World entered atomic age with Hiroshima bombing

Sixty years ago today, the United States ushered the atomic age by bombing Hiroshima. The atomic bomb used weighed only half as much as the largest aerial bombs used before 1945, but produced a detonation equal to a stalk of explosives the size of the Washington monument. Unfortunately, it did not convince Emperor Hirohito to surrender. So the Americans dropped a second bomb in Nagasaki. It was good that the second bomb convinced the Emperor to surrender. Because the truth is that, at that point in time, the United States had only one more atomic bomb in research. In a way, we can say that it was the atomic bomb that brought World War II to a stop and restored global peace.

We personally know a Japanese lady who literally survived the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. Her name is Mrs. Hiroko Thomson. Her husband is James Marsh Thomson who was the American head of the Peace Corps in the Philippines. They are the parents of the Philippines' outstanding Olympic swimmer Gillian Akiko Thomson. To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, we would like to quote the reflections of that bombing as recorded by Hiroko Thomson’s twin sister, Hisako Nakamura. Here is her account:

"We are a family of 10. My father went out for his wartime volunteer work by bicycle early in the morning. A bomb warning went off past 8 a.m., I was hurrying to go to work, there was a clear blue sky, I thought it was going to be a hot day. I went to the door and in a second there was a flash and hissing noise. All of a sudden my head and back were covered by debris from the fallen pillars, wall and roof tiles. I couldn’t breathe nor move. I imagined a bomb had been dropped. I assumed I was going to die. I do not usually pray, but automatically I uttered prayers.

"I don’t know how much time passed. Finally I saw some light coming through, I could move a little, I am alive! I struggled to get out. Underneath me I felt my four-year old younger sister Fumiko who was sheltered under me, she had been playing nearby. I was shocked to see that our whole house had fallen and that the pine tree and magnolia tree in the garden were all burned up. I saw my mother: her whole body was soaked in blood and cut by broken glass. Soon my nine-year old brother Yutaka got out of the house. My 14-year old younger sister, Shizue, had stayed home from school because of a stomach ache, and had just returned from an errand. My mother, one sister and brother rushed into our shelter.

"Shizue and I tried to find our four-month old twin sisters who were sleeping in a glassed room. We wallked on top of our fallen roof. My mother tried to stop us saying, ‘The babies are dead, if you go out you are going to die!’ I understood my mother’s conclusion, but we continued to search and found a blue mosquito net under which the twins were sleeping. After digging and removing debris, I saw a baby in a white kimono lying on its stomach in the debris of our collapsed house. I pulled her out and then I saw the other twin baby. I thought the babies were dead because their bodies were hard like a corpse.

"I brought them to my mother. My sister was injured by stepping on a nail and my mother’s eyes were blinded by blood. I searched where the kitchen had been and found a kettle. With a little water, my mother wiped the babies’ faces with water and we heard a baby cry! Both of them Yaiko and Hiroko were alive! I saw a futon and cloth under the debris but couldn’t pull them out. I could see smoke coming from the rubble, I tried to spray water, but to no avail. A big tall black fire was coming out from our neighbor’s factory. We were all going to be engulfed in fire. Let’s run! I pulled out one piece of corrugated roofing to cover our shelter. While we were escaping from the fire, we heard people burned, trapped and moaning all over asking for our help. We were helpless. All this is difficult to describe in words.

"After that I suffered diarrhea for a year and my period stopped for a year as well. After 10 months I went back to work only to find out a majority of my co-workers in the bank had perished. Until today I can see everything in my eyes so vividly. It should never, never be repeated in our world."