"This weapon [the atomic bomb] has added an additional responsibility—or, better, an additional incentive—to find a sound basis for lasting peace. It provides an overwhelming inducement for the avoidance of war. It emphasizes the crisis we face in international matters and strengthens the conviction that adequate safeguards for peace must be found." -- Army Corps of Engineers Lieutenant General Leslie Groves, from his opening address (7 Nov 1945) of Town Hall’s annual lecture series.
Groves led the Army Corps of Engineers' Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bombs dropped 80 years ago this month on August 6 and August 9, 1945, on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, killing thousands but bringing a swift end to World War II. Since Groves spoke, the proliferation of nuclear weapons continued and numerous wars using convention weapons were fought, and are being fought to this day.
(photo: Bettman Archives)
