Japanese Atom Bomb Survivors-- Part 7: Another Survivor's Story

This year, the frustration of survivors is even greater because peace events leading up to the August 6, memorial have been largely canceled or scaled back amid the pandemic.  (This article is from August 6, 2020.)

For the first time in over a decade, Keiko Ogura won't provide guided tours of Hiroshima's Peace Park.

Ogura was eight when she saw the searing bright flash outside her house, about 1 1/4 miles from ground zero.  Smashed to the ground, she was woken by her little brother's wail.  The rubble of their house was burning.

Crowds of people with sever burns, their hair charred into curls, headed to a shrine near her home, grunting and asking for water.  Two people dropped dead after receiving water from her, a scene that has haunted her for years.  She blamed herself for surviving when so many others died.

--GreGen

Japanese Atom Bomb Survivors-- Part 6: Another Survivor

"I can't live for another 50 years," said Koko Kondo, 75,  who was an 8-month old baby in her mother's arms when their house collapsed from the blast about a half-mile away.  "I want each child to live a full life, and that means we have to abolish nuclear weapons right now."

Even after so many years, too many nuclear remain, Kondo said, adding, "We are not screaming loud enough for the whole world to hear."

Kondo, who survived is the daughter of the Rev. Kiyoshi Tanimoto, one of  six atomic bomb survivors featured in John Hersey's book "Hiroshima."  She struggled for decades until she reached middle age to overcome the pain she experienced in her teens and the rejection of her fiance.

She was almost 40 when she decided to follow her father's path and become a peace activist.  She was inspired by his last sermon, in which he spoke about devoting his life to Hiroshima's recovery.

--GreGen

Japanese Atom Bomb Survivors Make Urgent Plea-- Part 2: Atom Bombs Ended World War II

According to a recent Asahi newspaper survey of 768 survivors, nearly two-thirds said their wish was a nuclear-free world is not widely shared by the rest of humanity, and more than 70% called on a reluctant Japanese government to ratify a nuclear weapons ban treaty.

"We must work harder to get our voices heard, not just mine but those of many other survivors,"  Lee said in an interview at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.  "A nuclear weapons ban is the starting point for peace."

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The first U.S. atomic bombing killed 140,000 people in the city of Hiroshima.  A second atomic attack on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, killed another 70,000.  Japan, as a result, surrendered August 15, bringing to an end a conflict with the United States that began with its attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

--GreGen

What Happened at Hiroshima-- Part 4: President Obama Visits But Won't Apologize

On May 27, President Obama visited, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima.  He will be accompanied by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.  Obama will lay a wreath at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.

What the president will say is not known, but the White House has emphasized that he will not apologize for the United States' decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the closing days of the war.

The Chicago Tribune editorial where I got these posts  then said, "Nor should he."