Dangers from Accidental Detonations [1]
9 July, 1945
To: J. R. Oppenheimer [2]
From: N. F. Ramsey [3]
Subject: Dangers from Accidental Detonations of Active Gadgets
9 July, 1945
To: J. R. Oppenheimer [2]
From: N. F. Ramsey [3]
Subject: Dangers from Accidental Detonations of Active Gadgets
I had finished breakfast and was getting ready to go to the newspaper when it happened. There was a flash from the indoor wires as if lightning had struck. I didn't hear any sound, how shall I say, the world around me turned bright white. And I was momentarily blinded as if a magnesium light had lit up in front of my eyes. Immediately after that, the blast came. I was bare from the waist up, and the blast was so intense, it felt like hundreds of needles were stabling me all at once. The blast grew large holes in the walls of the first and second floor.
Point: APO 247, Tinian
Time Takeoff: 245
Time Landed: 1458
Position - Time (Military) - Remarks [AHF Notes are in italics]
N. Tip Siapan - 0255 [Northern tip of Saipan, 10 min after takeoff]
...
Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Abe of Japan at Hiroshima Peace Memorial
Hiroshima Peace Memorial
Hiroshima, Japan
5:45 P.M. JST
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Seventy-one years ago, on a bright, cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed. A flash of light and a wall of fire destroyed a city and demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself.
To our good and loyal subjects:
After pondering deeply the general trends of the world and the actual conditions obtaining to our empire today, we have decided to effect a settlement of the present situation by resorting to an extraordinary measure.
We have ordered our government to communicate to the governments of the United States, Great Britain, China, and the Soviet Union that our empire accepts the provisions of their Joint Declaration.
From Operational History of the 509th Bombardment
From “The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb” by Henry Stimson
By Harold Agnew