Aftermath

No photos or exciting adventures for this post, I wanted to share a short conversation from breakfast this morning. Everyone knows that on August 9th 1945 the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and that the Japanese surrendered shortly thereafter. 75,000 people died in the blast, most crying out for water, another 75,000 were seriously injured. Today, 66 years later the Japanese people of Nagasaki are still paying for the decision of a single man (President Truman). Okasan was telling us of the number of people she knew that had Leukemia (Hakketsubyou in Japanese). People born long after the war, 3rd and 4th generation from those who were alive at the time, even on of Kotone's friends has Leukemia. This was not everyone she knew who had cancer, just those with Leukemia (because this form of cancer is most closely linked with radiation exposure). A grandchild of one of their friends has it, that would be like Caleb (my 2 year old nephew) having Leukemia because of something that happened so long ago and so far removed from his lifetime. It's just horrifying and sad in a way that I just can not convey, I literally have to choke back tears as I write this. What we did to these people is still affecting them today it is not over yet, World War II might have ended long ago, the city might have been rebuilt, but time has not repaired the damage done to the lives here. Okasan said something at the end that will remain burned into my mind and I think it best to end this with her words. She said, "It is not over yet, we will do our best."