Prompt And Utter Destruction Summary

In order to limit the number of causalities from invasions, the United States participated in a wartime strategy known as strategic bombing in the European and Pacific campaigns during World War II. Strategic bombers would fly over important military targets and drops thousands of bombs, essentially eliminating the target and the people there. As the war waged on, J. Samuel Walker explains in his historical analysis, Prompt and Utter Destruction, military targets were the main objective, but the “nature of strategic bombing” meant that civilians would be killed unintentionally and sometimes intentionally (25). The reason that the United States went from only bombing military targets to dropping atomic bombs that killed well over two hundred

thousand civilians can be understood in light of the wartime culture, new weaponry, and the United States’ desire to end the war quickly with minimal U.S causalities.
By the time the United States began to strategically bomb Japanese islands and cities, Allied and Axis forces had developed different types of bombing strategies. Before the war began, Japanese and Nazi forces would conduct air raids against noncombatants in cities. Even at the start of the European War, Walker explains, “Both Britain and Germany sought to maintain distinction between bombing military targets and civilian populations. The Nazis abandoned their restraints when they launched an all-out attack on British cities; the bombers killed about 40,000 noncombatants (24).” This style of bombing was adopted by the British and was referred to as “terror bombing (25).” At first, the United States disapproved of this method of bombing but eventually began to use it. Though the U.S forces were not totally in favor of it, they had compromised previous principles in order to help the Allied forces gain an edge on the Nazi forces.
To make the situation worse, most Americans had developed racist tendencies towards the Japanese people.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S desired revenge and thought that the Japanese people were inhuman and barbaric. For this reason, Walker recalls that one historian, John W. Dower claimed that the war was a “war without mercy (20).” Soldiers and citizens alike could have cared less about their opposition, the U.S therefore, wanted Japan to atone for the attack. Due to this desire, the U.S people felt that all the Japanese people should pay. As Walker explains, one survey concluded that eighty-five percent of respondents endorsed the atomic attacks and in another survey, roughly twenty-three percent of respondents wished that many more bombs had been dropped on Japan (98). These racial tensions added to the reason why U.S began using more barbaric bombing tactics for many soldiers could have cared less if a Japanese soldier or civilian died.
As the war continued to drag on, each country invented new weaponry to help them gain a strategic edge. In both theaters of the war, the U.S used advanced bombing planes to lay waste to cities, making it easier for land troops to move in. The U.S had used bombing planes for most of the war but it wasn’t until the B-29 that allowed the U.S to strike in a more advanced way. “[The B-29] could carry a full bomb load for 3,000 miles or more at a considerably faster speed than older heavy bombers (24).” Unfortunately, with the ability to

strike fast, Japanese cities could not prepare for the large scale aerial attacks.
Along with better planes, the U.S had developed new types of bombs, specifically the incendiary bombs. Unlike traditional bombs which were designed to destroy by explosion, incendiary bombs would start massive fires upon exploding. The most notable account of this bomb was on March 9, 1945, where General Lemay planned to drop thousands of these bombs on the heavily populated, wooden city of Tokyo (25-6). Walker explains, “The purpose of [Lemay’s] plan was to hit Tokyo so hard it would be ‘burned down---right off the map (26.’” The problem with using these bombs was that casualties could not be contained. The fires caused by firebombing set Tokyo ablaze and eventually, the atom bomb laid destruction for miles. Even if these bombs had been dropped purely on military targets, civilians would still have felt the effects.
As the new strategic bombing methods were being adopted, the high causalities continued to rise as the United States was sweeping through the Pacific Ocean.

By the time Truman came into office, many of the U.S citizens and officials felt as if the war was dragging on for too long. A U.S veteran quotes when asked about his experience of island invasion, “Time had no meaning. Life had no meaning…. I had resigned from the human race. I just wanted to kill (30).” The U.S could have tried to invade Japan but regardless of what the outcome could have been, morale was getting low. Instead of wasting U.S lives to win the war, it seemed that dropping two new atomic bombs would have the same

effect.
When choosing the targets for the atomic bombs, U.S officials were looking for an area that would force Japan into surrender. One general, George C. Marshall, suggested that the bombs be dropped on military targets or cities that had been warned to evacuate but this request had little impact on the final decision to use the bomb (49). Rather, several civilian heavy cities were the desired targets for they contained military and industrial targets that assisted Japan’s war effort but, “It was apparent that the targeted cities were not primarily military bases and that the atomic bomb would kill many women and children as well as soldiers and sailors. American leaders valued the bomb for its potential shock effect (59-60).” The first atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Few Americas were troubled by this action but many were happy for revenge was repaid and the end of the war was in sight.
By the time the atomic bomb was dropped, the U.S officials compromised traditional values to allow the death of hundreds of thousand Japanese due to unconventional bombing practices. J. Samuel Walker explains in his book, Prompt and Utter Destruction, that many factors played into this decision, the most notable factors being the wartime culture, advanced weaponry, and the collective desire for the end of the war caused many United States officials to grow more and more lenient on strategic bombing methods. Though many in the United States, did not like the idea of killing innocent civilians, the new bombing methods allowed more U.S soldiers to stay on the boats while the B-29 bomber planes weakened Japanese moral by wiping cities and innocent civilians off the map. These decisions were not the result of one big decision to use the atomic bombs rather, was many smaller decisions that U.S officials say as the best means for the United States and Allied forces win the war.