OPPENHEIMER: The Decision to Drop the Bomb (1965)
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- čas přidán 13. 07. 2023
- J Robert Oppenheimer and other key figures involved in the decision to drop the first atomic bomb discuss their motivations in this rare NBC News documentary. Originally produced two decades after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this presentation features new insight from NBC News Presidential Historian Michael Beschloss.
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#nbcnews #oppenheimer #atomicbomb
Haven't seen this since college forty years ago, where it was used as an exemplar for television documentary. Glad to see NBC is making it available in its entirety.
My pop was 16
Same here
This was so Awesome! My first time seeing it!
This is exactly how a company like NBC should use its CZcams channel. Absolutely perfect. Giving us timely and quality content that shows off the breadth, depth, and significance of NBC’s work over the decades.
NBC has always “gotten it” with online content more than others it seems. Really wish the rest would catch up
Thoughts on the current controlled EXTRATERRESTRIAL reality disclosure process and related US GOV cover-up? Will it be simply a partial disclosure? Once the uneasy, contagious giggling subsides, how will our civilization and the misled sheep adapt to this publicly known reality? Are the good Shepherds withholding the truth in our best interest? Perhaps multiple species are involved? How will the 80+ years of dishonesty be addressed? Is it required that we be honest when it comes to our tax returns? Has the cost of maintaining the lie exceeded the price of simply telling the truth? Is it time this great country starts walking the walk and become the leader we proclaim ourselves to be? What might be some of the potential implications of disclosure of this reality? New energy sources perhaps? Transportation? Religions? History? The economy? Race relations? The environment? Politics? Perhaps it leads to confirmation of hidden energy alternatives and an established "secret" space program? But does the flock really want to know the complete story?
I hadn't noticed that, but you're totally right. This isn't their first instance of posting historical news that I would've liked to know based on our current situation
I agree, but there are two problems in achieving that. The inherent problem is that there are activists in the world who realize that the media is the perfect soapbox from which to educate others socially and politically. People in turn are biased themselves and not interested in factual reporting; only in that which feeds their own pre-existing bias. That's why we don't have balanced, factual reporting... the very reason I never read or watch editorials or commentaries from the media - I care nothing for their opinions, only the few facts I can glean from the reporting. The media has never been designed to factually inform.
And no accusations of anyone using mis, mal, or disinformation.
@@8866panda i didn't read that (most people won't - sorry to burst your bubble), but there are so many better places you could've shared this where people would read it. Burried in a YT comment section on a video that hardly anyone watches ain't it.
That father was absolutely incredible. Who knows how one would act in that situation. Being as upset as he was he really kept it together.
History has shown us clearly, that the Japanese Army would never surrender, no matter how bad things got. Indeed, it took Hirohito himself, barely surviving a coup attempt, to finally get the nation to accept & endure " the unendurable " . 2 atmoic bombs proved decisive. -----MJL, 76 y/o
This documentary serious in nature was for an audience that was willing to listen to and comprehend important questions and matters for more than an hour without any flash, music, questions on the screen or entertaining feature to cloy for their attention. The audience didn’t need gimmicks.
And they didn't insult the audience's intelligence. Far too much content today goes out of its way to insult the audience's intelligence.
Most people in this country nowadays have been educated by the University of Social Media, Gullibility, and Conspiracy Theories.
They had their own gimmicks back then. Times change and gimmicks change. Show the boys marching up the beaches and the tanks driving down firy streets.
im 23 and i love watching and leaning about all of these things it shows how much history their is to learn and wonder whats out there still to uncover!
MUST. CONSUME. CONTENT.
I was lucky enough to see Edward Teller speak at Stanford University in 1999, just a few years before his death. Teller was a mountain of a man at that time, carried a massive wooden staff for walking, and was an imposing figure at the age of 91. He spoke of the Manhattan project, the moral obligation of scientists, his rift with Oppenheimer, and the many mistakes he made in his lifetime. He talked of the idea of a demonstration, the idea of bringing daylight to Japan for an hour in the middle of the night rather than blowing up a city. He also spoke of his choice to break with Oppenheimer on making ever more powerful atomic weapons, including the hydrogen bomb or thermonuclear weapon. On this point, he thought Oppenheimer was correct, scientists had a moral responsibility to not continue the endless push towards the destruction of the human race, but band together to prevent proliferation.
It's an interesting contrast to the time of this decision, where Teller was pushing for a demonstration, and Oppenheimer was pushing for the opposite, letting the political powers make the decision and trying to bring a swift end to the war. Another fact that is left out of this documentary is many of the key scientists in the Manhattan project were doing this work with the idea that the bomb would be used on Germany, but Germany had surrendered. Many of the scientists were refugees from either world war I or the second war, and many held a grudge against Germany for their constant warmongering (not to mention the number of scientists who were Jewish, another important factor in usage of the bomb on Germany, an event that never played out due to the surrender).
This is still a great film - but anyone interested in the topic should read Oppenheimer's biography or Teller's memoirs. I would also encourage anyone who is a scientist like myself to read those books and others on scientific morality, the implications of our ideas, our little thought experiments, our prototypes, and our vision are real, and can have profound consequences in day to day life, but also direct contributions to the death toll when used for war.
The bomb was used as a warning to the Soviet Union.
The Manhattan Project also had many Communists which is how the Soviet Union had the bomb very soon after the US. Which is a blessing considering we now know the war mongering USG had already plans for dropping it on Moscow.
Thank you for your comment. I intend to read the books you suggested.
How do we stop the bio weapon they call the vaccine? It’s so destructive.
I never knew that Mr. Teller had a change of heart, so to speak, and thought that creating H-bomb was not a good idea.
I remember his famous interview in Playboy magazine in 1979 and thought he was a staunch promoter of bigger nuclear arsenal. Between 1979 and 1999, something changed his thought. Interesting.
Wow! What a phenomenal, insightful, and thoughtful comment! Thank you!!!
@@KenosisMetanoiaWhat does that have to do with this???? The incredible doc, now limited showing in theaters (I saw 7/5) and will be shown on its free Angel Studios app (10M subs) soon. Anyone can sign up free & get email when it's posted to app. Not relevant here!!!
My dad was on Tinian. I wonder to this day how much he knew and experienced. The average GI practiced keeping their mouths shut. I also wonder how much his silence had to do with the intense trauma he and his compatriots/comrades had to endure with constant death so real.
My grandparents lived through the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during WWII and it was brutal. Pure horror for 4 years. I will never forget my grandmother's stories. The whole time they were just waiting for liberation by the Americans. It was soldiers like your father that saved the lives of countless people like my grandparents. Who knows if they would've lived or if I would be here today had the Americans not come to fight and prevail over the war. Thank you for his service!
One GI told me that the soldiers thought it was terrible .Did not support using the bomb.He was 97 years old at that time.
Your dad was a hero.
James Clerk Maxwell was reincarnated as J. Robert Oppenheimer. - Seal #7 of the "7 Seals" revealed as Beyond Einstein Theories.
Read 7seals.blogspot.com - only the Returned Christ & Albert Einstein reincarnated could produce that. It's triggered The Apocalypse/Revelation which is NOT the 'end of the world'.
Bard was incorrect in his feeling that Japan was ready to surrender in July 1945. They were warned of a weapon of incredible power, and they didn't surrender. The first bomb fell on Hiroshima on August 6, and they still didn't surrender. The Japanese had absolute disdain for anyone that surrendered. They found it dishonorable.
the secretary of the navy is biased as heck
This documentary presents only the position and arguments of the bombing advocates Even today, NBC decided it is inconvenient to note this. But there are many scholars detailing this period today. See eg C Span, Untold History etc.
Obviously a warning and a demonstration over uninhabited sea or land would have sufficed.
The US including Truman KNEW the Japanese were discussing surrender terms [with and without the emperor] internally in April, and that an invasion and more bombs were thus clearly not necessary, but Truman told the World otherwise.
Thanks NBC for making his historical documentary available to watch, in pristine condition, after nearly 60 years in the archive. And, thank you Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) for your thought provoking coda. We're nearly the same age, and I remember being so moved by this, and a bigger fire being lit over my interest in history.
What about the human trafficking documentary?
#SoundOfFreedom
#GodsChildrenAreNotForSale
thank them for advertising their movie. lol
@@KenosisMetanoia that's more their speed today
Yeah they we lying back then as much as today.. 🙄
they did it because the new one drops today
This is something everyone should see. I was totally engrossed and captivated. History brought to life by the very people that were involved. Thank you NBC archives.
history written by victors! Japan basically surrendered way before, but that would have rendered your test inhuman. so yeah all those ppl giving statements ... one row one bullet
@@Northskill I don't know anything about what you're saying so I can't put my own thought on it. But what I do know is that Japan did not and was not willing to surrender before the atomic bombs were dropped, they were prepared to fight to the death when the Americans landed on the mainland.
😊
My, how times have changed though, huh? NBC USED to be a media that people could trust. Now, they're all ACTIVISTS who care NOTHING about truth, they only push their anti-America first, globalist uniting agendas and pushing lies about President Trump. They now LOVE to make people look guilty of crimes and evils simply because they know that drama, drama, drama sells, especially when it's fabricated lies, just like The National Enquirer, who also taught CNN, MSNBC, CBS AND ABC also that 'LIES SELL!'
@@Northskill: No they didn't surrender "way before", that's incorrect. The didn't surrender til after the 2ND plutonium bomb, 'Fatboy', was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945.
Thank you NBC, an outstanding piece of news broadcasting. Really gives context to probably the most difficult and complex decision of the twentieth century. Anyone who goes to see the latest Oppenheimer movie needs to watch this.
Really? Normalization of Armageddon and the idiots who wasted scientific resources and abused the accomplishments of pacifistic scientists should go down in the history books as the worst betrayal of the elites in history. It ceiled our fate to capitalism, neofeudalism, and technocrats after we had a brief respite from the power of the elites in our Western democratic and Eastern communist revolutions that made such scientific progress possible after many weary millenia giving everything to the already wealthy. If we had REAL peace and continued the trajectory of 19th century progressive and socialist policies, all those resources we now spend on golf courses, corporate cronyism, and war would have been 10 fold put into open source research and education, and we'd probably have bases on mars and cures for cancer by now...and be living in a much safer, more free, and richer world...for everyone. The bomb represents absolute power and destruction, and just set us back on the course to tyranny, repression, and ultimately our own destruction as a species. Truman was an a$$hole.
cu ck
Yes. The documentary added greatly to my knowledge of the timeline of events. "Oppenheimer" is only able to give us one presentation of the discussion with Sectetary Stimson regarding all of the considerations about such a monumental decision. The documentary has time and focus to underscore that these discussions continued right up to Truman's decision to drop the bomb.
It's hard to avoid the conclusion that the decision to drop the bomb was more a political decision than we want to admit.
Sadly, if Opperheimer were alive today, nobody would listen to him. I was very impressed with how this weapon, and the implications of its use, were analyzed so deeply at the time.
I don't think we now live in a world where deep ethical discussions about humanity, and the planet we live on, have much weight. Idiotic politics have somehow found favor with too many people over scientists and humanists. Instead of progressing, we're going backwards.
In at least 2 videos Oppenheimer reasoned that the science
of fission chain reaction was loose in the world since discovery
in Germany in 1938, and that eventual massive production of
a-bombs by several nations was inevitable.
So revelation of the horrific effects in Japan would likely prevent
or delay use of those bombs on a large scale in the future.
@@tedd_blackk 2 videos? Right after WW2? What do you think the distribution was, and politics regarding O during the Cold War era? This is all revisionist.
I live in Japan and so I get to witness both sides of the argument. Ultimately the decision cannot be undone. Japan itself had been working on extremely complex weapons systems that were supposed to have extremely destructive power which could not be made due to the choking nature of the sanctions imposed on it.
How much is true we will never really know. But to know that you are responsible for developing the technology that has the potential to destroy not just mankind but the entire planet must have weighed down heavily on the minds and hearts of the scientists who are responsible for its development. It may have won the war, but at what cost.
Kokura is the hometown of my wife’s family, so had the bomb been dropped there I most likely wouldn’t be here enjoying a wonderful stress free family life. It was too cloudy to have dropped the bomb there so the target was charged to Nagasaki which is 3hours by car away from Kokura. It is crazy how one man’s decision has changed the lives of so many others, and I am personally affected by it.
All it takes now is for one unsteady mind in a position of power to make the decision to use the weapons and that my friends will be the end of this system.
As I watched this, I know we can never know the entire truth. Was racism involved in the decision? Did Japan accept to surrender before the bomb was dropped? We know history is written by the victor.
But regardless, the sheer destruction of such a weapon was clearly demonstrated to the entire world and it's not for nothing that it has not been used again in wars since then.
@@jman3177is racism involved? Did Japan surrender before the bomb was dropped?
Those are ridiculous questions and have no evidence to support any of those things being the reason for anything at that time.
Let's stick to the facts.
Japan attacked Pearl harbor without any warning. All because we wouldn't give them what they wanted.
Japan refused to surrender despite the warnings before each bomb was dropped.
The US didn't even want to be involved in the war and in the end it was Japan who woke the sleeping giant.
History is not written by the victor. Where you got that idea is beyond me.
The whole world fought and suffered to get where we are now. That means everyone played a role in creating the mostly peaceful times we live in today.
Please accept my apology for the atrocities my country put your people through !!
It saved lives too. You've lost hold on reality.
@@January. How many wars later all those lives were saved?(Putnim didn't get the News)
This event that I never was alive to witness still feels heavier than anything I've experienced.
That was probably the most horrific event in history
@@AutumnSoldier413no. What about the holocaust?
Then you have lived a very privileged life my friend
@@AutumnSoldier413Without the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor it may have never happened. Germany was defeatd without the bomb.
Oppenheimer ended WW2 in the Pacific and saved millions of lives on BOTH sides.
@@Geoplanetjane holocaust wasn't a event was a series of events. If you count holocaust as a event then ww2 was also an event and was the worse of all. We lost 80M people during that war. 60M were civilians. 3% of the world population! Holocaust wasn't even close to this numbers. Still horrific but not the worse.
Anyway in the end I'm doing the same thing as you guys, we are mesuring stuff that shouldn't be messure. Both were bad.
People were so much more thoughtful and well spoken back then. Such a contrast to the lazy idiocy that prevails today.
It's called actual education in the schools.
I was captivated by this documentary. My grandfather worked at Oakridge during this period of the war. I recall one Christmas my uncle presented my grandfather with framed document that I had never seen before. It was a certificate of appreciation for his work at Oakridge during WWll. I had no clue until that moment that he actually worked on parts of the bomb. This is not something he was proud of. He was told ,along with other coworkers, that it was for the greater good..and it did end the war sooner.
The Japanese had their production facilities in the cities as cottage industries. So they got nuked. Fanatics in the Japanese military and a inability to accept reality cost them. Russia is suffering from the same fanaticism and disconnect from reality.
I agree! But NBC now represents the fake news which has been exposed as a tool of the permanent political class and prominent in the now mostly irrelevant"mass society". We're in the new "network society".
I wonder what God said to him. I'm pretty sure God knows what murder is. And it's a little disingenuous for Americans or the British to say that Germany should not bomb civilians and then the US And it's allies drop 2 atomic bomb on civilians. And that was after fire bombing Japan 50 times. I don't know if you notice but a lot of Japan was made out of paper and wood and everything caught fire including the people. Dropping those 2 bombs was the worst thing the United States ever did. And it's too bad that your uncle or your grandfather wasn't treated like Robert Oppenheimer was. Robert was considered a traitor and a climbing list after he said we should not use the bomb. And Robert was a 100% right. Because now we live on the knife edge over these terrible weapons of mass death.
My Father was a Pathfinder! He would not have survived the War if these two bombs were not utilized! He was being trained to be one of the first troops in for the potential invasion of the Japanese Home Islands!
It gave the Japanese a post hoc excuse for surrender but it unfortunately was not the cause of it.
I am not qualified to judge the decision made that day. I can only say that I am terrified by the enormity of making such a decision, and that I hope it never has to be made again. Thank you for the production, it was very well done.
You don't have to be qualified. Who really is qualified to make that kind of decision? You just need to be a decent human being to know that making a weapon like that and using it is absolutely disgusting. And you open your own country up to being paid back in kind by any future country that also makes that weapon. Worse the entire planet when enough countries also have them. The extinction of the human race! I've seen documentaries that say Russian was about to invade Japan and the war would have been over quickly but Truman wanted to use those bombs. They also didn't have the decency to tell the men flying the planes what the bombs they dropped would do. I don't care if they were in the armed services. As human beings they should have had the choice if they wanted to do that and live with it forever. At that time, I'm sure there would have been volunteer pilots. That is just inexcusable. Perhaps the higher ups that made that disgusting decision should of had the balls to carry out their decisions themselves.
yes you can, you'r Human
This is a BOT account.
@@marniekilbourne608 It was that or millions more death
@@markymark4027 Perhaps, but my comment was more intentioned towards recognizing that I can't sit here looking back at an event nearly 80 years passed and pass judgement on the people who had to make those choices then, and now, with the information they had at that time. It's easy to armchair quarterback when you already know the score.
(1:04:17) "We knew the world would not by the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty, and to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.'" Its fascinating for me to watch this. During this interview I did not see the face of the world's most famous scientist. A man proud of his life and accomplishments. I see a sad, broken man weighed down by years of guilt for what he had done. Oppenheimer once told President Truman that the blood of thousands of innocent people were on his hands for having created the atomic bomb. Truman, however, paid him no mind and instead had Oppenheimer removed from the White House and ordered that he never be allowed back in. It is clear now that neither politicians nor the military at the time understood the gravity of what Oppenheimer had unleashed. But he didn't let that stop him from speaking out. For the rest of his life, Oppenheimer dedicated himself to preaching against the use of nuclear weapons and to have them abandoned all together. I can only imagine the terrible weight that he carried all those years - the knowledge that he gave birth, not to an instrument that would ensure world peace, but a monster that could essentially destroy all life on earth. Who could possibly live with that burden?
At that moment Robert Oppenheimer transcended his humanity, and became the Lalki Avatar.
Most of them seemed to be comfortably off , well paid , sitting in comfy chairs while they smile at what was done. I have no time for any of them. If I knew where their graves were and could get there I'd spit on them.
@@mridlon1634 I don't think you can earth bend nor water bend
A crusader
@@Akrafena
Of course not haha!… But J. Robert Oppenheimer was the closest thing to a real life Fire Bending Avatar.
Very good documentary! Using this for context for Oppenheimer movie!
That’s what it’s for, silly.
To me, in talking about the documentary per se, the decision to juxtapose the description of the beautiful hues in the bomb’s clouds with Oppenheimer’s citation of a holy scripture (“I am become Death”), ending in the very down to earth comment after a handshake that “we’ve all become SOBs now” was a remarkable editing choice and that perhaps is the very heart of the documentary. The original NBC crew are long gone for them to read my words, so I extend them to their present day NBC family and colleagues: very well done, a masterpiece! Thank you for bringing this to us, the public.
To look upon Oppenheimer's haunted face is to see the flame of humanity's heart and the absolute abyss of it's soul
Brilliantly stated!
Yes indeed.
That's just the way he looked.
@johnpayne7873 You overly romanticize Oppenheimer and the situation. He happily led the Manhattan Project for 3 years and cheered when the Trinity test was successful. He knew exactly what the bombs would be used for. He knew Americans were being tortured and killed by the Japanese and he was quite certain the bombs would force Japan to surrender.
True, however the image I was referring to was taken much later and after much apparent reflection. In other words, he was a different man, even a broken one. I'm sure you know how ambitious and arrogant he was while in his prime. The recording was taken after he was ignominiously stripped of national security status. How ingenious the "gods" bring down the mighty man.
I do not revere Oppenheimer, nor do I sympathize him. I simply see him as a man, one full of talent and faults.
Can’t get past the fact that this informative documentary is only being posted and fed to our algorithms half a century later because NBC’s parent company is releasing a summer blockbuster dramatizing the documentary’s subject.
All quite conveniently coincidental.
It was good to here from all these big players though
WHAT ??
yup.
but still... While their motivations are psychopathic (pecuniary or as directed by the Deep State), at least it's informative. Most people are hungry for intelligent reporting, with the state of massmedia on all sides...
Facts
More Japanese civilians died in the firebombing of the country than died in the dropping of the 2 nuclear devices. The question then is are we upset at the number of people killed or the way in which they were killed. I'm not sure that there is much difference to the dead.
the story never gets old no matter how many different versions i've seen.
i do wish that someone had edited the film ever so slightly and added the names of the men speaking on the screen. even with captions i didn't catch everyone's name. only recognized chet huntley, truman and oppenheimer.
thank you michael b for your coda and NBC for showing this documentary.
James Clerk Maxwell was reincarnated as J. Robert Oppenheimer. - Seal #7 of the "7 Seals" revealed as Beyond Einstein Theories.
Read 7seals.blogspot.com - only the Returned Christ & Albert Einstein reincarnated could produce that. It's triggered The Apocalypse/Revelation which is NOT the 'end of the world'.
The best content I've seen on youtube addressing these issues. A true Treat to Enjoy, and the best History content you'll likely find on The Decision.
Huge huge thumbs up to NBC News. You have always paved, and led the way in superior broadcasting. I hope you keep re-releasing these great shows and broadcasts.
We cant let this and al the sacrifices of the time be forgotten. Kids now a days dont know what the uss Arizona is, or what happened in Europe, or all of the lives and the magnitude of both world wars. Not only do those who gave their lives need to be honored and respected and remembered, but if massive mistakes made in the past are forgotten, so are lessons learned and it will happen in the future.
Thank you NBC Universal for posting this nearly 60 year old documentary in it's full presentation. GOD BLESS YA'LL FOREVER!
Love these historically significant broadcasts! Please post more!!
And your statement showed your lack of your knowledge of History
Thanks for making this available. It should be required viewing by every High School History Class from now on. Such factual reporting doesn't exist in our current 'social media' world.
So sad how few willing seek out knowledge of history
Agree 200%
@@corsicahunfortunately true🤦🏽♂️
@@corsicah go outside
This is an excellent example of journalism, when that was still a thing. Kudos to NBC for this stellar documentary.
Thank you NBC for posting the full discussion, fantastic piece of history!
Little did Oppenheimer know that the simple school-desk could protect you from complete annihilation.
Lol
All you had to do was duck and cover...
In the event of an atom bomb exploding 14 miles away from a building, then being indoors but undercover would be the best place to be. The building would protect you from the enormous winds generated by the blast and hiding under the desk would protect you from flying glass when the windows inevitably are blown out.
If you were 5 miles away from the blast though and indoors then you would probably only survive for about 15 seconds before the blast wave blows the building to pieces.
FDR & Truman were 33° Freemasons as were the previous Vice President & Winston Churchill. See 7seals.blogspot.com - only the Returned Christ & Albert Einstein reincarnated could produce that.
I do remember in elementary school crouching beneath my desk because we were told to. Perhaps this exercise coincided with the air raid sirens that wailed at twelve o:clock noon every Wednesday. Fear mongering works and is used again and again.
Outstanding. NBC: More of this type of rerun please. Very informative. As Beschloss notes at end, this is full of interviews with primary actors. Thus, irreplaceable as a document. Great background for understanding context of the movie.
Amazing, the depth of discussion, the conflicting opinions, and all this without name-calling. Very refreshing,
the coda in the end was a necessary touch, a lesson in itself on how reportage has evolved. thank you!
I’ve learned about it once, and I’m learning it again. Thank you, NBC News. For getting me ready to see the movie, “Oppenheimer”.
There is also the transportation of the bomb to Saipan and the horrific story of the USS Indianapolis (the ship that dropped the bomb off in Saipan, then was sunk shortly thereafter en route to the Leyte and 1300 men tried to survive in shark-infested waters, and no one in the navy knew they were missing).
Thank you. I watched the film about that. We were horrible. “Men of Courage.”
Typo--HORRIFIED
Tinian.....not Saipan.
Hello human. There are no shark infested waters. The ocean is our home, this is where we lived long before you came. Best regards. The shark collective
@@josepablolunasanchez1283😂😂😂
Radiation added 11 years to my Mother's life. Maxillary Sinus Carsonoma took her life. 1991- Michael McClary, Professor of Trumpet 🎺, Georgia Perimeter College and GSU
A fascinating documentary which provides a deep insight into the thought processes which resulted in these catastrophic bombings of Japanese cities at the end of the war in 1945. I find the personal testimony of so many key figures to be compelling and to a great extent feel persuaded of the integrity and sincerity of those tasked with making this awful decision.
It was a war crime, and apparently this hour and a half is state propaganda.
I've watched a couple of documentaries/podcasts on the making and use of the Atomic bomb. This documentary is important because there are interviews granted by key players in the decision to use the bomb. It's important to highlight the objections/reservations of those opposed to the military use if the bomb. I watched a series of podcasts on BBC about the role played by Leo Szilard and efforts he made to stop the use of the bomb militarily. It's important to learn from history.
usa is real threat to the world peace and security who blames other cause america is rich kid 😂
@@pawarvilas26 What?
Also gave context of that time why this project was secret and initiated
@@pawarvilas26you have no idea what you're talking about.
How is America a threat to world peace? 🤣
@@pawarvilas26 if America hadn't killed the Japanese, India would have been under Japanese rule.
I think the Japanese people and their mindset at the time made the decision for us. They said they would fight to the last man, woman and child if necessary to defend the home land and their emperor. Nothing short of an actually demonstration on their soil was going to show them the futility of their cause. It became a numbers game, 129,000-226,000 dead or the entire population of Japan.
Not to mention the message it sends to every would be dictator who wants to start another war.
Typical shameless apologist for American exceptionalism..
If this act was commited by 'evil' Russia or China and they had made this decision to commit this WAR Crime against 100% CIVILiAN targets the US media and Hollywood would not have stopped reminding us yes?
The arrogance of the typical american, who thinks they can dictate the choices of other peoples to fight for their country, yet have no qualms bringing war to whoever they want. It was not the USA choice to make, to decide if the japanese should die for their country or not. That decision was entirely up to the japanese. The excuse that dropping the bomb saved lives is simply a distraction and an excuse to justify the unjustifiable.
One thing that this film doesn't cover is the fact that the 509th Composite Group for carrying out the bombings was formed in December of 1944. They were looking to operationalize things before April of 1945. And note, the gun assembly type bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima was not tested. The bureaucracy was already moving forward before Roosevelt's death.
Just finished the movie and all i gotta say is wow.. Nolan crushed it again
Brilliant timing by NBC News to upload this right before their parent company NBC Universal releases Oppenheimer this Friday
Very in depth decision. As a meteorologist, I have colleagues who worked with Dr. Ted Fujita, who afterwards, surveyed the bomb damage and eventually came to the US to study tornado damage. I think, had the bomb not happened, we would still be a decade or more behind in the meteorological world, than what we are today. Though, there was a lot of negative, given the circumstances. There was just as much advancement in numerous different fields that subsequently helped the general population in a lot of ways across the globe. In the mean time, understanding the weather and the research Fujita put into it, we have been able to save 100s of thousands of lives as a result of his initial damage survey and his dedication to to meteorology. This documentary was kickass!
You are saying dropping the bomb on Japanese civilians was a good thing?
That’s very interesting. I would have never thought meteorology would come into play in terms of developing the atomic bomb.
@@asadfalconsfan1851my father worked with meteorologist in Alaska during the Korean War. And it does factor into many aspect of war. I haven't talked about that subject for yrs and only remember that jist of it.
We can thank Germany for The CIA
@@asadfalconsfan1851 It's the other way around. It's the impact of a 15 kiloton release of energy on the atmosphere that meteorologists were interested in.
I attended the 6th & 7th grade sin Alamogordo NM. I've never seen this documentary, thanks for releasing it from your archive.
I have to say, is somebody who watches a lot of documentaries over the past 10 to 15 years since graduating, college and things to technology and social media advancement, allowing so many more to be at your disposal this documentary put together being able to see all of the interviews of the top key players in the decision making that truly changed the entire world at the time is just fascinating. One to get to see each persons account from their point of view, and their opinions directly from their mouths as well as others who weren’t available who wrote down their opinions and their thoughts of the accounts of the time being read give you an entire picture of what was going on from every angle and side in the United States. Some thing that today we would absolutely not only never see, but we never would hear about and certainly none of them would be interview. Thankfully due to the completely different times of the 1940s to 1960s we were literally allowed access to see behind the curtains and hear direct transparency from even the creators who despite creating it were conflicted about it and even possibly regretful afterwards which is completely understandable, and Normal. It’s OK for a scientist to create some thing and be regretful later that they did when they see the way that it is applied which is not the intended use the creator invented it for which is why hopefully learning from the past scientist and historians together should be making decisions about things being created before they’re even done or even attempted. Just because it can be made. Does that mean it should or should it be left alone because of all the nefarious things that can be done with it overruling the singular good it could do.
I greatly appreciate them re-releasing this documentary for digital consumption because as someone of generation X born in 1981 this was not covered in school, high school, and even in college, that I have had to learn about it either from my parents and grandparents who lived it some closer than others as my grandmother saw the bombing of Pearl Harbor from her front porch and they have photos of it from their view because they lived in Honolulu Hawaii where half of my family is still living on the islands and the other half are within a 30 mile radius of my location.
I do hope that children to teens and young adults. Do you have access to the resources to watch these types of documentaries that explain history better than any teacher or book this day and age. I hope they also appreciate the work that it goes into making these types of content , even if they are making it in the 2010s or 2020s about past history. It absolutely supersedes the history everybody else was taught and they should absolutely take advantage of it to be more knowledgeable as of course the saying goes they are the future, and they are the future decision makers.
I do hope Minney television programs to studios go back and take the very important film documentaries and history to interviews and preserve them as well as digitize to be released so we can see them now especially for those of us that didn’t see them back then because we weren’t alive.
Wow... get to a point much? Lotta words little said.
As the kids might say nowadays, get a life.
Very thoughtful comment. I was born when Truman was in office. My late father, who constructed temporary landing strips during WWII, told me all about this. But my grandkids can read it on their phones. Not the same as this, is it?
@LanakilaMiller , I would strongly recommend a documentary by the BBC entitled “The Trial of J. Robert Oppenheimer” (available on CZcams). It was made when many of the participants at Los Alomos were still alive & its fascinating hearing their opinions in their own words. Sam Waterston plays Oppenheimer (who had died by that time). If you’re interested in the technical details of making a “gadget”, I recommend Richard Rhodes’ book “The Making of the Atom Bomb”. If you’re more interested in the personalities, then the book “American Prometheus”, which was the basis for Nolan’s movie is the better choice.
Good luck.
@@Davids-cc9snfr
First and last time I'll ever surrender my genuine awe to a man, so much respect and also, sadness
The problem of a demonstration was that not including the test material, they only had enough operational enriched uranium for the one gun type bomb and only enough plutonium for the implosion type; Thus there was only two readily available. From what I’ve learned, Truman’s threat of using atomic bombs across the country was just that, a threat, because they didn’t have more than the two.
We were capable of producing more than two, and in fact already had one in reserve for use by the end of August, likely against Kokura. Gen. Groves was able to report to the Pentagon that sufficient material was coming out of Hanford to support the construction of more Fat Man-class bombs at a rate of one every three weeks at that point in time. That would have provided sufficient weapons for one atomic strike a month right through the end of 1945. Synthesising Plutonium-239 was a lot easier than separating U-235 from raw ore then, and when Japanese physicists realised that the Nagasaki bomb was fueled by plutonium that was pretty much the end for Ketsu-Go.
a demonstration over uninhabited sea or land would have sufficed if even that was necessary .... Its been shown that the US including Truman KNEW the Japanese were discussing surrender internally in April, and that an invasion and more bombs were not necessary, but Truman told the World otherwise. Even today, NBC decided it is inconvenient to note this. But there are many scholars detailing this period today. See eg C Span, Untold History etc.
Thank you, NBC, and to all who helped bring this documentary to the masses.
I was born in 1948. My father was a combat veteran having fought in the Italian Campaign and having been wounded in Anzio. Like most veterans of that time, he did not speak of the war. I don’t remember him saying anything one way or another about the use of the atomic bombs. Nor did he speak about the fire bombing of cities in Germany or Japan. It was in reading Slaughterhouse Five, that I learned about Dresden. Only later did I learn about the fire bombing of cities in Japan. More people were killed in the fire bombings than were killed by the atomic bombs. More lives were saved by its use.
So much depth to this event and current outcome. Thank you.
"How will the public react when they find out you had the means to save American lives but didn't use it?" I think that finally did it for Truman's decision.
A savior at the price of innocent spilled blood.
Bingo!!
@@gotrolly - what "innocent blood" are you speaking of precisely? This was a global, total war.
The silence at the end is palpable
Anybody else really annoyed by the inclusion of that animated watermark? Anachronistic, doesn't belong in 1960s footage.
Fascinating story told by the people involved, not to be missed.
I am grateful for being able to come here and have a respectful discourse about this. I appreciate all of you. ❤
What a pithy comment. Your mother must be proud. ❤️
@@January. My mother is dead. Seems my ability to sort wheat from chaff is as effective as ever. What a bitter attitude 🙄
Make that “all minus one😂.”
@@wallmn25You project a dimwit attitude🙄
@@January. you project insecurity: insulting; attempting to dismiss and generally being rude towards someone for, as far as many can see, no reason other than to try and look “big.” I’m not the one questioning another’s intellect in writing on a public platform. I’ve no idea whom you’re hoping to impress, but you seem very desperate to me. At least you’re in the minority, which means I can still derive joy from others in the conversation, despite your attempts to thwart that. To be approved of by someone like you would worry me: you’ve shown your measure. So keep your scorn coming because one of the finest American English professors taught me that when the insults start, you’ve won the debate. 😂😂 Not that there really was one! You found my comment thanking others for their input a problem! That’s not even a debatable subject.🤣 And the same view is held in Europe-attempts to verbally attack when nothing controversial was said are deemed immature and a sign of lack of ability to express oneself. Maybe try again? Tell me why you are clearly upset that I appreciate reading an array of viewpoints about this particular video? 🤔😉
Incredible that VC Truman didn't know about the Atom Bomb.
Why is it incredible??
Sad for Mankind....War is never good for the ordinary man and bring much suffering to them.
Perhaps carrying around so many conflicting emotions prematurely aged Oppenheimer. He looks much older than 61 here.
It definitely weighed on him , you can see it in every move or every word he said . Such a massive burden to carry .
Smoking 4 1/2 packs per day and consuming a couple quarts of booze does even worse than any emotions.
The line off the Baghudva Vita was the most scariest quote I’ve ever heard!!
So much for the end of the world….
Thank you for making this video and the associated commentary available. Well done. - Mike
Thanks for posting this
When all television news journalism had honesty and integrity.
What a silly generalization..😂
1:04:18 Is the moment you've all been looking for.
Engagement
This documentary is outstanding !. Thanks all. Dave
I love these kind of old documentaries. I feel that this is much more insightful than watching a CZcams video from 2023 merely trying to speculate what happened or show some biases. It was made in 1965, which is much closer to the time of the incident. It gives a realistic and nuanced perspective of the people who lived through WW2. It reveals the deliberations, doubts, tribulations, fears and assumptions that influenced the choice of dropping the bomb in Japan. It also demonstrates how a very well-made video can convey a thousand stories that a picture cannot express.
This should be required viewing before going to the theater.
Thank you for posting this documentary. It's very interesting and educational to learn the history behind the bomb and all the players involved in the action taken to end the war. NBC, thank you for uploading this for us to see. Such a wonderful history lesson, that we must always remember. We must be so cautious with war, for life is so precious.
The Japanese attacked first and they had planned to unleash the bubonic plague on San Francisco just a month or so after the bombs were dropped. We then would have invaded Japan and many more lives would have been lost on both sides. It’s sad their government wouldn’t give up
What about the human trafficking documentary?
#SoundOfFreedom
#GodsChildrenAreNotForSale
@@KenosisMetanoia Hmmm, to not be against human trafficking would be ludicrous, right? Meanwhile, kids make everything else for me. Human trafficking EXIST as a result of a people who are worshipping greed to the point that they have children make their phones.
Those that FOCUS on human trafficking are ACTUALLY DOING something against it, or just pretending to care by buying their stuff from children...to support them?
Yes, I do hear the EVIL in many people crying wolf on human trafficking while they LITERALLY eat children on a monetary justification.
Fantastic analysis Laura, always fascinating and learn so much
An excellent video and historical documentary. Many thanks for the post.
My uncle was 15 in 1945 in Manhattan. He learned many years later that his courier job by subway from Columbia U to downtown was for the Manhattan Project. He became a Jesuit Priest and lived his retired years at Fordham U.
What a brilliant insightful glimpse of history
Thank you for posting. Important for us all to remember this, particularly in light of the casual and lucrative jingoism of our times.
Great documentary. Thanks for uploading. It’s not widely available for some unknown reason, but the series “The World At War” by the UKs ITV made in the early 70s remains probably the best WWII documentary series. Around 26 or so one hour episodes. The episode “The Bomb” adds some additional context, and asks some great questions of those who made decisions at the time. The episode is online - currently. Just not officially. I have an out of production blu ray from the UK of the series. Great series overall - not only this subject.
The Fire bombing of Tokyo was just as worst or even more horrifying than the Atomic Bombs. At least with The Bomb, it was an instant atomization. But with Fire Bombing, you are trapped in your apartment as you are burned alive. Horrifying, just horrifying.
Like the horrorfing things the IMPERIAL JAPANESE ARMY did too the people of ASIA!?
Only half died instantly.
Dying of radiation sickness aint much better.
@@carlgreisheimer8701 *to
So many innocent lives were lost, may they rest in peace. OM
1:23:40 I'm glad the documentary was made in 1965 and not today for this reason. The fact that this is even a question that crosses their minds in this context shows how separated from reality modern culture has become.
I had the exact same thought.
As the people in the video said. The dropping of the atomic bomb saved lives. The 100,000 people killez by the atomic bomb saved 1,000,000+ lives on both sides.
The 2 questions asked in the closing commentary are the 2 very questions that I've asked myself for years in regards to the decision to drop the bomb. Thank you to NBC news for uploading this video
what were the two questions?
It's pure propaganda that Japan surrendered because they were nuked. It's now pretty clear that Japan surrendered because the Soviet Union declared war on them and could've invaded in 10 days. It would've taken us almost a year to invade Japan and that's if we could've stomached the horrific casualties on our side.
@@victorvaca7429 Watch the film. But if you pay attention to the modern media tropes you can probably guess what the two questions are. Essentially: 1) Was it dropped to improve leverage on USSR? and 2) Was it dropped because America was racist? The answer is implied in watching the entire film in context of the period. Yes, it probably didn't hurt to have this ace up our sleeve when dealing with Stalin, but it was more of a side effect than the real reason for killing 100,000 Japanese. And no, it's not racism to take what measures are necessary to defend oneself from a barbaric nation that initiated war with you, white, brown, yellow, red, or orange in color or ethnicity. Racism is learned based on past experience. If Japan had taken our side in WWII, they might have been welcomed with open arms. Can't say for sure, but just a guess.
Perhaps we did want the Soviets to worry about the bomb, it was only a threat to those with bad intentions. As for the Japanese and their militarist society and government, they earned the consequences of their actions. In retrospect, both the Germans and the Japanese fared far better than the future they planned for the Allies had they won. The Marshal Plan was both brilliant and merciful.
@@jameslongar6703 The Marshal Plan was a desperate backtrack due to the re-industrialisation of Eastern Europe by the USSR while we were trying to genocide Germany (Morgenthau Plan).
The Soviets were *not* worried about the nuke because we could only drop it on a country that couldn't defend its airspace. They would've blown our nuke out of the sky and driven us out of Europe and into the sea.
According to your logic on Japan, the victims of 9/11 deserved what they got especially since the average American supported the atrocities we committed in the Middle East. Japan was our friend until they started undermining white supremacy in Asia. They also had the bio-weapons to wipe us out if we nuked them again.
We did to the blacks and native Americans what we claim the Germans were planning to do to the Allies (which is probably Anglo-American propaganda anyway). Hitler even said he would defend the British Empire militarily.
Amazing how great Chet Huntley is - not a trace of infotainment to be seen. Sad contrast to now.
And he never once said soooooo, ya' know, like, I mean, yeah, yah, ummm, uhhh, ahhh, guys, super, awesome, stunning, way, clearly, totally, or there's + a plural noun.
Thanks! Amazing documentary
Speechless!
But thank you for the documentary.
Brilliant, brilliant people. Just serious people we need to recognize
Love this documentary. But adding a piece about two questions that were not asked in the sixties, when we all know half the story we hear now, would not have made the documentary if NBC or any other news station would have made it today. 'News' today always seems to have an angle, instead of telling the story of what happened. NBC should watch this themselves, and realize what they are doing wrong today.
I am actually glad that Stimson considered Kyoto’s cultural importance, which lead him to reject dropping bombs there.
A friend of mine who was the engineer in B26s during WWII insisted that dropping the bomb was necessary. He said the Japanese were so fanatical and willing to defend their country to the last person. Dropping the bomb actually saved lives by avoiding a bloody land invasion.
Saving lives of soldiers at the cost of civilians is a questionable decision to say the least, don't you think? Try putting yourself in the shoes of the other side. Imagine as a thought experiment if Germany developed the bomb much earlier and dropped it on New York to avoid a bloody land invasion of the US. Would dropping the bomb be justified then too? Would it not have been a war crime?
That is absolutely true. What is often left out of the discussions is the fact that the US dropped leaflets warning Japanese civilians to leave Hiroshima.
Soldiers are taught to see their enemies as fanatics and themselves as paragons of virtue. My grandfather was a soldier during WW2 and discussed the propaganda fed to soldiers regarding the Germans and the Japanese.
@@lone_wolf106 Yes, there were videos of the nasty Huns and stuff like that, but by and large the propaganda about Japan was accurate. They treated American prisoners as less than human, and were brutal toward people they conquered. Fanatical is an accurate description of Japan during the war.
"He said the Japanese were so fanatical and willing to defend their country to the last person."
So? Are you americans not fanatical? What have you done in war in the name of your country? Have you forgotten Vietnam, Iraq, and so on? Perhaps the same argument for dropping the bomb over japanese should be used for dropping it on the USA. It was an atrocity. Nothing short of that.
I was the 3rd generation of our family to make the US navy our life's work. I like most in the military hate war, but I am glad that the atomic bombs were used to bring the war to an end. It meant that our dad and many other dads from all sides survived the war. Now it would be great if mankind can find someway to never have another war again. Shalom
Imagine Truman, being told for the very first time right after assuming office he never wanted, just after the desth of Pres. Roosevelt. What a burden. Thanks and well done.
This is so good and important thank you nbc!
My father volunteered to join the Army in 1942. With a college degree, he was sent straight to OCS (Officer Candidate School) and 3 months later became a newly minted 2nd Lieutenant (aka a 90 day wonder). He was assigned to MacArthur's Army and sent directly to Australia, where he began his career as a supply officer. He followed the fighting up the Pacific island chain (as he put it "always 2 islands behind the fighting") and finished up the war in the Philippines. Up to the last day of the war, they were preparing for the invasion of Kyushu. Part of his job was preparing for the casualties they expected.
I was born on Okinawa in 1951, and grew up immersed in the history of the Pacific war surrounded by the people who had lived through it. On that island, at that time, there was never a question of would the Japanese have surrendered without the use of the Atomic Bomb. The people who lived through that period, American, Okinawan, and Japanese, all agreed on one point. The bomb gave the Emperor the face saving reason to end the war.
Without the bomb being used, the nation of Japan would have fought to the death. Every man, woman and child would have died to protect their god, the Emperor.
1 million American dead was the predicted cost of the invasion. Just the dead, not ALL casualties. The predicted cost in Japanese lives was at least 10x higher.
The bomb saved the Japanese race.
Japan is a nation. Not a race. And you have no idea if they would've surrendered. Logically, if I see an enemy is more equipped than me & I'm hilariously outgunned & outarmed, I'm going to stand tf down.
@@gotrollyyep! And in non American historical sources you can see Japan was about to surrender.
Let's face the fact that someone just wanted to make this fascist experiment while seemingly fighting fascists. Cause you won't find many differences between those governments if you take a closer look.
@@gotrolly, the Japanese consider themselves a race. You should travel outside your Woke bubble more.
@@domashnie_lubimtsy facts
@@gotrolly You forget the Japanese sense of honor.
I will be watching «Oppenheimer» this week. This is a great documentary to keep in mind.
It's still amazing that the Truman didn't know about the Manhattan Project, until he'd been sworn in as President.
New respect for Truman.
The battle for Okinawa was another factor that convinced the powers that be to drop the bomb; They knew then that the invasion of Japan was going to be a nightmare of U.S. casualties that would be hard to explain to the American people once they knew the power of the bomb and it wasnt used. Many people in the U.S. and Japan are only here today because their daddy didnt die in the invasion.
Fabulous documentary thank you so much !
One of the best renditions of WW2!! Thank You!
I thought it was a rash and quick decision..... But Americans considered all options before taking the final decision. Mr.Truman has done justice to his power.
This is an excellent documentary. I have secured a licensed copy for exclusive personal use. I am extremely pleased that I have video editing software which will allow me to totally REMOVE Michael Beschloss' added commentary at the end of this feature, from my personal copy. As far as I know, Mr. Beschloss, who, as best as I can find, was only born around 1955, and, was apparently only around 9-10 years or so, of age, when this film was produced, could not possibly be expected to have known, or to have personally spoken with, ANY person featured in this documentary, As such, I find his opinions, as stated at the end, to be completely without any value.