Original subtitles

April 1945

The allied army is fighting its way across Europe.

They are turning back the Nazi tide that threatened the world,

ending Hitler's dream of a master race.

A dream which saw the internment and execution of millions of innocent people,

with both sides suffering terrible losses.

Step by step, the German army is being beaten back

towards the Nazi capital of Berlin.

In the Pacific, another bloody war is being waged.

For 8 years, the Japanese have spread across Asia,

in a campaign which left millions of dead in their way.

1941 brought the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

After four years of desperate fighting,

the Japanese have been slowly driven off every island,

from the Solomons to Iwo Jima.

On Easter Sunday 1945...

US forces assaulted the island of Okinawa.

This is the island that Japanese cannot afford to lose.

When Congress passed the so-called GI Bill of Rights,

I think it inadvertently eliminated widows...

- Good afternoon, Mr. Dennis. - What's the hurry, Mr. Truman?

Harry,

the President is dead.

Well, if there's anything...

that I can do for you...

Is there anything we can do for you?

For you are the one in trouble now.

Death resulsted from a cerebral hemorrhage,

at his home in Warm Springs, Georgia.

Vice President Truman has been notified.

He was called to the White House and informed by Mrs. Roosevelt.

Wow, Truman is gonna be President.

Nobody's gotta tell him what the White House does.

I don't think he's ever been there.

He was vice president for a very short period of time.

Mr. Roosevelt did not use him at all.

He did not invite him to cabinet meetings,

didn't ask him to sit in

with presidents or heads of foreign states,

he just kinda dangled out there, really.

And suddenly, when Roosevelt died,

President Truman was really unprepared for the job.

Could we have some fine-made Bible, please?

I, Harry Shipp Truman...

I, Harry S. Truman...

do solemnly do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute

the office of the President of the United States.

... do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States,

... and that I will, to the best of my ability...

preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

... and that I will, to the best of my ability...

preserve, protect and defend...

the Constitution of the United States.

- So help you God. - So help me God.

Congratulations, Mr. President.

It's your leader, you know?

He almost was like a father image.

And I remember somewhere I saw a sketch, right afterwards.

And it showed FDR standing in the line to go to heaven.

And the men standing in line with him were those who died on Okinawa.

I never forgot that. He is one of the men now.

Here he comes!

How are you doing, boys? Great to see you!

Nice to see so many of you turning out here today.

Now, fellows, fellows... Let me say this.

I don't know if newpapermen pray,

but if you do, I'd like you to pray for me now.

Have you ever had a load of hay fall on you?

Now, when this happened to me, I felt like the moon,

the stars and all the planets had fallen on me.

One more shot, Mr. President.

... and I have every intention of...

carrying on with the President's program, as he laid it out,

and I hope you will stay with me and finish the job he started.

The most important decisions remain.

Now, I welcome your advice, you can bet on that.

Colonel Stimson, briefly bring up the day in the war, both in the Pacific and in Europe.

Perhaps we could best to show the President on the maps, General.

Mr. President,

The 9th Army is almost in the suburbs of Berlin.

In some places, our forces and those of the Russians...

are only 75 miles apart.

Our B-29 bombers, the superfortresses,

are making bombing raids on Japan almost daily now.

And how close are we to the Japanese mainland this morning?

We have air bases on Guam, Tinian,

all within range of everywhere

on the Japanese mainland.

That's OK, what about our naval situation?

The Japanese navy is finished as an aggressor, Mr. President,

when we sank the Yamato, that was their last battleship.

General LeMay's planes have been bombing the Japanese mainland for weeks.

These new tactics of his, night-time low-altitude raids

with incendiary bombs, are devastating.

On the night of March the 9th,

16 square miles of Tokyo was completely destroyed in two hours.

Will you continue with this saturation bombing, Mr. President?

With all respect, colonel,

precision bombing doesn't work in Japan.

Mr. President, in Japan, unlike the situation in Germany,

their arms industries are not separated from the residential areas,

they're scattered around the workers' houses.

Well now, Colonel, if they choose to build their warplants in residential areas,

that's their choice, not up to us to...

modify our policy.

I do not want the United States to outdo herr Hitler in atrocities commited against noncombatants.

You won't get an argument from me, Mr. Secretary, let's sure of that.

Well, I got a lot of homework to catch up with,

we'll meet tomorrow, for a real working session.

Mr. President, there is a matter of the utmost urgency that we discuss.

Yes of course, what is it?

It concerns a new and awsome weapon,

an explosive of tremendous power.

A new weapon, colonel?

I will arrange for you to be briefed by General Groves,

he is in charge of the project.

- Who is General Groves? - Isn't he the guy who built the Pentagon?

Yes, that's right, the Corps of Engineers.

Mr. President, the press is waiting for you.

Oh, yes, yes, the reporters. Well...

I'm afraid I'll be a bit of a letdown after the President.

Sir...

You are the President.

Yes, I know that, Steve.

To you and the everyone else, I am the President now, but...

for me, the President of the United States will...

probably always be F.D.R.

- Admiral. - Mr. President.

Put the urgent ones over there.

Don't worry, admiral, I read fast.

Mr. Byrnes is here, Mr. President.

Well, fine, show him in.

- Mr. Byrnes - Bill.

How are you bearing up?

Come in.

Well, I'll not keep you any longer than I have to,

I know all that catching up you have to do.

Those are the highlights of my notes on our meetings

with Churchill and Stalin in Yalta.

I suggest you put them on top of the pile.

It's quite a shame that you were left in the dark here.

You should have been with us, in Yalta,

instead of being sitting around doing nothing.

Well, that's what a vice president does.

So it seems.

I hear that's why old Nance Garner

said the job wasn't worth a bucket of warm spit.

Yes, well, of course now we don't have a vice president.

Anything happens to me, it's the Secretary of State--

Edward Stettinius is a fine man. Hell, one of the best.

I would like to appoint you in his place.

Make you my Secretary of State.

What do you say, Jimmy?

If I can help you in any way...

Well, this would be a big help.

A lot of people will sleep easier knowing

the succession of this office is in such capable hands.

I'm gonna have to start calling you "Mr. President", Harry.

Good idea, Mr. Secretary.

It is important to honor the office.

Oh, by the way, speaking of being left in the dark,

what do you know about this thing Stimson mentioned to me?

Something about a... secret weapon?

He said that he would arrange a briefing with General Groves.

Groves? Yes, Groves. Now that he will explain,

I wouldn't even try.

But I will tell you one thing, Mr. President,

This is a device that could put us in a position to dictate our own terms.

Dictate to whom?

You read my notes on Yalta, on Stalin,

and then you decide.

Jimmy Byrnes was a very experienced man...

very, very ambitious man.

He wanted more than anything to be president.

I had a feeling that if I'd sat in a meeting with him

Byrnes was always thinking,

"Truman should be sitting where I am sitting,"

"and I should be sitting at that desk."

"At 9:41 this morning, an automobile guarded by Secret Service agents..."

"pulled up outside the East Wing of the White House,"

"and President Harry Truman steps out, ready for his first"

- "day on the job." - Harry?

Is that you?

Harry?

Where are you?

I thought I heard you.

Are you all right?

There've been few men in all history

to equal the man whose shoes I'm stepping into.

You have no reason to question your confidence.

Well, everybody else will, you can bet on that.

Mr. Roosevelt didn't.

- You're the one he chose. - Yes, that's true, he did.

How many men can say the President selected them

to take on responsibility for the life and welfare of this people in time of war,

in the greatest danger, any of us has ever known, will ever know?

He couldn't have made a wiser choice.

Good Lord, Miss Lizzie,

you'd married Mr. Young or Mr. Harris,

I'd surely be in trouble now.

American GIs press on under heavy fire from Japanese artillery,

in the second week of the Battle for Okinawa.

When you're in a place like this,

where all you see around you is fire and shells, and it smells...

smoke and burning people and flesh,

you know where you're going.

But you look to your left, and there's Jimmy Ellison,

I look my right, there's Clyde Busey, and I look behind me, was...

...Johnny Row or...

...Vince.

You're with friends.

Get up! Move over that way!

And when you leave,

and they don't leave with you, you leave with a hole in your heart that grieves.

But you had the greatest gift any man could have.

You had a friend going with you in hell.

Hello, Ed.

- General. - How've you been?

- Pretty good. - You seen Oppenheimer?

- I just went on to him. - Where is he now?

He's got something on his head, you know, obvious.

He's got something on his head, damn right I do.

- Which was was he going when he disappeared? - He headed up the mountain.

General!

Now what brings you out here?

I've been summoned in DC by the Secretary of War.

I have to inform our new President about the Manhattan Project.

I plan on telling the President,

"You'll have a device ready to be tested in three months,

and shortly after that test, you'll have bombs ready to be dropped on enemy targets."

Maybe we will.

You know the problems we've been having.

We haven't tested anything yet.

- But you will, and it will work. - Yes...

- I believe it will. - So why do you keep putting it off?

Because I am a perfectionist.

I admit it.

You sure that's the reason?

I hear some of your colleagues in Chicago are...

starting to get cold feet.

Yes, some of them are.

They seem to be having second thoughts.

What are they gonna do about that?

They're talking about getting a petition together.

Petition?

That is a load of crap!

Tell me something, doctor...

You think the Japs would hesitate?

Those SOBs, they beat us to the bomb,

they wouldn't think twice about using it.

- The question is academic. - Academic?

You tell that to the men who were killed on Corregidor.

You tell that to the boys who died on the Bataan death march.

What about our POWs the Japs slaughtered?

You know, they cut off their heads with their goddamn samurai swords!

Atrocities go hand in hand with war, general.

And what does that prove?

We are about to change the rules of war.

The world will never be the same.

That is correct.

We are about to have a weapon that can annihilate the enemy.

We may even have achieved that old dream of inventing a weapon

that can bring an end to war.

Because it is so terrifying.

But, it's a Faustian bargain, General.

And the price we pay will be that we've put in the hands of human beings

the power to destroy mankind itself.

How much faith do you have in human beings?

I will finish this bomb, doc.

We've come this far, there's no going back.

I agree there is no going back.

But isn't that the definition of Hell?

Two hundred thousand people have been working night and day on this for three years.

The Corps of Engineers had to build...

...factories, foundries, power stations, blast furnaces,

steelworks, hospitals and, of course, laboratories.

- Tell me you've kept it secret. - As secret as we know how.

And, what about our allies? What do they know about this?

British and Canadians have been involved since the beginning.

What about the Russians? Aren't they supposed to be our allies as well?

They know nothing.

Well, this will certainly get their attention.

Well, what is not so clear in all of this

is wether your gadget... Is that what you call it, artifact?

Yes sir, for security reasons.

Does it exist?

Where are we right now?

Today.

How many gadgets are we talking about here? One? A hundred?

Initially, we're talking about three bombs, Mr. President.

- Three? - Yes, sir.

The first is a uranium bomb.

We call it a gun-type weapon, because it fires one piece of uranium into another,

in order to achieve what we call the "critical mass"

necessary for an explosion.

Now, the basic technology for this kind of bomb is well understood.

What we cannot do, however,

in a reasonable amount of time, is producing enough uranium to build another.

But our boys...

they've come up with an alternative.

It is a gadget that uses plutonium.

A substance we can produce in quantity.

However, it does require a different kind of trigger.

Excuse me...

See, that's where the implosion idea comes in.

Now, this is your plutonium core.

What you wanna do is compressing in on itself,

until it reaches its critical mass, and explodes.

We want it imploded, so...

we surround it with explosives in such a way that their force is directed inward.

It's a radical new design, Mr. President, and we have to test it.

So one of the gadgets, the second of the three bombs,

will be used for that test.

If this works, it could end the war in Europe tomorrow.

The war in Europe will end tomorrow, anyway.

Next few weeks, at most.

Mr. President, maybe you haven't heard yet, but our boys and the Russians have...

Oh, yes, yes, I've heard, they've met up at the Elba river, but...

the Nazis still have not surrendered.

The earliest we can test the device is in July.

Sir, the Krauts are finished.

The Pacific theatre is where the gadget will be able to make a difference.

A one-two punch like this will knock the Japs cold.

A one-two punch? Well, I should think that one of these would be enough to...

With all due respect, sir,

one bomb, in the first place they won't know what hit them, literally, and then...

They could just figure this is just some kind of a stunt,

but if we detonate a second device,

well, they'll think we have a thousand of them!

I imagine it will be terrifying, Mr. President.

Yes, it's...

very hard to take this in. It's like something out of a dime novel.

A bomb made of exploding atoms?

It's Buck Rogers stuff.

What about the Geneva Convention, gentlemen?

I beg your pardon, Mr. President?

The Geneva Convention outlaws the use of certain weapons.

I don't want us to start breaking the rules of war.

It's a bomb, Mr. President.

One hell of a big bomb, for sure, but still, just a bomb.

Mr. Secretary?

Mr. President, I'd rather we weren't practicing exageration bombing either,

but... that is our policy.

Mr. President, maybe I misunderstood the purpose of this meeting here.

How so?

When the late President gave this project his personal backing,

well, that made the whole thing possible, we couldn't've done it without that.

Since then, we all thought that the question was,

when the gadget would be ready to use,

not whether it would be used at all.

Now, I came here today, sir, to tell you...

that this weapon could be in your hands by the middle of July.

I see.

And you can't imagine that I would hesitate to use it?

Sir, I've...

just had the honour of meeting with some young officers...

who just returned home after having fought their way across Europe.

And they're now awaiting orders to be shipped over to the Pacific, to fight the Japs.

I'm sorry, Mr. President, I cannot imagine

anybody hesitating to use this weapon to end this war!

Mr. President, may I suggest we set up a committee,

to consider the future of this project?

Yes, that's a good idea.

I can use the benefit of informed opinion.

That's all for today, fellas.

I'll see you tomorrow.

Harry Truman!

Have a drink.

I'm bored and mad, Bessie.

You may be just leave me alone for a bit.

Maybe I will.

F.D.R. left me with a decision...

Solomon himself would have trouble making.

Foxtrot 75, you're cleared to take off.

Take off from runway B.

Got it, tower.

- Props? - Spinning.

- Mixtures? - Mixtures are rich.

Flaps to 15 degrees!

Flaps to 15 degrees.

I've had the whole bombsight stripped and reset.

That is a mechanically perfect instrument.

Then why are they falling outside the target?

Maybe because we're five miles up.

And you just reduced the target to 300 feet.

- Full power! - Full power.

I want a stable top over the aiming port.

Rock solid, don't worry.

I got the AT now.

Pretty as a picture.

And, and, and, and...

Pull away!

C'mon, sugar.

That's the way.

It sucks! What the hell is going on?

Did Ferebee move his butt?

- Shut up, B. - There is a first time for everything.

- You're right, Beahan. - Shut up and listen.

Beahan's right, that's how it was. It's the most natural thing in the world.

- At the last minute, I raised my butt... - That's what your girlfriend told me!

Fellas, listen...

At 5000 feet, it doesn't mean much.

At 30,000 feet...

if you move your head an inch,

it can put you several hundred yards off your target.

I thought about it.

It's no use trying to retrain old Ferebee here.

So we're just gonna have to build him a special padded head-rest.

It's either that, or a padded cell.

I'll see you all again at 1900 hours.

Europe... is free again!

With white flags waving, soldiers and civilians alike

are returning to their bombed-out cities,

and preparing to begin a new life, out of the rubble of fascism.

The Allied Armies,

through sacrifice and devotion, and with God's help,

have defeated the forces of evil.

This is a solemn and glorious hour.

I only wish Franklin D. Roosevelt had lived to witness this day.

General Eisenhower informs me

the armed forces of Nazi Germany have surrendered unconditionally

to the United Nations.

The flags of freedom fly all over Europe.

Our rejoicing is sober and subdued

by the supreme consciousness of the terrible price we've paid

to rid the world of Hitler and his evil band.

Let us not forget, my fellow Americans,

... neighbors whose most priceless possession

has been rendered as a sacrifice to redeem our liberty..

We can repay the debt which we owe to God,

to our dead and to our children, only by work-

by ceaseless devotion to the responsibilities which lie ahead of us..

We must work to finish the war,

Our victory is only half-won.

The Japanese people have felt the weight of our land, air and naval attacks.

So long as their leaders continue the war,

the striking power and intensity of our blows will increase.

Our offensive will not cease until the Japanese military and naval forces

laid down their arms in unconditional surrender.

What does "unconditional surrender" mean for the Japanese people?

It means the end of the war, it means not prolonging...

It won't happen...

Mr. President, Mr. President!

Can you win a war, sir, without committing to a full-scale invasion of Japanese mainland?

I like to think I know the answer to that one, but to tell you the truth, I don't really know.

Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you, would I?

Will there be a cabinet meeting?

Do you think that would be a good idea?

- Since when? - Anyone!

When I've made up my mind, you'll be the first to know. You got my word on that.

- Mr. President? - Yeah.

Will you stand by the unconditional surrender mandate, or is there room for negotiation?

What is there to negotiate? No!

No, this is a prime directive, there's no room for negotiation.

We told them, when they're ready to surrender unconditionally,

then we are ready to talk. First one, and then the other.

If we are not firm in that, they'll never take us seriously, won't they?

No?

Well, enjoyed our walk.

- See you tomorrow. - Thank you, Mr. President!

Gentlemen...

Welcome.

At the moment,

our army commanders believe that an invasion of Japan will end the war.

The navy believes that a blockade will succeed.

The Air Force...

is persuaded that conventional bombing will bring the enemy to surrender.

It is not our task to decide among these options.

Our task...

is to come up with a well-considered recommendation

for the best possible use for a terrible new weapon,

which the makers called a "gadget",

and history will probably call the "atom bomb."

In order to move us along, I have compiled a list of options.

John, could you pass those around?

Which I believe is comprehensive.

If you take a look, you will see...

the number one option is that we can use this gadget

on military targets as part of the invasion of the mainland.

Number 2 is to demonstrate it on an isolated target in front of Japanese observers.

Number 3, we could demonstrate it on purely military target,

such as the Japanese fleet at anchor.

At least if we can find it.

There's not very much of it left.

Number 4...

we could use the gadget against a mixed target.

A city... with military installations...

and give prior warning.

Or, finally, we can use it against a mixed target, as described...

with no prior warning.

So, do I take it that...

not using it at all is not an option?

Well, then I surely wouldn't know why we built it in the first place, Mr. Bard.

So, could we move right along, what about this first option?

Holding it for use in conjunction with an invasion.

No date has been set.

The invasion certainly won't be this summer, more probably in fall.

Well, why wait?

One of these gadgets could end this war in one blow.

And, that would mean, we wouldn't owe the Russians any favors.

I see.

So if we use this, and it can scare the Japanese...

If it works, gentlemen.

If it works.

We don't know if it's gonna work.

That's the problem with options number 2 and number 3.

Because, if we arrange a demonstration...

for the Japanese, and it turns out to be a dud,

then we will be giving aid and comfort to the enemy, my friends.

But aren't they going to... test it, soon, here, home?

One version of the bomb is going to be placed in a tower,

and detonated, Mr. Secretary,

But that is not at all the same thing

as dropping another version of it, from the belly of a B-29 30,000 feet up in the air.

Well...

I hope we can get more information from the men who made it.

I have invited Professors Oppenheimer, Fermi and Lawrence at our next meeting.

General Marshall and General Groves also wish to come.

Shall I say yes?

- Yes. - Yes.

We were eager to get off the Utah.

We of course were assigned to the 1st Supply Squadron.

Now, the ordinary squadrons were separated

from the people doing the flight.

We interacted with Group 509...

mainly when we were flying in their airplanes, or loaded bombs on their airplanes.

and I just knew Ferebee as someone who was a first class bombardier,

who was up there doing his business, while I was doing mine when I was...

checking all things.

We thought we were doing something very important, but we were never

officially informed that we were working on the atomic bomb.

Here we go.

One more.

Cute as a picture.

And... and... and...

Bomb away!

Closer there.

That's the way it is.

Go, go, go...

Bull's eye!

And the last committee meeting is on Thursday,

So I'll be back in Washington tomorrow, Jim.

Well, I'd have been on the train today...

but I'm supposed to talk to one of your scientific fellas.

Yes, the President palmed him out from me.

Mr. Jimmy, the gentlemen are here.

Well, I'd tell you but I can't remember,

because I can't pronounce it.

Tell them to come on in, Louise.

I got to go now, general, so... I'll see you Thursday then. All right, bye.

I am Leo Szilard,

along with Professor Urey, Nobel Prize winner.

Nobel Prize winner.

This is Dr. Bartky,

Dean of the University of Chicago, and also a physicist.

If you don't worry, we'll all speak frankly, we all go together in Chicago.

- Yes, there's... - Let's sit down now, we have to cool off.

It's just... traveling so many hours... impossible.

We will now talk very sensibly, yes?

Would anybody care for a drink?

- Please! - No, no, no! Please.

Maybe a glass of water, but no ice!

Terrible habit to Americans, so we eat ice, it poisons the stomach, like cancer.

Could we have some water, please, Louise? No ice.

Yes, sir, Mr. Jimmy. No ice.

- Well, we sit? - Yes, please.

You want to know why we are here, yes, sir?

I don't know! Why we are here? We should be talking to the President.

Are you going to be in charge of atomic research after the war?

I beg your pardon, I don't understand.

- What we mean is... - Of course you don't understand...

The only people, Mr. Byrnes, who are able to properly evaluate the situation,

the President of the United States and ourselves.

Scientists who've been actively engaged in this work.

Well, I beg to differ with you there.

How can you differ with me? You don't know enough to be able to differ with me.

Leo...

God gracious! You are talking to the wrong man.

Please no. Please.

Please, I'm sorry, I... I'm sorry, I spoke in haste.

I'm so desperate because there is so little time left!

Because very soon men like yourself, Mr. Byrnes, who know nothing,

are going to start the world on a terrible competition for these weapons...

Right.

Well, professor, if...

anybody started this thing, it was scientists like yourself.

What do you mean, like myself? Like myself?

It is myself!

Like myself!

It is me, I am the one!

I was working on the problem of nuclear fission, alright?

So that you understand.

Then the Germans, they started to publish certain articles, yeah?

But, especially, when they thought to ban the exportation of uranium, I knew.

The race - had - begun.

American did not even know there was a race.

I am the one who made Einstein to write to Roosevelt, and tell him

the Germans are trying to build atomic bomb,

so we have to be the first ones. I am the one! I said it...

But you have nothing to feel guilty about.

- You did the right thing. - No, I was wrong. I was wrong.

We found out when? a few weeks ago, we found that the Germans were not even close to building the bomb.

But we didn't know then! We did what we had to do.

- It's too late now... - Not too late! Not too late!

As long as we don't use this bomb, even to test it,

then it's not too late...

to save ourselves from this competition, this terrible weapons competition that is about to begin.

It has begun! You said so yourself.

The Germans tried their damnest to build a gadget.

And Gen. Groves tells me that in twenty years' time, the Russians will have one of their own.

Twenty years?! Five, at the most!

- That isn't what I've been told. - I, I am telling you! Szilard is telling you!

Groves tells me there's no uranium in Russia.

But he's wrong.

And by the way, General Groves hates me, you should know that.

So he will tell you, "Whatever Szilard is telling you, you ignore him."

The President is my boss, Mr. Szilard,

not Gen. Groves.

- Mr. Byrnes... - Hold on a minute.

Now...

You say that we should not use this weapon, that we should not even test it.

Well...

I don't know what it's like where you come from,

but here we have a democracy.

And when the government of this democracy spends

two billion dollars on something,

well, sooner or later, the people and their elected representatives,

are going to ask what it is they've got to show for their money.

Now...

I may not know very much about this gadget,

but I do know a little bit about politics. And believe me...

You do not spend two billion dollars, and then show them nothing.

And further more...

If, as you say,

the Russians are gonna get in on this task real soon,

well, then it is absolutely imperative...

that we impress upon them now

that we are already in possession of this device.

And we'll use it.

Where are you from?

I... I'm from Hungary.

This weapon is going to prevent Russia

from gobbling up your country, Mr. Szilard.

And Stalin will not believe it just because we tell him so,

he's gonna have to see it with his own eyes.

Mr. Byrnes, please do me the favour of asking your maid to call us a taxicab, will you?

- Now... - No, no! No!

We have a 7 o'clock through train we don't want to miss there.

Louise!

Would you please call a taxicab for these gentlemen?

Yes, sir, Mr. Jimmy.

I'm sorry about your regrets, Professor, I suppose I would feel the same.

You fail to understand... all of you, not just you...

Even Oppenheimer fails to understand, it's something very simple.

- What is that? - That is that you have spent three years,

and some very large portion of your two billion dollars for one thing:

they're to keep this project very secret. You trust nobody.

Even now, outside, there are agents of the FBI, they are following me.

They are very worried that I'm gonna betray some small scrap of information.

But it is not me, you are the one.

You are the one who's going to betray the only secret that is worth keeping.

And what is the secret? The secret is that it can be done!

And when you explode this first device, you are going to...

give the secret away, to everybody.

Russia is hungry, she is desolated.

Almost exhausted by the war. What do you think, Mr. Byrnes?

You think Stalin is going to waste his resources

to build himself atomic weapon?

Unless he knows that it can be done.

And then, when he knows that,

God help them, he will do it!

You know, America should have been the one to control the postwar world,

but now she won't.

I believe you are wrong.

I believe we must use this weapon to end this war

that we are fighting now, and to prevent other wars in the future.

I believe that's America's responsibility, Mr. Szilard!

I'll leave this with you, please?

In case you've heard anything that I said.

This is a letter signed by myself and 73 of my colleagues,

all participants in the Manhattan Project.

And please, I ask you, please,

at least to do me the favour of mentioning my concerns to the President? Yes?

Well, it's a bloody thing, professor.

You all read allegiance to drop that bomb on Hitler

when it was your people he was hurting.

What people? What do you mean by people? When you say that, what do you mean?

You mean Hungarians, or you mean the Jews? What?

I didn't mean that quite the way it came out.

The fact is...

I am honored by your visit, Professor Szilard.

Dr. Urey... Dean Bartky...

Now, the President is going to hear every word

that was spoken here, you can bet on that.

Gentlemen.

Louise, where in the world is that taxi?

These fellows are gonna miss their train!

We are honored to have you gentlemen with us today.

It gives us the chance to thank you

for the brilliant and effective assistance.

which you've given the Manhattan Project.

Doctor Oppenheimer...

Would you clarify why you do not favor

a demonstration of this weapon to the Japanese?

Either a pure demonstration, or...

Or a show of its power on a military target, Colonel Stimson?

My scientific colleagues are by no means unanimous

on the initial use of this weapon.

Those who favour in a technical demonstration,

want to outlaw the use of atomic weapons.

and fear that if we use them militarily, now,

our position in the future will be compromised.

Others emphasize the opportunity to save

American lives by immediate military use.

Dr. Fermi, Dr. Lawrence and I find ourselves closer to this latter position.

Try as we may, we cannot imagine a...

technical demonstration...

that would bring an end to the war.

Also, too many things could go wrong.

The demonstration device could be a bust.

Its transport plane could be...

shot down, or the Japanese could simply fail to appreciate...

what they saw from a safe distance.

And, in every case, the elements of shock,

and surprise...

which, I think, are among the most important...

aspects of this weapon, would be lost.

However,

as for our allies, it's a different matter.

I believe we should consider inviting...

Russian scientists to our secret test in New Mexico,

This would demonstrate our good will--

What that would demonstrate would be that we have lost our mind.

And I will have one hell of a time

trying to explain to our contractors,

many of whom are republicans, gentlemen,

how we're gonna give away billions of dollars worth of

top secret research to the Russkies?

Of course, they may not even be surprised by that,

they may just figure we're acting like tipical democrats.

Dr. Openheimer,

just how powerful is this weapon that you want to use immediately?

Don't know.

No one can know that yet for sure.

I believe that the device would cause an explosion...

equal to that produced by two thousand

tons of TNT.

Now, doctor... Fermi disagrees, his estimate is a...

a bit higher.

In any event, I think that the device dropped on a city

would probably kill twenty thousand people.

Last month, our Air Force dropped the equivalent of...

fifty thousand tons of TNT over Japan.

We estimate approximately...

100,000 people were killed LeMay's raid on Tokyo...

two months ago, and the Japanese...

have not surrendered.

Do you, gentlemen...

really believe that this one device can administer

a shock greater than anything we've inflicted upon Japan, up until now?

Yes, general.

We do.

But dropping the damn thing without any warning?

For Christ's sake, we have to!

We don't have any bombs to waste.

If we give a specific warning...

like we say we're gonna bomb one of ten cities on a list,

...well, sure, they'll evacuate the residents.

And then they'll bring in our POWs,

and let us drop this thing on our own boys.

It is, therefore, a unanimous recommendation of the committee

that the bomb should be used against Japan

as soon as possible.

That it should be used against war plants

surrounded by workers' homes,

or other buildings susceptible of damage,

in order to make the greatest possible impression.

And it should be used without warning.

Since the beginning of May, they've sent 560 kamikaze planes against our ships.

- How do they persuade those men? - I don't know, sir, but they do.

Last week they hit a cruiser, a battleship and an escort carrier.

It would have been even worse if we hadn't had radar.

Nevertheless, our troops are getting reinforcements.

Theirs are not.

So, all the enemy can do right now is dig in and make us pay for every inch.

It's a tough war to fight, Mr. Secretary.

As it was in the last war.

Our marines are fighting with flamethrowers and hand grenades.

And that is terrible.

Thirteen inches of rain in the last nine days.

Could you arrange for me to have a sight of the target, please?

Sir?

No decisions will be made without proper consultation, as I understood.

The list of potential targets will be submitted to General Marshall tomorrow.

I wish to see the list before you present it for approval by the Chief of Staff.

That is the arrangement I had with the President!

And I wish you to respect that, General.

Sir.

You wouldn't oblige me?

- Here you are, Mr. Secretary. - Thank you.

Kyoto...

Hiroshima...

Yokohama, Kokura Arsenal...

Niigata...

All are military in nature.

Headquarters, troop concentrations, centers of war production.

None has been previously been damaged by aerial bombardment

so we can accurately assess the effect of the gadget.

And all are places the destruction of which will negatively impact

the will of the Japanese people to continue this war.

Especially Kyoto.

That is correct, sir, as you can see, Kyoto is our primary target.

I will not approve Kyoto.

That city is to Japan what Rome is to Europe.

It's a historical treasure with...

considerable religious significance for the Japanese.

That may be, Sir, but they're moving in major war industries.

And workers who've been bombed out of their homes in other cities are being relocated there.

This is one time I shall be the final deciding authority, general!

If you'd read the description of Kyoto, and the reasons for finding it a desirable-

No one is going to tell me what to do on this!

Their feeling for the city is precisely why we should take it out, sir!

The bitterness caused by an attack of such wantonness...

could make it impossible for the Japanese to reconcile with us,

they'll turn instead to the Russians.

If they hand themselves over to the Russians, Christ on the cross,

they'll sacrifice more than Kyoto.

Uncle Joe [Stalin] won't leave them a pot to piss in.

I don't mean to give offence, Mr. Secretary,

but this is a crappy world.

And you won't make it better by going off half-pack on this thing.

Now, we've got the bomb and the chance to use it, for Jesus' sake!

Let's use it where the Japs will feel it the most!

Sir.

As Trinity...

started to get close...

pressure was more intense because of the absent deadline.

The shot was set for a certain date.

And it was our laboratory that was driving the whole program.

And Groves...

had no patience with scientists at all,

but he had enough sense to let them carry the scientific pall.

He didn't make scientific decisions.

Oppenheimer's stress had been...

growing all during the time at Los Alamos, he...

he was a very intense person and...

he showed signs of nervous stress all during that time.

In those days, something that...

costing two billion dollars...

doesn't sound like much today...

That was one heck of a lot of money

and is being spent by the United States government,

and here he was, essentially directing the whole thing.

I have been...

closely involved in the...

design, the final design, of the bomb that was...

set out at Trinity and at Nagasaki.

And, it was a very...

striking experience, one that I will not forget,

and... it...

certainly impressed on me of the power of an atomic bomb.

I just stood there, never seeing anywhere in my life, and...

And it never has since, because after the first one,

you know what to expect with other bombs.

I've seen many exploding now, but...

there's nothing that equals that first one.

We propose a two-phase invasion, Mr. President.

First, an assault on the island of Kyushu.

Code Name: Olimpic, on November 1st.

Followed... in March 1946...

by Operation Coronet,

a landing on the big island Honshu, with a climactic battle here,

on the Tokyo plain.

General MacArthur intends an amphibious assault,

on Kyushu, with nine divisions.

We will deploy approximately 767,000 troups, Mr. President.

1,300 ships,

all supported by a massive air presence.

I see, well, what are your estimates of our casualties, general?

In the first thirty days...

General MacArthur believes our losses will be similar to those on Luzon,

and reaching 31,000.

Okinawa would be a...

...a more realistic measure, with respect, at 41,000.

Our troops in Okinawa lost around 35% in casualties.

We can expect the overall strategy to be as costly as

the Normandy landing, Mr. President.

Estimates can go as high as 220,000.

Factoring in the invasion of the southern and northern parts of...

Kyushu, as well as Japan proper.

I had a visit a few weeks ago from Joseph Grew,

who was our ambassador to Japan for ten years, as you know.

Yes, and he claims to be the oracle of all things Japanese, but he is an alarmist who...

Two things he said are indisputable, General Marshall.

That the Japanese have never been successfully invaded in their long history.

And they have never suffered a military defeat by a foreign enemy.

Now, Grew thinks they don't know how to surrender,

and that is why it looks like they intend to fight to the last man.

What I believe, Mr. President, is that they're gonna make us pay so dearly

for the invasion of Kyushu, that we will want to negotiate,

rather than continue with the war.

You can be certain that they will fight as never before.

Soldier and civilian.

The cost in life will be...

much greater than any other campaign in this war.

- Mr. President...

Make peace with Japan now, before we engage further in tragic strategies.

How do you propose to achieve that?

No, that's not an option, is it?

If we start with unconditional surrender, and...

settle on peace without honour of any kind,

too many galant men and women have already died.

God knows it's dreadful to contemplate.

But the situation seems to demand a full-scale invasion.

Carry on with your preparations, gentlemen, but make no commitments without consulting me.

McCloy, we haven't heard from you, and no one leaves without being heard from.

- Go ahead.

The threat of an atomic bomb, might provide a political solution.

If so...

then the invasion could be avoided.

Would you like to enlarge on that proposition?

Tell him we have the bomb.

Tell him what kind of weapon it is. And then...

reiterate the terms of surrender.

We're crazy if we do not even try to reach a political solution.

You should tell them they can keep their emperor.

Gentlemen?

If they refuse, what then?

I'm pretty sure they will refuse.

But, if we warn them, our moral position will be stronger.

We'll take that under advisement.

He was... from Montana,

and his wife had just had a baby.

And what happened to him is, he got hit by a shell and...

it took off part of his brain, and his arm.

And he came over crawling, and he asked...

He asked me to help him, and I couldn't.

And you...

you sorta hold him, and...

you try to push the brain back in the head, but they experimented here, and...

But you don't know this, you panic.

And when he dies, part of you dies.

Because you suddenly realize, you're worthless.

And all there is, is a wasteland.

A wasteland, and...

that's all blood.

Once, coming back after a patrol...

there was this farmhouse, that was where...

my buddy and I were...

searching for something.

I take about five steps, maybe more, I'm not sure...

like my rifle exploded in front of me...

and...

I felt like someone lifted me up in the air and I went down on one knee, and I was...

looking down at my hands, and my insides were there.

And I remember walking back to where my buddies were...

and I looked at Clyde, and I said...

"Shit, they hit me."

Mickey went over, and... he told me to lay down,

he stuck a rifle in the ground, and the guys got...

plasma.

They gave me plasma and...

then the pain came.

And, I don't know, there's no way to describe the pain.

And they gave me another shot of morphine to put me out of my pain and out of my misery.

It was starting getting dark, and the guys picked me up in a poncho.

They put my insides in this plastic bag...

that we used to use for machine gun spare parts.

The bag was...

laying next to me, and a guy sat down and...

I told him, "Buddy, you're sitting on my stomach."

He looked down, he said, "Jesus Christ, I'm sorry for what..."

"That's all right, just put it on my chest and sit down."

You live in a dream, I guess.

Truman, Churchill and Stalin

will meet, face to face, in a suburb of Berlin,

little Potsdam, Germany, to settle the future of Europe,

and in particular the future of a defeated Germany...

which is already being carved up by the victorious allies.

Also on the agenda is the war in the Pacific,

with President Truman and Prime Minister Churchill

expected to issue an ultimatum to Tokyo:

"Surrender now, or face invasion by allied forces."

"The Big Three" meet for the first time since the Yalta conference.

It is at this round table, in this room,

that they will decide the future of war-ravaged Europe.

I was lying there, facing the bomb.

holding before my eyes a welding glass, to protect my eyes,

heavy gloves, so no light could come in from the site,

And I looked in the direction where the bomb was... to go off,

Nine, eight,

Seven...

Six...

Five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

One...

The mountains in the background lit up just like it was daylight.

It was the biggest damn thing I ever saw.

It looks to me like everybody here is pretty well pleased and proud.

Wouldn't you say so, doctor?

It was a practice run, general.

Nobody got hurt.

That's correct.

What's more, we probably saved

tens of thousands of American lives.

At the cost of how many?

No.

I don't want to fight you now.

Tonight I'm just gonna enjoy myself.

The atom bomb is shit, general.

What'd you say?

The yield was trivial, compared to what it can be.

Fermi said it equal 20,000 tons of TNT.

That's about ten times more than what you predicted.

In a few years you'll have a thermonuclear bomb,

with a yield of a million tons of TNT.

Now that is a really big gadget.

We drove through Berlin today.

I never saw such destruction.

Absolute ruin.

Thought of Carthage...

Baalbek...

Jerusalem...

Rome...

Sherman and Genghis Khan.

I hope there is some sort of peace.

There you are! I've had people looking for you everywhere!

I've got great news.

I suggest we strike a blow for liberty.

- Will you join me? - Yes, I am, Mr. President.

I've been dying to tell somebody.

I've just had a visitor. I was there doing some reading,

I looked up, and guess who was standing there in that doorway?

Generalissimo Stalin, that's who.

You know the first thing he said to me?

He said, "Mr. President,"

"I intend to keep the promise I made to President Roosevelt at Yalta."

"I said I would declare war on the Japanese,"

"three months after the surrender of Germany, and I will do so."

Those were his very words, Henry.

I said, "Well, Marshall Stalin, I guess we can go home now,"

"because that's the most important reason for my coming here."

Mr. President...

A big weight just rolled off my shoulders, Henry!

This war is going to end a year sooner now.

Fini Japs!

They don't know what's about to hit them.

That is quite true.

We kept this a deep, dark secret, and I'm glad we did.

Uncle Joe's been ducking so many other agreements, I thought it was...

too much to hope for that he'd honour this one.

But he says he will!

Said it right to my face,

and I believe him!

- I don't know, you'd better... - Kinda liked the little guy!

Anyhow, here I'm rattling on, you said you had something to tell me?

I too have remarkable news.

I received a message, Mr. President, from the desert.

The message reads:

"Operated on this morning,"

"diagnosis not complete, but results seem satisfactory,"

"and already exceed expectations."

"Local press release necessary,"

"as interest extends great distance"

"Doctor Groves... pleased."

"Details to follow in a few days."

They did it...

They did it!

- They're telling you it...! - It's worked!

Son of a...!

Sons of a gun!

- Will we tell the admiral? - Oh, he'll be bowled over, I'm sure.

With your permission...

I would like to tell Mr. Churchill this evening as well.

Oh, yes, certainly, certainly. And will you respond on my behalf?

"Warmest congratulations."

"To the doctor and his consultants."

Once we put this piece into play,

the Japanese will surely see the absurdity of carrying on with this war.

"A massive cloud was formed,"

"which surged and built upward with tremendous power,"

"reaching the substratosphere, at an elevation of..."

"41,000 feet..."

Stimson...

What was gunpowder?

What was electricity? Meaningless!

This atomic bomb is a second coming in wrath!

Did anyone talk to Uncle Joe?

The President will speak to Stalin at the end of the afternoon session.

I'd like to see it dropping on the Japanese now.

And let it speak for itself.

However...

Your President must of course speak to Stalin,

otherwise you give him the big stick to beat you with.

Tell him the great fact, that is, none of the particulars, mind you.

Stalin must fear this device, not share it.

Make no mistake,

the danger to the Allies, after the war,

will come from the east.

Stalin will lower an Iron Curtain across Europe,

and build an empire based on terror.

Our best hope is to drive on now,

and force him back behind his frontiers,

and may have the barriers shut.

Watch his face when I tell him.

Before I leave,

I'd like to tell you that the United States has developed a new weapon.

A weapon of unusual destructive power.

Comrade Stalin hopes you will use it,

against the Japanese.

That didn't go the way I thought it would, I...

mentioned the new weapon, didn't ask me one darn thing about it.

- Not one single question. - Yes, I was watching.

That was peculiar, if I didn't know better I'd think he already knew.

No, he was surprised.

I could see it in his face.

No, I just don't think he understood the importance of what I was saying.

Mr. President, we'd like to get some more pictures.

With that little Russian twerp?

Alright...

Have you set your mind on a target city, Mr. President?

I'm not sure everyone thinks we oughta drop the bomb on a city.

Not in a city?

Well, where else could be used with an equal effect?

Do you believe that this infernal weapon can end the war?

Indubitably it shall.

Which means we wouldn't need to move our troops out of Europe,

where you would like them to stay.

Half of them have left already.

But, yes, you are quite correct, Admiral Leahy.

I do not trust the Russian Bear.

Nore should you, Mr. President

If I were you, I should pray that this thing will end the war, like that.

Otherwise, the Bear is turning east, and she'll devour not only Manchuria,

but Japan as well, as a reward

for helping us to invade that wretched island.

Mr. Churchill, I still think the American people might be surprised

to know how little your enthusiasm for the bomb

has to do with our war with Japan.

And I wonder...

how the American people will feel...

if they learn that your President had this terrible weapon,

and did not use it, when it might have saved the lives of thousands of their sons?

Are you gonna chase that red once more?

I call. I don't know...

Alright, that's the round, here they come!

You showed it to me.

Oh, is that too much!

- That lady here. - No, straight.

And the rich get richer.

The Japanese apparently have heard that we're d.... with Stalin over Poland,

they're trying to take advantage of it,

they want to send a special envoy to Moscow.

A lot of good that'll do!

Stalin hates them more than he hates us!

Now what do you suppose the Japanese would say if they knew

we've broken all their codes? Now wouldn't that just make you awful mad?

- I don't think we'll tell them. - No, indeed.

No, indeed...

I'll deal me out.

What's bothering you, colonel?

One message.

It's marked... "Very Secret. Urgent".

It says: "It is His Majesty's heart desire to see..."

"the swift termination of the war..."

Not so swift, colonel, we want to battle-test this gadget.

That message is directly from the Emperor, Mr. President.

Well, I'm sure they do want to end the war, colonel,

but on their terms, without occupation, punishment, or reparation.

If we assure them that they could keep their Emperor...

Yes, but there's a lot of folks back home who feel that he should be hanged as a war criminal.

We should use the bomb with end to Japan as soon as possible.

Use it against their war plants,

surrounded by their workers' homes, in order to create

the greatest possible impression.

And we should use it without warning.

Well...

one thing, whatever else...

the decision, when it is made, will be made by me.

Now, who's yielded?

I believe the cards are with you, Admiral.

Fellows, I think we should call it a night.

I'm worn out.

- See you. - See you in the morning.

- Good night, Mr. President. - Good night.

What was that?

A message from "Doctor" Groves...

"The patients will reach the hospital tomorrow."

"The operation will be possible any time from August 1st on,"

"and, almost certainly, possible before August 10th."

Then I guess they are asking for a decision.

- Well... - Good night, Mr. President.

I'll see you in the morning, sir.

Mr. President...

Good night.

Good night, colonel.

- Son. - Yes, sir, Mr. President?

- Have you got any paper? - Yes, Sir.

Subject: War. Reply query 4/10/11 suggestions approved

Release when ready but no sooner than Aug. 2

Their message...

My reply.

To be sent immediately.

Yes, sir, Mr. President.

Morning, colonel.

Have breakfast?

The most important meal of the day.

You're all being very patient with me.

Have you...

Yes, I signed the order.

I know how difficult it is.

And I went to bed and I slept like a baby.

I'm glad to hear it.

I didn't sleep at all.

I'm afraid I hate that ghastly thing.

I have the feeling it'll...

get out of control eventually, and blast us all to Hades.

Fellows from Washington have raised the question of the target city, as...

- I know you have opinions about that as well. - Yes, Mr. President, I do.

Well, I've declared Kyoto to be off limits.

It is a city of some beauty, I understand, and religious significance?

Yes, sir.

That's a decision I made for the sake of my own soul,

not because I wish to save the Japanese any grief!

And for you... colonel.

A man's voice should be heard, when he speaks with a care for the past,

and for what is good in man, even at his worst.

Thank you, sir.

Now, I refreshed my memory concerning the other target cities,

and I don't seem to think we can do better.

As I remember, Hiroshima...

Kokura, Niigata, Nagasaki.

But maybe one will be spared.

I want to give them one last chance.

We're gonna broadcast our ultimatum tonight.

I forgot my glasses, Mr. President.

Now, Churchill's gotten over it, he's improved the... paroles a little.

We, the President of the United States,

the President of the National Government of the Republic of China,

and the Prime Minister of Great Britain,

representing hundreds of millions of our countrymen,

have conferred and agreed that Japan should be given

the opportunity to end this war.

We offer the following terms:

"Must be eliminated for all time the authority and influence"

"of those who have deceived and misled"

"the people of Japan into embarking on world conquest."

"Japanese military forces, after being completely disarmed..."

"shall be permitted to return to their homes with the opportunity"

"to lead a peaceful and productive life."

"The Japanese government shall remove all obstacles to the revival"

"and strengthening of democratic tendencies among the Japanese people."

Sir, if the devil laid an egg...

I think it would look like this.

Sir, cable from Honolulu.

Three transmissions breaking up.

Broadcast from Tokyo, sir.

- Do you have what it says? - And... clarified.

- Coming out. - What were they contacted for?

Repeat verification.

- Did they say that? - Confirm this.

Very nice.

Yes?

Sorry to interrupt, Mr. President.

What is it?

It's a translation, from a broadcast in Japan.

I see...

It's a response to our ultimatum.

Let me see...

Response to...

allied ultimatum...

Tell me, what...?

Mo...Moku...

...satsu, what does that mean?

Well, that's the problem, Sir. Apparently it's not very clear what it means.

Sir, we're giving you the original word, as well as possible translations.

Well, that's not good enough, son. Find someone who knows.

Yes, Sir!

Makusatsu?

Maku Satsu...

It is a word seldom used.

Literally, it means... to kill with silence.

In other words, they're not even going to bother to reply.

That is one meaning, however...

- Nothing has changed, Mr. President.

They have just told us, once again, to go to hell

However..., professor?

It depends, perhaps, on who uses the word.

Someone of a certain age... of the very highest class...

he might mean something slightly different.

Like... what?

I want to buy your shoes.

I offer you 100 marks,

you want 500.

But, you don't want to insult me...

by telling me my offer isn't good enough.

Instead, you say nothing.

You pretend I have said anything.

Then, I realize...

that you want me to change my offer.

It's too damn convoluted for me, Sir.

In other words, it could mean they want to negotiate.

It could mean that, Mr. President.

But, more likely it means...

they wish to be seen as treating your ultimatum...

with... silent contempt.

In other words...

they do not intend to negotiate at all.

I believe that is what they mean.

It's consistent with everything else.

The military won't surrender.

And the military is running the show.

Thank you, Professor Hoffman.

- It's an honor, Mr. President. - And for me too. Thank you.

Well, fellows, our course is clear.

And nobody can say we didn't warn them.

Absolutely not, sir.

Just one thing though, I wanna be well away from Potsdam and...

nowhere near that Russian Bear when this bomb goes off.

President Truman says "Goodbye and thank you" to Stalin,

and the newly-elected Prime Minister Attlee of Great Britain.

The Big Three mapped up their plans for peace-time Europe,

and released the Potsdam Declaration to Japan,

which warns Hirohito:

to quit hostilities now, or suffer the consequences.

The President boards the cruiser Augusta

for his five-day journey home.

Paul.

The primary is Hiroshima.

I've always preferred it as a target.

Well, it's the hotspot we've been saving...

... for a rainy day.

Now, there are factories here galore,

large number of troops, and more shipping arriving each day.

Now, bombing from the height you intend...

crosswinds could be a problem.

Yes, sir. No question.

My sight can handle 25-30 degrees crosswind, but...

sometimes they get to the 40, maybe 50 degrees.

Fly directly downwind.

There is the advantage of increasing airspeed, you won't be vulnerable over the target so long.

Crosswinds won't be such a problem either.

We'd be better flying directly into the wind,

eliminating any crosswind,

and giving Ferebee his best chance to line up the bomb accurately.

Slowing your airspeed, Paul.

Flying into the wind just makes your run over the target

that much more hazardous.

The primary purpose is to hit the target.

We're going there to bomb, not play safe.

You wanna select your aiming point?

That bridge.

The most perfect AP I've seen in this whole damn war.

3-0. Aye aye, sir.

"Dear Bess,"

"I spoke to some of Eisenhower's men before I left."

"Told them there's not one piece of territory we want out of this war,"

"we want peace and prosperity for the world as a whole."

"We want to see the time come when we can do the things in peace"

"we were'n able to do in war."

Come in.

Admiral, what is it?

My God! You look terrible.

The Indianapolis has been sunk.

The Indianapolis?

She was on her way home from Tinian.

They were attacked by a Jap sub.

883 men, Harry.

Got to stop this, Bill.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we can't keep losing our boys like this.

On Tinian we had beautiful airplanes.

The B-29s were heavily modified,

they had new engines, they had new improved parts...

But, with the 10,000 pounds payload up in the...

the bomb bay, the balance of the plane was screwed.

There was always concern about weight and balance when take-off.

I remember watching, this plane lifted off,

a mile out or so settled gently in the ocean, there was no splash.

These were very brave guys, and I was between them.

There must have been... many, many instances

when a plane attempted to land and just crashed and burned.

Hey!

You!

Get your hands up!

Hell, Deke, what are you trying to do to him?

Scare him to death.

- Corporal, put the lights on. - No. Leave them off.

Corporal, will you leave us, please?

How was it?

How many planes crash here on take-off every week?

One or two...

Yesterday, 4 Superfortresses [B-29s]...

ran off the runway.

Two burned, two burned and exploded.

I don't want to take off with the detonators and their explosive charges in place.

Something happens, we could blow this island right off the map.

They won't be fully armed.

Tom...

It's like carrying this weapon, with the safety on...

or carrying it...

unloaded.

What's safer?

I'll arm it in flight.

Groves and I talked about this, he said no, it's too risky.

Besides, you've never done anything like this.

You know how?

I got ten hours to find out.

The moment's arrived.

The weapon we're about to use was successfully tested in the States.

We just received orders to drop it on the enemy.

The target cities, in order of priority, are:

Hiroshima,

Kokura,

and Nagasaki.

If all three cities are ruled out by weather conditions,

the plane will return to Iwo Jima.

In the event of an emergency,

the weapon will be transferred to top secret and brought back to Tinian.

The bomb is something new in the history of warfare.

It is the most destructive weapon ever produced.

We think it will knock out everything, almost everything,

within a three-mile area.

The flash of light from the explosion made of the only test ever performed,

was seen for more than ten miles.

A soldier 3000 feet away was knocked off his feet by the shock wave,

another soldier, over five miles away, was temporarily blinded.

A girl in a town many miles away, who has been blind all her life,

saw the flash of light.

The explosion was heard 50 miles away.

No one knows what will happen when the bomb is dropped from the air,

that has never been done.

We expect to see a cloud,

shaped... like this,

rising at least 30,000 feet, maybe 60,000,

preceded by a flash of light much brighter than the sun.

You can... change the amount of light admitted by the glass.

Over the LEP...

the knob must be turned to its lowest setting.

Now, you're the hottest crews in the Air Force.

Whatever any of us had done before, is small potatoes compared to what we're going to do now.

No talking, even among yourselves.

No writing home.

No mention of the slightest possibility of a mission.

You can't all of you fly with the bomb,

but everyone in this group deserves to fly the mission.

Everyone of you, in the 509th, makes a difference.

Well, now, way to go, guys!

- Can I- Can I borrow that camera? - Well...

Thanks, bud.

- Four shots, and get that back to me. - I will do that.

Alright.

OK friends, turn off the lights. We gotta get going.

- Props? - Props.

Lights

- Mixture? - Mixture is rich.

All right. Flaps at fifteen degrees.

Flaps...

at fifteen degrees.

Tail flops?

Tail flaps are in trail position.

Full power!

- Full power. - Eighty...

Ninety...

A hundred...

Just over 2,000 pounds overweight, colonel.

Wait until you get all the speed you can get.

- It's too heavy, pull her off. - No, even.

We're running out of runway.

- Getting started. - Alright.

Green plugs to be placed.

Check light on.

Green plugs in place.

We withdraw...

reach plot.

Reach plot removed...

Reach plot removed.

We've broken radio contact.

We're out of reach.

Replacing...

reach plug.

Reach plug is in place.

Connecting the firing line.

Placing... rear plate.

Weapon is final...

and ready to arm.

Hey, colonel!

Not playing any cards?

No, thank you, Bob.

Colonel!

Will you tell us exactly what it is we're carrying?

Is it something chemical?

Not exactly.

How about a physicist's nightmare?

That's more like it.

Looks like we're splitting atoms, boys.

What did you say, Bob?

- Splitting atoms. - Nothing sir.

- It's just a guess. - It's a pretty good guess, Bob.

Pure luck, I guess.

The internal battery already activated, sir. Little Boy is armed and ready.

It's final.

Let's begin our climb.

Engineer, climbing power.

Climbing power.

Ten minutes to waiving point.

Initial point.

On glasses.

Here it is...

Stand by for the unhook...

and the turn.

And... and... and...

Bomb away!

Bob, can you see anything?

Nothing, sir.

Bob, can you see anything?

Nothing, colonel. Maybe it's a dud.

That's a flat.

Sons of bitches, they're shooting at us.

Hold on, another one's coming!

Okay, all right.

That was the reflected shockwave, bounced back from the ground.

There will not be any more. Sorry about that, that wasn't flat.

My God...

I tell you, fires, they sprung up all over the place,

they were so many, I couldn't count them.

- It was huge, huge... - Much bigger than anything I'd imagined.

It was off the scale, you know?

It carried a degree of destruction...

bigger than I'd ever really imagined.

It was a big relief when it worked.

I'll tell you what I thought. I thought, "This is the end of the war."

- I can bet on that. - I don't know.

To the end of the war.

- For the end of the war! - The end of the war.

Good job.

I tell you, sir, I'll never forget it.

- How's your arm, Jimmy? - It's very good, Mr. President.

- Starting the day? - Yeah.

Mind if I join you?

- Where are you from, son? - Georgia.

- Nice state, how about you? - Cleveland, sir.

- And you sir? - Well, I'm from Missouri, but...

live in Washington now.

This is the greatest thing in history.

Jimmy?

It's time for us to get home.

- Can I borrow your spoon, son? - Yes, sir.

Could I have your attention, please?

I have an announcement to make.

We have just dropped a new bomb on Japan.

This bomb has more power than 20,000 tons of TNT.

It has been an overwhelming success.

...a message from the President of the United States.

Sixteen hours ago...

- an American airplane...

...one bomb on Hiroshima.

- It is an atomic bomb.

-It is a harnessing of...

the basic power of the universe.

The force from which the sun draws its power,

has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East.

We are now prepared to obliterate more rapidly and completely...

every productive enterprise the Japanese have above ground in any city.

Let there be no mistake.

We shall completely destroy...

Japan's power to make war.

It was to spare the Japanese people from utter destruction...

that the ultimatum of July 26th was issued from Potsdam.

Their leaders promptly rejected that ultimatum.

If they do not now accept our terms...

they may expect a rain of ruin from the air,

the like of which has never been seen on this earth.

Do we have a number for the troops involved?

Yes, apparently they're deploying three armies.

Two to attack from the east, and the third to attack from the west.

Latest military intelligence indicates as many as

a million Soviet troups massed on these borders.

Well, that's what the Generalissimo said he was gonna do.

Meanwhile he's been stringing the Japs on, how do you like that?

We had better get this surrender agreed to,

or we will be handing Manchuria over to Stalin.

Next thing you know, he'll be cutting up Japan, just the way he cut up Germany.

And I thought we would've heard something from the Japanese by now.

No, I just don't think they believe us.

They don't believe you have the resolution.

General Groves has the go-ahead, initiate the second mission,

weather permitting, at his own discretion.

Mr. President,

I thought you'd want to see these,

for the near future policy of nothing else...

I think that...

it might be wiser not to go public with this, you know...

If I could think of a reasonable excuse, I'd bury them forever.

American people's taxes paid for this gadget,

they have a right to know how their money was spent.

Do you think they'll want to know?

I realize the tragic significance of the Atomic Bomb.

Its production and use were not lightly undertaken by this government.

But we knew our enemies were on the search for it,

we know now how close they were to finding it,

and we knew the disaster that would've come to civilization...

if they had found it first.

That is why we felt compelled to undertake the long,

uncertain and costly labour of discovery and production.

We won the race of discovery against the Germans.

Having found the bomb, we have used it...

...against those who attacked us without warning at Pearl Harbor.

Against those who have starved, beaten and executed

American prisoners of war.

Against those who've abandoned all pretense of obeying

international laws of warfare.

We have used it to shorten the agony of war.

To save the lives of thousands upon thousands of young Americans.

And we shall continue to use it until we completely destroy Japan's power to make war.

Only a Japanese surrender will prevent us.

Our primary is Kokura's arsenal, right here.

The secondary is Nagasaki.

They're both in Kyushu, and are both closer than Hiroshima.

Good conditions, my ass! Can't see a goddamn thing down there.

- That is Kokura? - Yeah, that's Kokura.

And I think those flashes are anti-aircraft fire.

They're gonna find out what happens when Fat Man gets free.

Sir, I'm picking up activity on their fire patrol circuits.

I think we got Jap planes that are in our way.

That's it, gentlemen.

Kokura is waived down, as far as I'm concerned.

I say we play Nagasaki instead. I'll be damned if I grind back with this all the way home.

Well, it's worse here than it was over Kokura.

Could you find me a hole, Scott, somewhere, I'm not picky.

Chief...

Chief, I got it.

I can see it, I can see the goddamn city!

Glasses on!

It's all yours, fellow.

Come to papa...

darling.

Bomb away!

"With the understanding that the said declaration has not comprised any demand..."

"which prejudices the prerogatives of His Majesty as a sovereign ruler."

In short, they want to keep their emperor.

And how in the heck will we let them do that?

We have to understand the place the emperor occupies in their scheme of things.

We think of him as a king, a constitutional monarch perhaps, no!

He's a kind of divinity.

Divinity?

What sort of divinity, colonel?

Is he just a god, or is he a god of war?

Well, I'll tell you, Mr. President,

I don't understand why we should go further

to conciliate these bastards now,

then we were willing to go at Potsdam,

when we had no atomic bomb

and Russia wasn't even in the war yet.

Look, you have a dog and he gets in the way of being bad, you punish him, fine.

You don't set out to break his spirit.

Well, you want to tell it to the Aussies while at that,

as far as they are concerned, the emperor, and I quote,

"... should be granted no immunity"

"from responsibility for Japan's acts of aggression."

On the other hand...

let's not forget what occured in Germany after the last war.

We made the Kaiser out to be a demon.

We forced the Germans to discard their monarchy, altogether...

Yes, and you winded up with a big empty space,

that Hitler could walk right in and fill.

Well, if they're so all fired keen to keep their emperor,

maybe we can tell them now.

He can stay,

but he has to answer to the supreme commander of the allied forces.

And since that's likely to be good old Douglas MacArthur,

it would be one divinity answering to another.

I have received this afternoon...

a message from the Japanese government.

I deem this reply a full acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration,

which specifies the unconditional surrender of Japan.