning thousands of people were
51:19injured and terribly burned many were
51:22trapped in the rubble
51:31just 260 M from the bomb the two girls
51:35in the bank had been sheltered from the
51:36worst of the explosion by the earthquake
51:39proof
51:42building when the girls struggled
51:44outside they found a vision of
51:50[Music]
51:53Hell the morning sunshine was gone the
51:56whole city was dark and shrouded with
51:59smoke the streets were full of
52:02[Music]
52:11corpses the words city of death came to
52:14mind there were only dead people we were
52:17the only living
52:23Souls it had been the morning commuting
52:25hour 8 15 in the morning people that had
52:28been walking the streets were doubled up
52:30dead over each other for as far as we
52:32could
52:34see they had died immediately naked
52:39burnt I just asked myself why and could
52:43not find any
52:54words the two of us just crouched down
52:57and burst into
53:02tears how could such terrible things
53:12happen at the communications Hospital
53:14one mile from the explosions hyper
53:16Center nurse kinuko was blown away from
53:19the
53:20window like so many others she was badly
53:23lacerated by flying glass
53:29I have pieces of glass sticking up from
53:31my body all over from my head my face my
53:35[Music]
53:43body in another part of the city shig
53:46Hera's peaceful family breakfast had
53:48given way to chaos and confusion
53:52[Music]
53:57when we got out we saw that the Hall of
53:59Hiroshima had been turned upside down
54:02none of the buildings were
54:04left fires were breaking out in
54:06different places all over the
54:08city then I looked around for the
54:16children there was my daughter C she was
54:20[Music]
54:23six she was buried from the chest down
54:25and wedged by Timber and
54:28[Music]
54:31plaster I tried to get her out I was
54:34desperate
54:35[Music]
54:37too but whatever I tried wouldn't
54:42work the fires were moving closer and
54:46closer the Flames were at our feet and
54:49roaring up around
54:51us we could not stand the Heat and Pain
54:54any longer
54:57[Music]
55:07[Music]
55:13fore spee
55:23[Music]
55:35keep got
55:57the school building had also collapsed
55:59in the
56:01blast 8-year-old Takashi Tori and his
56:04friends were trapped in the rubble
56:07crying out for someone to rescue
56:10them first things I saw was a pitch
56:13[Music]
56:16Darkness get then I could sense that
56:19several soldiers about my head moving
56:22the
56:24debris and the finally one soldier to
56:26duck me
56:28[Music]
56:50out all I remember that as the soldier
56:54clutched me in his armed we even through
56:57the fires between the
57:00fires the only place we are able to
57:04escape it's the river which runs behind
57:08the school
57:13[Music]
57:27near the station about 2 miles from The
57:29Flash teruko Fuji thought her tram had
57:32short circuited on the overhead cables
57:35and that the whole thing was her
57:40fault I thought that caused some kind of
57:43disaster I thought I'd broken the tram
57:45and done something
57:54terrible and then I thought is it a bomb
57:57that was when I realized that it wasn't
57:59me who'd caused all this
58:05trouble first I thought only the station
58:07area was affected but then I saw people
58:10walking towards me with injuries and
58:12skin hanging from
58:18them everybody thought perhaps if I go
58:21over there I could be
58:23saved people to the West thought the
58:25East might might be
58:27better people were going in every
58:29direction in total
58:38silence amid all the destruction there
58:41was at least one
58:43Miracle 8-year-old Takashi tanori was
58:47carried through the burning City by the
58:49soldier who rescued him at last the
58:52soldier reached a river and from the
58:54crowds the little boy heard a familiar
58:58[Music]
59:00voice somehow my father spot
59:05me I guess he called in my name and I
59:09maybe I responded and I said that's my
59:12daddy and then he stood straight toward
59:17the
59:17soldiers and he bowed many many times to
59:21the soldiers said thank you you are
59:24savior
59:40later on after we were flying
59:42back conversation started about you know
59:45the war being
59:47over as a result of this bomb despite
59:49the number of people we killed we saved
59:51multiple numbers o over that for being
59:55in a war being killed on American side
59:58on the Japanese side at that time there
1:00:02was such a hatred for the Japanese that
1:00:05the more we
1:00:06killed the better off we thought we were
1:00:09because that means there was going to be
1:00:10less that we were going to have to
1:00:12contend with during The
1:00:19Invasion after a 6-hour return flight
1:00:22the anola gay reached tinian Island
1:00:26they probably I 3 4 500 people there and
1:00:30when we got out of the airplane why of
1:00:33course we were all getting out we're
1:00:34tired and everything of that type and I
1:00:37get out I remember getting out carrying
1:00:38my oxygen mask I'm right behind
1:00:41Paul and um then some Joker calls us to
1:00:45attention I got out of the airplane like
1:00:47I was told he hit this thing on my shirt
1:00:50guys are taking pictures of it I salute
1:00:52him and after that was over with a back
1:00:56to my duty we're got to go to debriefing
1:00:59by the intelligence people they had
1:01:00certain things D did you see this did
1:01:02you see that and so forth confirming
1:01:04that we had bombed the right
1:01:07target I said
1:01:19sure Dr Heda escaped from the rubble of
1:01:22The Farmhouse 4 miles outside
1:01:24Hiroshima after checking on the child he
1:01:27had been treating he headed back towards
1:01:29the
1:01:34city it's about 6 kilomet to Hiroshima
1:01:37from
1:01:38there when I was halfway there suddenly
1:01:42a strange creature appeared out of
1:01:44nowhere
1:01:46[Music]
1:01:56as it was summer if it were human it
1:01:59would have been wearing white what I saw
1:02:01was all black from top to bottom pitch
1:02:05black I thought it was
1:02:10strange at the top there was something
1:02:12round like a head it had
1:02:15shoulders something like a body
1:02:20followed but it was like it had no face
1:02:23it was black the area around the eyes
1:02:26had swollen up it had no nose the lower
1:02:30half of the face was just mouth it was
1:02:34frightening as a doctor the first thing
1:02:37you do is take a pulse but when I took
1:02:39his hand there was no skin there was
1:02:42nowhere I could
1:02:44hold so I stood up saying please pull
1:02:47yourself together and walked around
1:02:52him this person gave a small shudder and
1:02:54then he stopped moving
1:02:57he had
1:02:59died he had fled three kilometers and
1:03:02then died
1:03:03there that man was the first fatality
1:03:06caused by the bomb that I
1:03:12saw army recruit sharu terasawa had been
1:03:16stationed 7 miles from the center of the
1:03:20blast his unit was sent to help
1:03:23survivors but they soon faced attack
1:03:25terrible conflict between their
1:03:27compassion and their
1:03:33training even now there are things that
1:03:35I will never
1:03:42forget one is the sound of people
1:03:44begging me for water
1:03:50[Music]
1:03:57in those days we had been told not to
1:03:59give water to the badly
1:04:01burned to tell you the truth we all had
1:04:04these big military water flasks on our
1:04:09hips people were begging for water but
1:04:13we didn't give them any we had been told
1:04:16that if we did they would die straight
1:04:20away and so I didn't give them any a lot
1:04:24of people died
1:04:26now looking back I wish I had given the
1:04:32[Music]
1:04:36morar burned and bleeding in the intense
1:04:40heat people were desperate to find any
1:04:42water they
1:04:44could they fled to the rivers to pools
1:04:48and reservoirs among them nursed
1:04:54kinuko knew there was a pool of water in
1:04:57the backyard of the
1:05:03hospital lots of people had already got
1:05:05into the pool more people had jumped on
1:05:08top of
1:05:14them the people underneath
1:05:20drowned this is one scene I can never
1:05:23forget I still dream
1:05:27this
1:05:29[Music]
1:05:43year then came a strange
1:05:47Deliverance dark raindrops began to fall
1:05:50from the clouds above the burning City
1:05:53[Music]
1:05:59we opened our mouths and drank
1:06:01it our throats were parched but it was
1:06:04difficult to capture the rain into our
1:06:10[Music]
1:06:12mouths the rain was made black by Ash
1:06:15and smoke which had been sucked up into
1:06:17the rising mushroom
1:06:19cloud when these ashes mixed with cool
1:06:22humid air in the upper atmosphere they
1:06:24formed thick black raindrops and fell
1:06:27back down onto the
1:06:32city the drops of rain were big enough
1:06:35to hurt when they hit your
1:06:37skin it descended in a torrent black
1:06:41fluid flowed where the rain
1:06:43fell it was raining black
1:06:50fluid what the people who drank the rain
1:06:53didn't realize was that it was highly
1:06:58[Music]
1:06:59Radioactive in time it would poison many
1:07:04[Applause]
1:07:23thousands on the day the bomb was was
1:07:25dropped President Truman was still
1:07:27traveling home from
1:07:31Europe on our way back on the Augusta
1:07:34returning to Washington we were on the
1:07:35edge of our chairs because we expected
1:07:38any day any time any day to have a flash
1:07:41from the war department that uh the
1:07:43first bomb had been dropped and on
1:07:46August 6th as we were about one day out
1:07:48from norfol we that flash
1:07:53came George LC coded the telegram that
1:07:56brought the news to President Truman on
1:07:58the
1:07:59Augusta when something like that came we
1:08:01would walk it to immediately we would
1:08:03interrupt whatever he was doing he
1:08:05happened to be having lunch with the
1:08:06crew at that
1:08:09point took it to Truman who showed it to
1:08:12secretary Burns and to Admiral Ley and
1:08:15then Truman announced to the ship's crew
1:08:17this great
1:08:21accomplishment we have dropped a single
1:08:24bomb on the Japanese city of
1:08:27Hiroshima with the power of 20,000 tons
1:08:31of
1:08:32TNT the city has been completely
1:08:36destroyed it was cheering cheering by
1:08:39the crew cheering by the officers when
1:08:41he read it and the officers
1:08:46M the Augusta was one of the ships that
1:08:49was uh destined for the uh Pacific and
1:08:51would have been involved in The Invasion
1:08:53and uh uh the crew knew that the just
1:08:57about everybody who was in Europe knew
1:08:59that they were headed would be headed
1:09:01for the Pacific and an invasion of Japan
1:09:03so they were just as Overjoyed as as the
1:09:06president was that this damn thing is
1:09:08over we hope this will be a warning to
1:09:11the Japanese
1:09:14military come on boys we're going
1:09:18home he was eager to get home because he
1:09:21was sure that the word from the Japanese
1:09:23the surrender would would come very very
1:09:27soon in case there was any doubt Truman
1:09:30spelled it out to the Japanese High
1:09:33command it was to spare the Japanese
1:09:36people from utter destruction that the
1:09:39ultimatum of July the 26th was issued at
1:09:43poan their leaders promptly rejected
1:09:46that
1:09:47ultimatum if they do not now accept our
1:09:50terms they may expect a rain of Ruin
1:09:53from the air the like of which has never
1:09:56been seen on this
1:09:57[Music]
1:10:08Earth late that afternoon the mayor of
1:10:11Hiroshima issued his own
1:10:16Proclamation the present catastrophe is
1:10:18the result of a horrible and inhuman
1:10:21aade
1:10:25the enemy's intention is clearly to
1:10:27undermine the fighting Spirit of the
1:10:30Japanese
1:10:32people citizens of
1:10:35Hiroshima the damage is great but that
1:10:38is only to be expected during a
1:10:41war keep up your
1:10:44spirits do not lose heart
1:11:02[Music]
1:11:11[Music]
1:11:33[Music]
1:11:35the morning after the bomb a fullscale
1:11:37rescue effort
1:11:40began squads of soldiers from
1:11:43surrounding garrisons were drafted in to
1:11:47help they collected the dead bodies and
1:11:50disposed of them before disease could
1:11:52spread
1:11:58the wounded were quickly taken away for
1:12:03treatment makeshift hospitals were set
1:12:06up although there were only a handful of
1:12:08medical
1:12:12staff Dr Heder found himself treating
1:12:153,000 survivors in a village outside
1:12:23Hiroshima at first we had no medic
1:12:26no
1:12:26equipment there was nothing we doctors
1:12:28could
1:12:30do however we gathered up some things
1:12:34and started treating the
1:12:38burns nurse kinuko had an extraordinary
1:12:44Escape I don't know whether I was
1:12:46unconscious for hours or for
1:12:52days when I did come around I thought so
1:12:55I'm still alive God must have given me
1:13:02strength she woke to find that she had
1:13:04been thrown into a mass
1:13:09grave after I crawled out of the hole I
1:13:12managed to cross the road to get to the
1:13:14entrance of the
1:13:18hospital it took me a terribly long time
1:13:22as I could not stand nor lift my arms or
1:13:25or moved them to the
1:13:29side I crawled like an insect and
1:13:33finally reached the hospital
1:13:40entrance Dr hinoi from the pharmacy
1:13:43spotted me and exclaimed you're still
1:13:47[Music]
1:13:50alive he picked me up and carried me to
1:13:53the surgery area
1:14:01the corridor was full of people lying
1:14:03side by
1:14:06[Music]
1:14:10side this was where they operated on
1:14:15me and removed all of the large pieces
1:14:18of glass that was stuck in me
1:14:26[Music]
1:14:30all over the city relatives search the
1:14:32ruins for signs of
1:14:34[Music]
1:14:37[Applause]
1:14:39survivors before midday my friend's
1:14:42father came to get
1:14:48us but my friend who had escaped from
1:14:51the bank with me turned out to have a
1:14:53broken spine
1:14:54[Music]
1:14:59she died a week
1:15:01later she was a year younger than me I
1:15:05am nearly 80 years old now but she was
1:15:07only 18 at the time whenever I think of
1:15:10her she is still 18 years
1:15:13old she was a very pretty gentle
1:15:23person three days after the Hiroshima
1:15:26bomb despite all the destruction Japan
1:15:29still hadn't surrendered a second bomb
1:15:32was made ready and Truman issued another
1:15:36warning the world will note that the
1:15:38first atomic bomb was dropped on
1:15:41Hiroshima a military base if Japan does
1:15:45not surrender bombs will have to be
1:15:47dropped on War Industry
1:15:52[Music]
1:15:57I urg Japanese civilians to leave
1:15:59industrial cities immediately and save
1:16:03themselves from
1:16:05destruction I realize the tragic
1:16:08significance of the atomic bomb having
1:16:11found the atomic bomb we have used it we
1:16:15have used it against those who attack us
1:16:18without warning at Pearl
1:16:20Harbor against those who have starved
1:16:22and beaten and executed American prison
1:16:25of war against those who have abandoned
1:16:28all pretense of obeying International
1:16:30laws of
1:16:32warfare we have used it in order to
1:16:34shorten the agony of war in order to
1:16:37save the lives of thousands and
1:16:39thousands of Young Americans
1:16:56the second bomb was intended for the
1:16:58city of kokura but it was too cloudy so
1:17:01the plane moved on to
1:17:04Nagasaki desperately short of fuel the
1:17:07crew released the bomb despite more
1:17:11clouds the bomb missed the aiming point
1:17:14and fell into a
1:17:16valley this time there was no Firestorm
1:17:19but even so more than 50,000 people were
1:17:22killed
1:17:28the Supreme War Direction Council in
1:17:30Tokyo was meeting on the same day by now
1:17:33the Russians had declared war on Japan
1:17:36then came the news from
1:17:39[Music]
1:17:53Nagasaki
1:18:23for
1:18:43fore
1:18:44fore fore
1:19:07then prime minister Suzuki did something
1:19:10unheard of he asked the emperor to break
1:19:13the deadlock and make a
1:19:16decision Emperor hito told them he
1:19:19wanted to end the suffering and bear the
1:19:22unbearable
1:19:264 days later radical soldiers attempted
1:19:29a coup to prevent the
1:19:30surrender they
1:19:34failed at dawn on the day that Emperor
1:19:37Hirohito was to broadcast an
1:19:38announcement to the Japanese people that
1:19:40the war was over General anami prepared
1:19:43to end his life in the time honored
1:19:45tradition of seppuku
1:19:53[Music]
1:19:58his suicide note read my death is my
1:20:02apology for my great
1:20:09[Music]
1:20:17crime the war was
1:20:20[Music]
1:20:21over at last the troops were going home
1:20:26there was Jubilation around the
1:20:28[Music]
1:20:42world but then came something that would
1:20:46forever change perception of the
1:20:49bomb it started in the hospitals
1:20:58a mysterious illness began to spread I
1:21:02noticed it from about the fourth
1:21:04day of course it had been there all
1:21:06along but I thought people were dying of
1:21:09severe
1:21:11[Music]
1:21:13burns the woman who lost her children in
1:21:16the fires sheay Hera and her husband
1:21:20were amongst those affected
1:21:24they lined my bed up next to my husbands
1:21:27and took his test
1:21:29fast when they had taken enough blood
1:21:31for the sample they withdrew the
1:21:37needle but the blood wouldn't
1:21:41stop nothing worked whatever they
1:21:44did even when they applied pressure it
1:21:47carried on
1:21:50bleeding during this time purple spots
1:21:52began breaking out all over my husband
1:21:54B's
1:21:55body he then vomited a large amount of
1:21:58brown
1:22:00liquid afterwards he went limp and died
1:22:03an hour
1:22:06later he had managed to survive that far
1:22:09but then even he was taken away from me
1:22:33her husband was one of thousands who
1:22:35would die from this new and untreatable
1:22:39[Music]
1:22:42condition they were rotting it was
1:22:45necrosis there were no white blood cells
1:22:48so the blood had no power to fight
1:22:50against infection and so suddenly the
1:22:51rotting set in in the end the hair would
1:22:55start to fall out when you put your hand
1:22:57on the patient's head tfts of hair would
1:23:00come away in your
1:23:05hand it emerged that those who were
1:23:08worst affected had been close to the
1:23:09hyper Center or had swallowed
1:23:12radioactive material like the people who
1:23:14drank the black grain
1:23:19[Music]
1:23:24in hindsight we realized that it was
1:23:27radiation but at that time we didn't
1:23:29know what it
1:23:31was radiation sickness has become the
1:23:34single most disturbing Legacy of the
1:23:37bomb American scientists had always
1:23:40known the bomb would produce radiation
1:23:43but the scale of the after effects came
1:23:45as a shocking surprise
1:24:15today hoshima is a thriving city of over
1:24:18a million people
1:24:24Japan too has been transformed into a
1:24:27prosperous country that has renounced
1:24:29the use of War
1:24:33[Music]
1:24:40entirely although no one has used a
1:24:43nuclear weapon since arguments continue
1:24:46as to the morality of dropping the bomb
1:24:49was it really
1:24:51necessary could it have been avoided
1:24:57the nation had no rice to eat people had
1:25:00not eaten white rice for a whole year
1:25:03how could such a country go to
1:25:04battle the Americans knew that very well
1:25:07and still dropped the atomic
1:25:09bomb why it was an experiment they knew
1:25:13that the bomb had enormous explosive
1:25:16power what they did not know was how
1:25:18much damage the radiation would cause
1:25:21some scientists thought they knew but
1:25:23they had not tested it
1:25:24so they made an experiment to find out
1:25:27by testing it on human
1:25:29beings the final decision that resulted
1:25:34in the two bombs hoshima and Nagasaki
1:25:37was not made in poam it wasn't made by
1:25:39Truman it was made by the Japanese
1:25:42militarists when they rejected any
1:25:45opportunity to surrender just their
1:25:48armed forces and save further massive
1:25:51loss of life
1:25:53[Music]
1:25:58today there are just a few places that
1:26:00bear the scars of August the 6th
1:26:051945 there are burn marks on
1:26:10trees the shadow of a vaporized man left
1:26:13on
1:26:15[Music]
1:26:17Stone firsthand memories are fading
1:26:22too Akiko takakura the bank clerk who
1:26:26had been just 260 M from the hyper
1:26:29Center is one of the last witnesses to
1:26:32the full horror of the
1:26:37bomb there is a department store called
1:26:40Soo in Hiroshima where I stop sometimes
1:26:42for
1:26:46tea from the Tea Room I can see the road
1:26:49from the bank to the drill ground where
1:26:50we escaped
1:26:58I see old people walking happily down
1:27:00the street young people holding hands
1:27:03and enjoying each other's
1:27:05conversation children holding their
1:27:07parents' hands and looking
1:27:16happy and I think about those awful
1:27:18scenes that I experienced many years ago
1:27:20now and all the people that lost their
1:27:22lives
1:27:25I think to myself what was all that did
1:27:29it really
1:27:30[Music]
1:27:37happen every year on the 6th of August
1:27:40there are ceremonies to recall what took
1:27:43place on that
1:27:44day to make sure that these events are
1:27:47never forgotten or
1:27:52repeated at sunset
1:27:54tens of thousands of candles are
1:27:56released on the river in
1:28:00Hiroshima each candle representing the
1:28:03soul of one of the Dead
1:28:14[Music]
1:28:24oh
1:28:29[Music]