| Harry S Truman's
speech from the White House delivered at 10 P.M. Washington time on August 9,
1945. 
The world will note that the first atomic bomb was
dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because
we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as
possible, the killing of civilians. But that attack is
only a warning of things to come. If Japan does not
surrender, bombs will have to be dropped on her war
industries and, unfortunately, thousands of civilian
lives will be lost. I urge Japanese civilians to leave
industrial cities immediately, and save themselves from
destruction.
Sources: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United
States: Harry S. Truman, Containing the Public Messages,
Speeches and Statements of the President April 12 to
December 31, 1945 (Washington D.C.: United States
Government Printing Office, 1961) page 212. The full text
also was published in The New York Times, August 10,
1945, page 12. Below: Harry S. Truman, Diary, July 25, 1945
President Truman told his diary on July
25, 1945, that he had ordered the bomb used. Note Truman's
apparent belief that he had ordered the bomb dropped on a
"purely military" target, so that "military objectives and
soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and
children."
WE have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history
of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesied
in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous
Ark. Anyway we "think" we have found the way to cause a
disintegration of the atom. An experiment in the New
Mexico desert was startling -- to put it mildly. Thirteen
pounds of the explosive caused the complete
disintegration of a steel tower 60 feet high, created a
crater 6 feet deep and 1,200 feet in diameter, knocked
over a steel tower '/2 mile away and knocked men down
10,000 yards away. The explosion was visible for more
than 200 miles and audible for 40 miles and more. This
weapon is to be used against Japan between now and August
10th. I
have told the Sec. of War, Mr. Stimson, to use it
so that military objectives and soldiers and sailors are
the target and not women and children. Even if the Japs
are savages, ruthless, merciless and fanatic, we as the
leader of the world for the common welfare cannot drop
that terrible bomb on the old capital or the new.
He and I are in accord. The target will be a purely
military one and we will issue a warning statement asking
the Japs to surrender and save lives. I'm sure they will
not do that, but we will have given them the chance. It
is certainly a good thing for the world that Hitler's
crowd or Stalin's did not discover this atomic bomb. It
seems to be the most terrible thing ever discovered, but
it can be made the most useful. . . Inset: Order to War
Dept, Jul 31, 1945 [See: War Dept
order to Carl Spaatz, Jul 25, 1945] [Index]
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