Hiroshima And Nagasaki (PHOTOS): Never Before Seen Images From LIFE.com

Today marks the 65th anniversary of America's atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan during World War II. And for the first time ever, a U.S. representative participated in the annual commemoration.

Some details about the memorial, via the AP:

The site of the world's first A-bomb attack echoed with the choirs of schoolchildren and the solemn ringing of bells Friday as Hiroshima marked its biggest memorial yet. At 8:15 a.m. -- the time the bomb dropped, incinerating most of the city -- a moment of silence was observed.

Hiroshima's mayor welcomed Washington's decision to send U.S. Ambassador John Roos to Friday's commemoration, which began with an offering of water to the 140,000 who died in the first of two nuclear bombings that prompted Japan's surrender in World War II.

On August 9, 1945, three days after Hiroshima, the U.S. bombed Nagasaki, killing around 80,000 people. Japan surrendered a week later, on August 15, thereby ending WWII.

To commemorate the anniversary, LIFE.com has released some stunning never before seen photographs of those cities in the wake of the bombs being dropped. You can preview a small sample of the photos below.

And be sure to check out the amazing full gallery from LIFE.com here.

Photos and captions courtesy of LIFE.com

Nagasaki, photographed by Alfred Eisensatedt.

Nagasaki, 1945, a few months after the bombing, photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt.

Hiroshima, 1945, by Bernard Hoffman.

SEE THE FULL GALLERY OF PHOTOS AT LIFE.com.

Comments

[Faxx Fantum]

05:16 PM on 08/13/2010

I agree, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were horrible, so were the events at Manchuria, Bataan, Pearl Harbor and etc.

So... What were the options? The results of other options can only be gained by guesswork.

1. Bring our troops from Europe and invade the Japanese mainland. The Japanese military and civilians were preparing for this and the damage and loss of life would have been much higher on both sides.

2. Pull back and blockade Japan stopping all supplies and hope to starve them into submission. This would have probably cost more Japanese misery and lives than the atomic bombing or an invasion.

3. Drop our demand for "Unconditional Surrender", agree to peace with Japan and bring our troops home. In the short term this would have saved Japanese lives but it would have left the Japanese military in charge and they were on the way to developing atomic weapons. Is there any doubt what would have happened in later years?

So... Come on you couch potato strategists... YOU are HST, what would YOU have done?

Of course that was WWII, an age when Americans were tough and proud of being ONE NATION UNDER GOD, not a bunch of progressive, politically correct, whiney babies!

[worker beenumbed]

05:12 PM on 08/14/2010

As of july of 1945,jAPAN WAS BLOCKADED..Google Operation Starvation.A War College study concluded that Japan would have surrendered by November.Subs and mines dropped from b-29s succeeded.Truman may not have had complete intelligence.La May appeared to be understating the success.Notice how Kennedy did not trust La May during the Cuban blockade.

[LastAngryWoman]

07:42 AM on 08/15/2010

You're absolutely right.
I need to stop being a whiney, progressive baby.

I would have done what Jesus would have done. And what your country did...kill two entire cities.

It was exactly the right choice.

And should be repeated in the future.

You know, for the pre-emptive purposes you mention.

What's an innocent life (or two hundred thousand) if you can 'stop' something that may or may not happen in the future?

And btw, Jesus was 'tough and proud' too, was He not? And all about the 'one nation under God'. You nailed Him.

[worker beenumbed]

04:49 PM on 08/13/2010

Japan had no fossile fuel to fight invaders by July of 45.Subs and plane launched mines had sealed off japan Japan had ethenal from rice I presume the name of the blockade effort was called operation starvation because of this fuel or food choice.It was a tough decision for Truman .Had he known of the success of the blockade ,he might have chosen to wait while moving ships out of Kamakazi range.Japans war criminals had to prepare to die.

[Roguer]

01:40 PM on 08/13/2010

http://www.fpp.co.uk/History/Churchill/Japan_surrender_attempts/MS.html

http://www.dannen.com/decision/potsdam.html

http://www.johnwcooper.com/papers/atomicbombtrumanJWC.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yalta_Conference

[kpos101]

01:37 PM on 08/13/2010

how many millions of chinese were slaughtered by the japanese, how many korean woman were forced in prostitution by the japanese ? what exactly was the total body count racked up by the japanese ? anybody know?

[arusticat]

12:31 AM on 08/15/2010

Two wrongs won't make us right. How many children deserve to die for what their parents did?

[martintillier]

11:06 AM on 08/13/2010

"The main human problem has always been that we have a perfection of means but a confusion of aims." ------ Albert Einstein.
" I have now become the destroyer of worlds" Oppenheimer, after seeing the footage taken by the crew of the Enola Gay.
Is the phrase, " A just war", an oxymoron ? Or is the deliberate murder of those who seek to murder, justified by the fact of their intent ?

[mariusvinchi]

06:21 AM on 08/13/2010

I had no idea we had so many historical scholars on HufPo!!
I especially like the comments justifying the slaughter and maiming of civilians as a necessary evil. Further justified by one poster that the same number of civilians would have died had we invaded mainland Japan anyway. If THIS is the moral, ethical and humane nature of my fellow Americans, I am truly ashamed to call my American. HBO made a documentary a few years ago. They interviewed survivors and relatives of both bombings. The very real HUMAN tragedy was astonishing. It changed my view of American exceptionalism.

[All your fact]

09:22 AM on 08/13/2010

mariusvinchi, war is a method of statecraft that involves killing people. It's one of the most necessary ones, because too often autocrats only respect force. It's been very necessary to break out force in the past, unless you are of the opinion that we should have let the Confederates waltz away from the Union, that we should have knuckled under to the Brits in the 1700s, or that (much more recently) we should have left Kuwait to its fate. As far as your outrage that the bombs killed fewer people than the planned invasion - first of all, one of Japan's ridiculous storms was moving in to where the invasion fleet was supposed to be. Had the US gone through, the entire fleet would have been shattered, bolstered the resolve of defense forces that had shown a willingness to fight against all odds, and suicidally, against US troops.

Remember, this was the second Great War. It was a completely different time, where anything that saved lives was held in regard. The Allies had lost too many troops already to be interested in preserving the enemy (who was trying to kill them). Being shot at doesn't engender much friendship, but what would an armchair philosopher know about that? Unless you're suggesting that the US shouldn't finish a war as fast as possible just so that you can feel morally superior.

[mariusvinchi]

10:04 AM on 08/13/2010

Armchair philosopher? Very witty...I think my 20 years of active military (US Army Col. Ret.) experience qualifies me to form opinions. The additional education I received at the Army War College and the Army Command and General Staff College provided direct insight into all wars we as a nation fought to date.
The cities selected (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) held absolutely ZERO tactical military objectives. They were selected for the "shock and awe" value. In other words, they were selected BECAUSE of their civilian populations. Up until that moment, the unwritten rule of war was to avoid "unnecessarily harming" non-combatants.
The Japanese Navy did not remotely possess the necessary strength to "shatter" our fleet. It was all but decimated at that point. The other assertions from the totally discredited and completely fabricated "Magic" intercepts (from which you seem to be gathering your information) claimed that the Japanese had upwards of 30 million remaining forces on the mainland ready to fight to the death was proven to be false by Generals MacArthur and Sutherland.
No one wants to see wars concluded faster than a soldier, but losing your humanity in the process? Not worth the price..

[Faxx Fantum]

05:30 PM on 08/13/2010

You seem eager to condemn America which is typical of the elitist, politically correct, whiney babies who offer nothing positive! I truly doubt they are your "fellow Americans."

Yes, it was a HUMAN tragedy, so were the events at Manchuria, Bataan, Pearl Harbor and on and on...

So... What would YOU have done?

[davcrock]

08:52 PM on 08/12/2010

I have come to the conclusion that the censors are being way way overzealous on this story. They have now deleted at least three of my posts about this (including one that August 7 was the anniversary of the First Marine Division landing on Guadalcanal and that one I can't understand at all considering some of the really disgraceful posts that are on this thread about the US). Maybe it's that Halsey quotation -- he really said it ("When we get thru with those bastards the only place they'll speak Japanese is in hell") so why shouldn't it be part of the record (read AT DAWN WE SLEPT by Gordon Prange)? Or maybe the censors don't like graphic accounts of Japanese atrocities (they did these things and should pay for the same as the Nazis)?

The censors are starting to remind me of that line in "The Last Picture Show," "I've been around this kind of trashy behavior all my life and I'm getting tired of it." Don't you believe in freedom of speech? It'd be one thing if I was being truly insulting or vulgar but to delete historical facts is just plain ... censorship.

[UncleJimbo]

08:39 PM on 08/11/2010

Why is the Print different here?

[RIPRNC]

04:31 PM on 08/10/2010

Not one of our shiniest moments, but definately one to learn from.

[mike72]

05:33 AM on 08/12/2010

It is actually one of the greatest moments.

The whole world snapped to attention and dropped all plans of wars. It is no longer PROFITABLE to have all out wars anymore with this bomb DEMONSTRATED its capability.

[samhaydenjr]

01:58 PM on 08/10/2010

I can't believe the cold, inhumane, self-justifying comments being made here. It's quite simple - regardless of atrocities committed by an enemy during wartime, if you target civilians to save soldiers from combat, you are committing a war crime. If the death toll of your attacks is 50-70 times that of 9/11, you are committing one of the most serious war crimes on record. And if you destroy two cities in order to scare a nation into submission, you have committed the worst single act of terrorism in history

[Kenny Brofman]

05:49 PM on 08/10/2010

Do you calculate in the possibility that, if we had not bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we would have been forced to invade Japan's major cities with ground troops, and, between our soldier, Japanese soldiers, and Japanese civilians that would have been caught in the crossfire, as many people would have died, perhaps more? I, like us all, regret the deaths of those 220,000 civilians, but there is a distinct possibility that it was the lesser of two evils.

[Grada3784]

10:03 PM on 08/10/2010

That is not just the possibility; it was the conclusion reached after Okinawa and Iwo Jima.

[terry63]

11:33 PM on 08/11/2010

WW2, was a war of survival, they were not playing, After pearl harbor we slugged it out with Japan at Guadal canal, Midway, Iwojima, They were ferotious fighters, they didnt surrender and they didnt take prisoners .When they got low on pilots and airplanes, they became the first suicide bombers, we were Lucky in a few key battles with the Japanesse, at midway they were caught while changing from bombs to torpedos on their airplanes , with all of their aircraft on deck, a simple mistake, that cost them the edge at midway. as they were hit by a u.s. torpedo squadren. before they could recover, it cost them a carrier and many aircraft. Had we lost that war, many people would have died at the hands of japanesse bayonets, soldier and civilian, and the rest would have been led away into bondage. We ask Japan to surrender, they didnt think that was a good idea, so we encouraged them to do so. Its people that think like you that fought Vietnam, and are fighting the Taliban right now, hows all that tolerance workin for you over there. Go on line and look at the estaments of casualties that an invation of Japan would have cost us and them, here,s a clue its in the Millions of lives.

[davcrock]

07:18 PM on 08/12/2010

It cost them 4 carriers at Midway and all were sunk inside of 20 minutes. The turning point of the Pacific War.

Anybody who feels sorry for the Japanese should read accounts of the Rape of Nanking, the taking of Manila by the Japanese troops, the treatment of prisoners of war at their hands, the first use of civilian bombings of Chinese cities, the murder of Marine medical corpsmen by Japanese wounded on Guadalcanal, the torture of Korean women. The list is long and horrible. The Japanese made the Nazis look like a bunch of amateurs.

The dropping of the A-bombs nearly fulfilled Halsey's prediction upon sailing into Pearl Harbor shortly after the attack: "When we get thru with those bastards, the only place they'll be speaking Japanese is in hell." That was the attitude of a whole generation. A generation that saved the world -- DELIVERED FROM EVIL, that's the title of Robert Leckie's (a Marine who fought on Guadalcanal, New Britain, and Peleliu) one volume history of the war. It's an apt title.

[Occam123]

12:27 PM on 08/10/2010

Chinese who lived thru' the R a p e of Nanking don't mind so much.

[discoecstasy]

02:45 AM on 08/12/2010

Nor do I, a descendent of a Chinese family who lived through that tumultous and horrific time.

[Liberal2]

02:50 PM on 08/12/2010

Agreed.

[mike72]

07:23 AM on 08/10/2010

It is FUNNY that the Japanese would spend all their energy morphing themselves into "victims" of WW II by touting pictures of Hiroshima's 70K death yet preteneded nothing happened when 30 million Asians and Americans were slaughter by the Japanese war machine.

It is really FUNNY.

Japan working on re-writing and re-interpreting history? Not going to happen when my memory is still fresh, watchful and alive. But they might succeed after couple generations later with relentless efforts. By then history might be doomed to repeat itself again.

[terry63]

11:40 PM on 08/11/2010

It wil happen , just like people today will tell you that the holocaust never happend, we as Humans live in a perpetual circle, creat great wars and death, and within a few generations we forget and do it again, and again, and again.

[Rock Brasiliano]

02:33 PM on 08/12/2010

Well put...meanwhile the loathsome Japanes royal family carries on....as peaceniks, no less.

[iLoveOldNY]

04:37 AM on 08/10/2010

My God...

[mike72]

09:32 PM on 08/10/2010

God has delivered judgment and it is not sufficient. The majority of Japanese war criminals got away and their children and grandchildren are controlling most of the political apparatus of Japan.

Unlike in Germany where the war criminals were hunted down, God took a nap on Japan. And the consequence will last long into the future. The Pandora box will open again, with relentless efforts from the off-springs of these well-preserved and well-funded Japanese war criminals.

[terry63]

11:41 PM on 08/11/2010

Tojo was never hung. he continued as emperor with all of his perks, Now thats what I call a war crime.

[mike72]

05:13 AM on 08/12/2010

German war criminals would have kicked their own butts in h3iL: Dang! If only we could stay in power long enough for US to realize Soviet Unions is the next great threat, we might have escaped punishment serving as US puppies.

Timing is everything. :)

[MilesLong]

12:35 AM on 08/10/2010

Well, if "revenge is a dish best served cold," it has become a cold day indeed when the victim of the most heinous use of nuclear power by our country now owns us financially and outstrips us in manufacturing capacity.

Argue degree if you will, but owned we are...

Miles "Don't Get Mad, Get Even" Long

[plwood01]

11:30 AM on 08/15/2010

Obviously, that one fact does not change many people's minds about America's past history regarding war and its historical, hypocritical, insensitivity to all others who are different or who feel that they too have the right to seek liberty, life and the pursuit of happiness!

[Anyacat]

06:12 PM on 08/09/2010

The Japanese could have avoided Nagasaki by surrendering after Hiroshima. It didn't. In fact it taunted the United States claiming only one such bomb existed, we had three and dropped two. Millions of Japanese and American lives were saved with the dropping of two bombs, which ended World War II once and for all. Sorry that isn't good enough for you after-the-fact arm chair Monday morning quarterbacks.

[lenuk]

06:18 AM on 08/10/2010

We should also acknowledge that the invasion of Manchuria by the Soviet Union was (probably) just as important in the decision by Japan to accept unconditional surrender as were the bombings.

Whether the bombs or the Soviet invasion was the main factor in the surrender is the big question.

[Grada3784]

10:04 PM on 08/10/2010

They both played their part.

[Roguer]

02:19 PM on 08/13/2010

The Japanese were trying to surrender during the two months prior to Hiroshima...

see above links... nah here they are ... plenty more out there... History as taught in US schools of course paints the US in a golden, justified light.
http://www.fpp.co.uk/History/Churchill/Japan_surrender_attempts/MS.html

http://www.dannen.com/decision/potsdam.html

http://www.johnwcooper.com/papers/atomicbombtrumanJWC.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yalta_Conference