Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Of course it wasn’t arbitrary, but it certainly seems so. August 9, 1945 was the day Fat Man was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, for all practical purposes ending World War II. Just three days before, the city of Hiroshima had been destroyed by a similar nuclear blast. Although this second bomb was more powerful, the loss of human life was considerably less due to the geography of the area. Nevertheless, between 39,000 – 80,000 died from the explosion, with roughly half of the deaths occurring the day of the bombing. War is always horrific and the ethics of the use of this atomic power continues to be debated today.
But let’s put aside the big picture for a moment and reflect on the incident from a more personal level. It’s estimated there were 263,000 people in the city that day when 11 pounds of plutonium were dropped. Imagine you just happened to be in that city that particular day. The raid had been scheduled for two days later with the primary target being the city of Kokura, but plans changed due to weather considerations. At 7:50 a.m., an air raid alert was sounded but this was followed by an all clear signal soon after when only two B-29 Superfortresses were sighted and it was assumed they were only on a reconnaissance mission. The bomb was released at 11:01 a.m. Japanese time, and 47 seconds later it exploded above a tennis court. Imagine you were in a different city, or were there on a different day, or different time.
One of the realities we must face is that modern warfare kills indiscriminately. And the end of the final battle—is that conducted indiscriminately too? The answer has to be a resounding NO. “…each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:13-15 NIV) And there is another difference—this battle will be final, absolute, no POWS. But perhaps the greatest difference is that nothing will be randomly done. While the outcome of the final battle will be conclusive, it will also be unequivocally fair.