As the United States contemplates using weapons of mass destruction in the current conflict, let us learn what the original bomb did in Japan. In this brief article, you will hear the testimonies of the Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors).

I went to Japan in the ’80s to learn more fully what the effect of our atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been. I learned it was horrifying. Nobody knew what had hit them. People died instantly, or walked blindly in the streets naked, with their skin hanging in shreds. Many leapt into the river and drowned.

I interviewed survivors wherever I could find them in their homes, at special meetings, in the hospital. In Nagasaki, Hibakusha invited me to stay with them. I did.

On August 6, 1945 only nine days short of the Pacific War-an ugly bomb called “Little Boy”, which contained 1 kg. of Uranium 230, was dropped from an American B 29 bomber called the “Enola Gay” and exploded in midair above Hiroshima. It had the equivilant of 20 thousand tons of TNT, a massive blow. Radiation made its debut as a lethal weapon in the history of war. 570 meters above the center of this city, a sun of 300,000 degrees centigrade suddenly flashed, and 6/l0ths of a second later, a fireball with a diameter of 180 meters emerged. The ground temperature was 6,000 degrees centigrade, and the blast of the bomb tore down all structures after one day and night.

Hiroshima was turned into ashes and trash. One fourth of the total population of 400,000 people died instantly. 240,000 more were ultimately lost because 1000 rads of radiation had penetrated their bodies.

THE HIBAKUSHA TESTIMONIES:

“Somebody! Please help! Don’t bother with me! Just this child!”

“The tramcar was blown off the rails by the blast. Some managed to escape, but those left inside were burned to death.”

“Fleeing from the fire in the streets, people jumped into the river. Many of them were so weak, they drifted into the sea and drowned.”

“A mother was shouting her child’s name in a high shrieking voice. None of the children dying around her seemed to be her child.”

“The little girl crouched, and leaning against the stone bank of the river, died in this posture. No one came to save her.”

“Due to the bomb blast, dust and fission products swirled up into the sky. Some hours later, the “black rain” fell, baptizing the citizens with a second radiation.”

“Thousands died after being taken to an island in the inland sea. There a burial for thousands was temporarily erected.”

“From nearby villages and towns, thousands of people headed for Hiroshima to extend help.”

“The fire went to the fringe of the city and continued to burn all night. Morning came. Fire was still smoldering in Hiroshima. It entered the city. Many people were dead in the fire-prevention water tank. Their bodies were scorched black. I saw a dead woman, her body scorched black, holding a dead child in her arms, still in her arms, still in running position.”

“A thirty-four year old father had to cremate his three-year-old daughter, Hisako. He remembers. Her fat burned and melted. The flames formed a pillar. Truly this is hell.”

“A single doctor treated several hundred fire-burnt patients. Zinc, oil, and gauze were used up immediately. Treatment was a mere allocation of Mercurochrome. What good did it do?”

“Maggots swarmed on burns. An infant crawls to an unconscious mother’s breast.” “Two weeks passed. Those who had not been injured but were within 8/10th of a mile radius noticed their hair started to fall out. Half of these people died.” “Purpura, a purple spot disease, appeared among the victims. The capillaries were destroyed and the blood lost its capacity to coagulate. These were called death-spots.”

Thirty years later, the city of Hiroshima was beautifully restored. An Italian peacemaker, Danilo Dolci, remarked: “This is a testimony to the most stupid thing humanity can do. The ruins should have been left as they were, and not reconstructed.”

The message from Hiroshima to all people was: “Rest in peace; we shall not repeat this sin.”

Alas, we are threatening the world to do this again. Is this what you want to have happen? Is there any cause worth bombing anyone? Is there any cause worth beginning a war?