Dear Editor,

The United States is the only country to detonate nuclear weapons against an enemy. Seventy-five years ago on August 6 and 9, 1945, atomic bombs (Little Boy and Fat Man) were detonated by America on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

They killed over 110,000 instantly and about 350,000 more by 1950 due to radiation sickness and cancer.

On Aug. 14, 1945, Japan surrendered unconditionally, bringing an end to World War II.

It has been debated endlessly whether America should have used atomic bombs to kill people to bring a sudden end of the war.

The rationale for the use of the bomb on people, it is argued, was that it led to a quick Japaneses surrender and an end to World War II, thereby saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of American soldiers and Japanese civilians.

Others, including me, would argue the price in human life was way too high by bombing the two Japanese cities.

America should have demonstrated the bomb’s potential without inhumanely killing people. Perhaps by blowing the top off of Mount Fuji or some other unpopulated area of Japan would have been sufficient horror to convince Japan to surrender.

The use of atomic bombs is not ever needed, it is inhumane, it is a crime against humanity, and it has led to the modern atomic age and threat of nuclear war.

Bill Bryant

St. Clairsville