A woman prays in front of a cenotaph for the victims of the the U.S. 1945 atomic bombing, in the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima August 5, 2009.

Sixty-one percent of Americans believe the United States did the right thing by dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 64 years ago, according to a new poll.

Older voters, men and Republicans favored the attacks more than younger people, women and Democrats¹, the survey of 2,409 registered voters by Quinnipiac University showed.

Asked whether the United States "did the right thing or the wrong thing by dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki," Republicans said it was the right thing to do by a margin² of 74 to 13 percent, while Democrats favored it 49 to 29 percent.

People over 55 years old favored it by 73 to 13 percent while people aged³ 18 to 34 favored it 50 to 32 percent.

Men approved of the attacks 72 to 17 percent versus⁴ 51 to 27 percent for women.

Blacks and Hispanics were split. Blacks said it was the wrong thing to do by 36 to 34 percent. Hispanics said it was the right thing to do by 44 to 43 percent.

The United States dropped single bombs on the two Japanese cities in August 1945, killing⁵ tens of thousands immediately and many more later from radiation sickness.

Americans widely credit the attacks with ending World War Two, believing they may have saved lives because Japan would not have surrendered otherwise.

Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said American support has remained firm over the decades, though it was down from 85 percent approval in a Gallup poll conducted shortly after the bombings.

最新调查显示，61%的美国民众认为64年前美国向日本广岛和长崎投掷原子弹是正确之举。

昆尼皮亚克大学对2409位登记选民的调查显示，与年轻人、女性和民主党人相比，年长选民、男性和共和党人更支持投掷原子弹。

在被问及您是否认为美国“向广岛和长崎投掷原子弹是正确之举”时，赞成和反对此举的共和党受访者各占74%和13%，而对民主党来说，这一比例分别为49%和29%。

55岁以上的受访者中支持和反对此举的比例各占73%和13%，18岁至34岁的受访者中这一比例分别为50%和32%。

72%的男性受访者支持投掷原子弹，17%反对，女性受访者中这一比例各占51%和27%。

非洲裔和拉美裔受访者分歧很大。非洲裔受访者中反对者占多数，支持和反对的比例各占34%和36%，而拉美裔受访者中支持者占多数，支持和反对比例各占44%和43%。

1945年8月，美国向日本（广岛和长崎）两座城市各投掷了一枚原子弹，数万人瞬时殒命，之后又有更多人死于辐射病。

多数美国人认为此举推动了二战结束，并挽救了很多生命，因为如果当时不这么做，日本就不会投降。

昆尼皮亚克大学民调研究所副主任皮特•布朗称，虽然与投掷后不久盖洛普民意测验所显示的85%的支持率相比有所下降，但在过去几十年中，美国人一直坚定地支持当年的轰炸行动。