Hiroshima
I read the other day that eight Jesuit clergy (including Father Hubert Schiffer) survived the 1945 explosion at Hiroshima and suffered no ill effects from the ensuing nuclear radiation. Of course a heavily religious message attached to the story.
Out of curiousity I searched the Internet for Hiroshima survivors. For sure there were many, but the majority were tales of the horrible injuries and radiation effects they suffered. I read citations of estimates of 50,000 living survivors as of last summer. A quick search of the National Museum of Japanese History (English version) scored no hits for Jesuits or Hiroshima. Yale's website chronicles an eyewitness account from a Catholic priest. The Hiroshima Prefecture lists eyewitness accounts from Hatchobori streetcar survivors seven hundred and fifty meters from ground zero. Apparently earthquake risks prompted some reinforced concrete buildings, which made them more incline to withstand the blast despite their proximity - such as the present-day Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
I suppose living in at a time when a thousand soldier deaths in a single war is considered too many makes it all the more startling that this event damaged things as far as 3.2 kilometers from the blast and killed in excess of 80,000 instantaneously, killed 60,000 within a few months, and killed thousands more over time. All from a single bomb on a single day. It's amazing that anyone could survive, but Yale's website suggests 7% of people within 1000 feet of the blast survived it.
My two biggest reactions are:
1) The power of the nuclear reaction is completely out of scope with warfare. It should be eradicated from every nation's arsenal, including my own.
2) The ability for life to survive such a cataclysm is unbelievable. Yet these things happen. How or why is beyond our understanding.
Out of curiousity I searched the Internet for Hiroshima survivors. For sure there were many, but the majority were tales of the horrible injuries and radiation effects they suffered. I read citations of estimates of 50,000 living survivors as of last summer. A quick search of the National Museum of Japanese History (English version) scored no hits for Jesuits or Hiroshima. Yale's website chronicles an eyewitness account from a Catholic priest. The Hiroshima Prefecture lists eyewitness accounts from Hatchobori streetcar survivors seven hundred and fifty meters from ground zero. Apparently earthquake risks prompted some reinforced concrete buildings, which made them more incline to withstand the blast despite their proximity - such as the present-day Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
I suppose living in at a time when a thousand soldier deaths in a single war is considered too many makes it all the more startling that this event damaged things as far as 3.2 kilometers from the blast and killed in excess of 80,000 instantaneously, killed 60,000 within a few months, and killed thousands more over time. All from a single bomb on a single day. It's amazing that anyone could survive, but Yale's website suggests 7% of people within 1000 feet of the blast survived it.
My two biggest reactions are:
1) The power of the nuclear reaction is completely out of scope with warfare. It should be eradicated from every nation's arsenal, including my own.
2) The ability for life to survive such a cataclysm is unbelievable. Yet these things happen. How or why is beyond our understanding.
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1 Comments:
A day later it strikes me that my generation will not appreciate the WWII atomic bombings and I fear a nuclear bombing of a city will again occur within my lifetime. As crazy as that sounds. It happened before because they thought they needed it. Perceived need will no doubt emerge again. Hopefully there will be a single bomb a long time from now in a smaller city, without retaliatory strikes, with adept medical attention able to thwart nuclear radiation. Even that is ridiculous, as it would slay thousands in a fell swoop and level several miles of development. I fear this, especially given the liklihood of it within my own lifetime.
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