August 6, 1945  - The U.S. drops the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. The city is virtually destroyed. Three days later, a second bomb falls on Nagasaki, Japan. On September 2, the Japanese officially surrender and the war is over. Three hundred thousand American lives have been lost. In the six years of war, more than 54 million have died worldwide. Six hundred men and women from Mecklenburg County have given their lives in the fight for freedom. World leaders vow that such a war will never be fought again.