Over the weekend, the world was left with a reminder of one of the many tragic events of war: the anniversary of the dropping of the A-Bomb on Hiroshima. In case anyone reading this hasn’t had to sit through history class, on August 6, 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. A few days later, they dropped another one on Nagasaki, Japan. Both bombs effectively detonated the cities they were dropped on, and caused the deaths of thousands.

Throughout history, people have criticized the dropping of both bombs and the moment in history has been used as a prime example as to why nuclear weapons should not be used. Just looking at the destruction they caused can make anyone realize why nuclear warfare is a terrible idea, and not one that is widely used in the world. The question though is: was it right?

The answer to that varies widely depending on the person. My opinion has always lied on the side of believing that it’s wrong. The lives lost were tragic. Children lost parents and innocent civilians were lost in a war that didn’t have to be fought, but the cruelty of the world caused it to be so.

Of course, unlike many others who share this belief, I can never completely bad-mouth the U.S. due to the fact that they did what they thought was necessary at the time. Do I wish that they had done something different? Yes. Do I wish that Truman had maybe thought through what affect this weapon would have? Yes, but the reality of the situation was that it was war. It was a war that they wanted to end, so they did the only thing they thought they could do: cause destruction. It’s the reality of something as terrible as war. It’s a rather unfortunate event that everyone wishes never took place.

The loss of innocent lives that day was tragic. It was sad and as these days pass, everyone should remember the tragedy of this time and remember the cost of war and the cost of the belief that violence was the only way to end the fighting in the Pacific Theatre of World War II.