Killing the Rising Sun by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard
Killing the Rising Sun by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, Book #6 of the Killing of Historical Figures Series
Introduction
The authors use eyewitness accounts and historical documents to tell their stories. It is written as a first person account of how America defeated Japan in World War II. There are many stories told in this book. Some were of Emperor Hirohito of Japan, American general Douglas MacArthur, Japanese submarine captain Mochitsura Hashimoto, American physicist Robert Oppenheimer, and American president Harry S. Truman. Why did the Americans drop two atomic bombs on Japan? This book attempts to answer that important question.
Summary – Origins of World War II
Japan’s military leaders convinced Emperor Hirohito that Japan must expand to get natural resources or die. The Japanese expanded into China but came to the point when they must cross American interests in the Philippines. The Philippines blocked Japan’s expansion into South East Asia. The war between America and Japan started with the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941.
The Philippines were aligned with America and their military commander was General Douglas MacArthur. The Japanese took over the Philippines in 1942 and MacArthur retreated to Australia. The Japanese expanded to the south in 1942. The Americans regrouped. In 1943 and 1944 the Americans employed the strategy of island hopping. They took the islands that were needed to drive to Japan one by one including retaking the Philippines. The last island taken was Okinawa. The Japanese fought to the last man, inflicting many casualties on the Americans. The island was secured on June 30, 1945. The invasion of Japan, called Operation Olympic, was scheduled for November 1, 1945, to be led by General MacArthur. The operation faced the possibility of huge casualties occurring.
Summary – The Manhattan Project
In 1939 the Germans sought to create an atomic bomb. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt approved the Manhattan Project which sought to create the atomic bomb first. The Manhattan Project was headed by Robert Oppenheimer. The Americans were successful and tested the first atomic bomb on July 16, 1945, called the Trinity test. Two more bombs were constructed, called Little Boy and Fat Man. Little Boy was shipped on the U.S.S. Indianapolis on July 16, 1945, from San Francisco to Tinian Island. The island was in the range of the Japanese main land by using a B-29 bomber.
The U.S.S Indianapolis delivered the pieces of the atomic bomb, Little Boy, at Tinian Island on July 26, 1945. The ship then headed to the Philippines for a training mission. Mochitsura Hashimoto commanded the Japanese submarine I-58. The sub had been attempting to sink an American ship for the last six months without success. Hashimoto spotted and sank the Indianapolis early on July 30, 1945. The distress call is missed and many men die in the water before they are accidentally discovered on August 2, 1945. The ship’s crew was 1196 men. About 800 men entered the water and only 317 survived the ordeal.
Summary – Decision to Drop the Bomb
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected president for his fourth term on November 7, 1944, with a new vice-president, Harry S. Truman. Roosevelt dies on April 12, 1945, which made Truman the president. The first atomic bomb was tested on July 16, 1945. Truman must decide if the bomb that was delivered by the Indianapolis would be used against Japan. It is a dilemma. He can either start Operation Olympic to invade Japan and lose up to a million American casualties or he can use the bomb to kill over 100000 innocent Japanese civilians and end the war. He chooses to drop the first atomic bomb ever used in war.
The bomb explodes over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The B-29 named Enola Gay dropped it and it caused 120000 dead and wounded. Hirohito sought to save face and would not accept an unconditional surrender. On August 9, 1945, the B-29 named Bockscar dropped the Fat Man on Nagasaki and caused 140000 casualties. Japan surrenders on August 14, 1945. General Douglas MacArthur accepts Emperor Hirohito’s surrender on the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945.
Summary – Aftermath of the War
Emperor Hirohito remains the Emperor of Japan but has no power. Douglas MacArthur oversaw the occupation of Japan and was the leader of the United Nations forces in the Korean War. MacArthur wanted to increase the scope of the war to include attacking China but Truman did not want to do that so he dismissed Macarthur from service on April 11, 1951. Mochitsura Hashimoto helped bring the Japanese troops home from China and the retired as a Shinto priest. Robert Oppenheimer created a think tank called the Institute for Advanced Study. He lost his security clearance on suspicion of being a Communist sympathizer and died from throat cancer. Truman was elected president in 1948, but his dismissal of MacArthur in 1951 led to him not seeking re-election in 1952.
Recommendation
I have only detailed five stories in the post, but there are many others in this book. The authors researched the story of the American defeat of Japan and presented it in a quick and compelling manner. I had heard of the historical theory that using the atomic bomb had saved many American soldiers lives, but had not heard it described as completely as the authors have done in this book. I would recommend reading this book to learn about that theory.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Killing the Rising Sun by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29370481-killing-the-rising-sun
This is the first book with history as its subject that I have reviewed. A fiction book that takes historical facts and put them in a fantasy context is American Gods by Neil Gaiman. My review of the book is linked below.