Mulloskeys Adventures Abroad

It was here that I experienced the other two emotions I referred to on the earlier post; the horror and anguish that would change me. Erin and been here before but it was no less powerful for her. The museum provided its visitors 1) the history of the city and how it was the military hub for Japan’s many wars, 2) The facts of the A-bomb dropping, namely what, how, who, when, why etc.. 3) The facts on the world’s continued amassing of nuclear weaponry and the failing peace efforts to rid the world of Nuclear weapons; the headquarters of those efforts being Hiroshima.4) The experience of the victims and supporting documentation & artifacts.
1) I was impressed by the transparency by which the history of the city and Japans wars was presented. The spoke of invasions, the slaughtering of 300,000 Chinese during the Boxer Rebellion prior to WWII, the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima as a military hub for hundreds of years, and how in Hiroshima there were thousands of Chinese and Korean forced laborers who were also casualties of the A-Bomb.

2) I feel like I could teach a university course on the facts of the A Bomb. August 6th, 1945, 8:15 am.

The museum had copies of letters form Albert Einstein to FDR, signature and all, warning in the late 30’s that the Germans were in the process of developing an A-Bomb and the Americans had better do it first. Other letters signed by Presidents Roosevelt authorizing the Manhattan project, and correspondence between him and Churchill on whether to drop it on Germany or Japan. Another misconception I had was that the bomb was dropped to end the war more quickly, and the end result would be to save more lives. This wasn’t entirely true. In fact, the major reason was to send a message to Russia who the UK and US knew was becoming a looming post war threat. They needed to demonstrate the full power of this weapon so Hiroshima and Nagasaki were spared in other bombing raids. Russia had signed an accord to invade Japan three months after VE Day in Europe. When the Americans and the Brits saw what was happening with the division of Germany in the post-war era, they wanted to keep Russia out of Japan.
The Airforce sent 3 bombers for the mission, two to parachute measuring devices and film it, and the infamous Enola Gay which dropped the bomb which was aimed for the Aioki “T” bridge in the centre of town (repaired and still functioning today). The bomb exploded 600 meters above ground and created a fireball equivalent to the temperature of the sun. That’s 4000-6000 degrees Celcius. A misconception I had for years was the A-Bomb was a huge explosion, in fact it is a release of so much energy that the incredible heat is what destroys everything. The wind force is a result of this energy release and drastic change in temperature. Hiroshima wasn’t blown up – it was melted from a sun 600m above the centre of the city. A modest case sits in the corner near the huge model of the city. In it is a badly damaged watch, though clearly visible is the stopped time of 8:15.

When you see pictures and models of all the destruction you cannot fathom how we currently have an H-Bomb over 1000 times more powerful.
3) There is a wall with silver copies of telegrams. The display reads: “Every time a country tests a nuclear weapon the current mayor of Hiroshima sends a telegram deploring what they have done and pleading for the abolishment of nuclear weapons on Earth. Each time he hopes it will be the last telegram ever sent.” There were several hundred of these letters now turned to tiny plaques. In the bottom right corner 2 new letters have not had the time to be turned into plaques yet. these are paper telegrams addressed to G.W. Bush for a test in August (He has received 10 telegrams during his presidency), and the first one sent to Kim Jong Il dated October 10th of this year. There is a whole section of the museum showing just how much nuclear weaponry exists today, the destructive powers and the discussions that have taken place at the UN over the past 50 years.
4) This is by far the most haunting part of the tour. We will never forget it so long as we live. Here you see the stone steps and wall with the shadows of people burned into the concrete. Half melted clothes, shoes, belts, watches that relatives found in a feeble effort to find their loved ones; or their remains. Dioramas of people whose skin is literaly melting off and their faces unrecognizable. Journals from parents who recount their barely alive children or spouses who crawled home over 4 km away, only to die that night. Pictures drawn by children survivors of people throwing themselves in the river for some relief form the heat and their injuries, some at home were begging for death. Stories of how those left alive cried in vein for help, water or their parents. I will not describe the part of the tour showing the radiation wounds and deformities suffered long after.

Keep in mind there was no hospital left standing to treat anyone, let alone supplies and staff. Slowly overnight, and the next week, the majority of victims died horrible deaths. One very important thing to remember, amid all these horrors, the people of Hiroshima did not know what was happening to them. They did not know of such a thing as an A-Bomb. If anything could have made it worse, it must have been the uncertainty of what was going on and why. Again, this I didn’t feel that this was something that happened to OTHER people, this was something that happened to US. And it happened here. Right where I was standing. The ground was never cultivated or excavated. Cross sections of ground show the melted debris on 60-80cm below the park soil. It was at this point in the tour that I became too overwhelmed, too engaged. I was becoming physically ill and needed to leave the museum as quickly as possible.
Outside we walked and didn’t speak a word for a long while. Though still ill for a time afterwards, we felt privileged for the experience. I have been to other war museums, and to the Holocaust museum in Washington DC. It too was very haunting but it was far less tangible. Here you walked out of the museum and you were there. You are walking on the same ground. You can look into the sky and imagine just what happened. It was truly one of the most valuable I have ever had. There is nothing more important than bearing witness to this and remembering this horror – it is the only way to make sure it won’t happen again.