Hiroshima - by David

Part of our recent trip included a visit to the southern city of Hiroshima. While I anticipated it would be an emotional experience, I ended up reacting to the sites more powerfully than I thought I would.

Upon our arrival, we took the trolley car from our hotel and got off at the "A-Bomb Dome" stop. Almost immediately after getting off the trolley, we saw the dome pictured above.

I was quickly brought to tears because I have seen black and white images of this building in history books many times. I just couldn't believe I was standing there, personally bearing witness to one of the most horrific events in human history.

The plaque in front of the dome explains that the atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945, and detonated at 8:15am. Interestingly, because the detonation occurred at approximately 1,500 feet directly above this building, the things at "ground zero" sustained the least amount of damage.

Estimates say that about 140,000 people perished immediately. Thousands died later from the after effects. And, as many know, another bomb was dropped over Nagasaki three days later on August 9, 1945, and another 80,000 people lost their lives.

Finally, on August 15, 1945, the Japanese surrendered to the Allies and WWII was over.

To this day, the newspapers in Japan still run editorials about the bombings almost weekly. The debate about how justified the U.S. was in using such weapons remains heated. One side claims that it was completely unethical. The other side points to the fact that both the Axis and Allied powers in WWII had been bombing cities for years, killing tens of thousands of civilians time and time again. In fact, Tokyo was firebombed almost five months before the atomic bombings (on the night of March 9, 1945) and this killed almost 100,000 people without the use of nuclear weapons!

Regardless of whether these events were justified, it is important to note that the museums in Hiroshima point out that Japan had been a warring nation for over a decade before the bombings, and that no events occur in a vacuum.

Hiroshima, as well as most of Japan, seems to find the notion of world peace to be crucial to its identity. We have seen it in the people, their concern for the environment, and the way they treat other human beings. God bless 'em.