Hiroshima Remembered

On Saturday morning (6th August 2005) it will be 60 years since Nuclear Bombs were dropped on Japan. It is estimated that approximately 140,000 people are believed to have died when the B-29 bomber named Enola Gay dropped its deadly payload, turning Hiroshima and its people into living flames. Another plane, Bock's Car, bombed Nagasaki, on the southern Japan island of Kyushu, killed at least 80,000 three days later. Hiroshima, situated 426 miles (686 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo, was charred and leveled beyond recognition. On Aug. 15, 1945, Japan surrendered.

Many died immediately and others died of cancers. Hiroshima officials now put the total number of the dead in this city alone at 237,062. In 2005, 5,000 more names are to be added to the list.Those that were evacuated in time returned to no homes, relatives and the struggle to rebuild.

The pain of such loss must is clearly unbearable. Yet, even after 60 years a superpower like the USA still plans to keep 5,000 warheads — each far more efficient than the one that devastated this city. This aim is upheld by Russia, China, Britain, France, India and Pakistan. These confirmed nuclear powers, current have no plans to give up their arsenals. Instead more countries are looking to join the nuclear nightmare club.

So what is the attraction of nuclear power? It appears that Images of these flattened cities, accounts from survivors and ongoing suffering do not have any impact on the development of these true and real weapons of mass destruction. Instead we see North Korea keen on developing their nuclear capability !?

On Saturday 6th August tens of thousands of people will be packed into Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park. Wreaths will be laid and 1,000 doves set free. Temple bells will ring. As many as 40,000 people are expected to attend the memorial, including Japanese dignitaries. It is said that a theme of peace permeates Hiroshima. Its broad, tree-lined road leading to the park is called the ‘Promenade of Peace.’ Hundreds of thousands visit Hiroshima's Peace Museum every year, and they are greeted at the entrance by a Peace Clock, which counts the days since the bomb was dropped. On Saturday it will reach 21,915. The bomb struck at 8:15 a.m.(11:15 p.m. Friday GMT).

I cannot believe that the world is still obsessed with Nuclear power, its harmful waste and the potential it has to unleash by such destructive weapons. It appears that humanity blindly ignores the mass devastation that it can cause to itself. We need to take heed and ensure that we understand the following inscription based at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Inscribed on a large stone are the words / a message from Pope John Paul's:

’War is the work of man.
War is destruction of human life.
War is death.
To remember the past is to
commit oneself to the future.
To remember Hiroshima is to
abhor nuclear war,
To remember Hiroshima is to
commit oneself to peace.’