The Impact of the Atomic Bomb

NBC decided to air this piece in 1995 to show how our views on it and the morality behind it have changed over time. One of the most interesting points it brought up was that the American people supported the dropping of the bomb, because to them, it finally ended the war. There was soon to be no more worrying about being bombed or about dying sons and husbands. Also, they had little idea of the devastation it caused; of course, the government would never allow such information to be released. They just knew that Japan had surrendered. Today, we tend to forget these things and wonder how could moral people have celebrated such a travesty to humankind, but it is impossible for us to put ourselves in their shoes. While I don't personally believe that dropping the bomb was the just thing to do especially since it still may have effects on the population today, we can't judge people of that time for being happy that the war was almost over. We can never really know what would have happened if the bomb had not been dropped - who knows maybe there would have been more casualties, maybe less.
The fact that NBC aired this piece in 1995 also shows that it still has an impact on the world today. The memory of World War II has not faded from our minds, and the controversy of the atomic bomb still reigns on. That girl in elementary school who still fears that a bomb will be dropped on her shows that not only is this controversy still around, but the fear that the bomb instilled in the citizens of Japan continues on. World War II is not old history that has disappeared from our everyday lives, but an event that still affects us to this day.