I’ve spent the last 3 days in Hiroshima studying everything to do with the atomic bomb. It can be very taxing emotionally to be around the A-bomb dome and the Peace Park Museum. There were a lot of elderly Japanese people paying their respects and weeping at the A-bomb dome. Undoubtedly, some of these men and women lived through the bomb and the memories are still very vivid to them. I wanted to talk to some of them about the incident, but didn’t have the guts.
The "A-Bomb Dome". This was one of the only buildings left standing in Hiroshima after the Nuke hit. They left it standing as a reminder to never forget about the events that happened on that horrible day in August of 1945.
Me in front of the A-Bomb Dome.
The bomb exploding 600 meters directly above the bridge you see in the left of the picture.
The Peace Flame. This flame has been burning since WW2 and will not be extinguished until every nuclear weapon in the world is destroyed.
Memorial services are held here every August 6th
Hiroshima pic - post bomb
Since 1966, every time a country in the world tests a nuclear weapon, the mayor of Hiroshima personally writes them a letter asking them to please cease testing nuclear weapons. A wall at the museum is dedicated to these letters. There are HUNDREDS of them. Most of them are sent to the US and Russia (go figure). The current nuke count in the world is as follows: Russia 4000 nukes, USA 2700 nukes, France 300 nukes, Britain 60 (I believe)
People started to set up make-shift shelters. 2 months after the A-bomb.
Actual clothes that were worn by school children that day.One childs story and drawing.
One childs story and drawing.
This picture hit me the hardest. This is 2 orphans shining shoes on the streets of Hiroshima after their parents were klilled in the blast. It would make you grow up awful fast wouldn't it...
Kamikaze Canuck 
Really makes you appreciate everything we have, doesn’t it? And slaps you in the face from the horror of war, that we hopefully never will experience..
Absolutely it does Mike. The testimonies of the victims were very hard to read. It was undoubtedly the hardest part of the museum for me. One testimony was written by an eleven year old boy who was at school when the bomb hit. He was buried under the rubble of the school (with nearly all of his bones broken) and was dug out by two of his 11 year old classmates. Even though his classmates were badly burnt themselves, they manages to pack him across the city to a hospital. But when they got to the hospital, they found that it was completely leveled and none of the doctors or nurses survived. So his 2 friends cared for him on the banks of the river that runs through Hiroshima. He credits his survival to his 2 friends.
Amazing story.
After reviewing the websters definition of terrorism. I believe this is the worst terrorist attack in history, also the only one using nuclear weapons.
I believe it is the worst terrorist attack in history. The US claims that they dropped pamphlets on Hiroshima by air 3 days before the bombing to warn the civilians of the upcoming bomb. But the civilians say they didn’t see a thing.
Either way, to drop a bomb of this size on a CITY….. not a military base….. but A CITY is wicked beyond words. I couldn’t even comprehend the damage it did until I came here.
I got me wondering why we have moments of silence for events like 9/11, but nothing for an event like this. To be clear, 9/11 was terrible and deserves to be remembered. But 3,500 fatalities pales in comparison to the lives that these two bombs took (nearly a million including the post radiation deaths). Thoughts?