Sixty Years of History

Sixty Years of History

December 7, 1941, Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, a day that will live in infamy. Mrs. Augspurger remembers feeling shocked. There had been reports of the Japanese becoming stronger, but she had no idea they were strong enough to attack us and hurt us like they did. At first, people did not believe we were attacked; they thought it was a drill. We were a strong nation and weaker nations would not dare attack us on our own soil. Because of the events at Pearl Harbor, the United States joined WWII.

During the war, Mrs. Augspurger became known as a “Rosy Riveter”, a young housewife who worked in the factories while the men were away at war. She worked at Wrights Aeronautics and Ford Automotive. The aeronautics plant made sheet metal for the planes, and of course Ford Automotive made automobiles. However, unlike many housewives, Mrs. Augspurger continued to work long after the end of the war. She celebrated the end of the war by buying a new used car, decorating it, and driving it up-town horns blaring. It was a day to rejoice!

On August 6, 1945, the United States bombed the Japanese at Hiroshima. Mrs. Augspurger felt that we were justified in our use of the atomic bomb. We were paying them back for Pearl Harbor. According to the Japanese, many innocent people were killed at Hiroshima. Three days later the second bomb hit Nagasaki. “Radiation caused illness and death after the bombing in about 1% of those who survived the initial explosion. By the end of 1945, it is estimated that 60,000 more people died due to radiation poisoning, bringing the total killed in Hiroshima in 1945 to 140,000” (Wikipedia). The Japanese did not know the Americans had used their last bomb during the second attack. The Imperial Council met on August 9th, to talk about the state of affairs. A vote was held to make a decision on continuing or stopping the war, but it ended in a three to three tie. Emperor Hirohito cast the deciding vote to end the war. On August 14, 1945, Japan surrendered.

“World War II caused greater carnage than World War I. Casualty estimates 60 million military and civilian dead, 35 million injured, and 3 million missing” (Goff, et al., 262). Nations all over the world were affected, “7 million Chinese, 6 million Germans, 3 million Poles, 2 million Japanese, 6 million Jews of all nationalities…Soviet casualties topped 27 million” (Goff, et al., 262). British and the United States losses paled in contrast, with a combination of only 600,000.

The conclusion of World War II brought about the Cold War. This was a non-violent affair between the United States and the Soviet Union. This lasted from the end of WWII until the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. During this time, one of the most important technological achievements was the development of atomic energy. “By the 1950’s, scientists had learned to fuse atoms in hydrogen isotopes, and had created the hydrogen bomb…a thousand times more destructive than the original atomic bomb” (Goff, et al., 271). Each country spent millions of dollars on more advanced weapons. By the 1970’s, there were more than enough thermonuclear weapons to destroy all life on the planet (McWilliams and Piotrowski).

Fire drills are as common today as bomb drills were during the Cold War. Almost every school had a bomb shelter and performed bomb drills frequently, in the event of an air attack. Mrs. Augspurger’s oldest son was in school at this time. She feared the Soviets would attack us without warning, and she would not be able to get to her son. The United States and Soviet Union continued to compete in the nuclear arms race.

The United States had a very narrow view on Communism. They felt that people really did not want to live under Communism, and with assistance, would revolt against it. In April 1961, anti-Castro forces bombed Cuban air bases and landed at the Bay of Pigs. Their assumptions were wrong and the peasants did not revolt. The mission was failure (Goff, et al., 309). The invaders surrendered after only 2 days. To prevent future occurrences, Castro sought the help of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union secretly began sending medium-range bombers and missiles to Cuba. These missiles could hit the southeastern United States, including Washington D.C. In October 1962, American U-2’s discovered the missile sites in Cuba. Kennedy’s administration sprang into action. The Soviet Union would be given the opportunity to remove the missiles from Cuba. If they refused, the United States would destroy the missiles by air strike or invasion. The United States was prepared to go to war with the Soviet Union. Six days later, the Soviet premier ordered the removal of all missiles and bombers from Cuba (Fourteen Days). During this time, Mrs. Augspurger remembers being very terrified. The country did not know