“My God, What Have We Done”

The Legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

 

On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped a nuclear weapon on Hiroshima, Japan – the first time such a catastrophic weapon was ever used in conflict. As the city disappeared under a mushroom cloud, Captain Robert Lewis – co-pilot of the Enola Gay, the bomber that dropped the weapon – wrote in his log “My God, what have we done?” Three days later the U.S. released another atom bomb on Nagasaki, devastating the city and ushering in the nuclear age.

Over the summer of 2019, Global Zero explored what led to the bomb’s development, the consequences of its use, and where we’ve come since those fateful days in August.