COLUMN: Anniversary of V-J Day, A-bombs reminds us of nuclear horror
They were a cute couple: a Japanese man in his mid-40s and his 2-year-old daughter, who waddled clumsily alongside him under the weight of her chest-high ring float. They donned the biggest smiles as they waded in the shallow steps, glad to escape the warmth.
The dad gently nudged his daughter as she floated her way to our end of the pool.
As my friends and I talked, I watched the toddler's short flapping arms make tiny splashes around her and her large, round head bob up and down, still uncertain how to keep out the water.
"She's really cute," I told her dad. "What's her name?"
Beaming with pride, he replied in shy broken English, "Her name is Sa-wako. She just came from Japan, so she doesn't understand English."
Upon becoming the center of attention, little Sawako hid in the safety of her father's reach for a moment, but finally rewarded us with the cutest grin.
She had on large, yellow goggles which covered half of her face and made her look like a pilot. Her giggle revealed crooked little teeth which babies often have.
When they had moved out of earshot, one of my friends gasped and said jokingly, "Today's the 50th anniversary of V-J Day."
It was an innocuous statement. But I snapped back, "That's not even funny."
As I looked at our neighbors who still enjoyed each other's company and the cool refreshing water, I felt a surge of emotions which no horror stories or pictures about World War II on PBS or in history class had ever evoked.
I saw the mushroom cloud that incinerated Hiroshima and Nagasaki 50 years ago. Suddenly I saw little Sawako's pretty grin disappear in a blinding flash of light. I heard her mirthful giggling swallowed up by a deafening roar.
All at once I felt anger, sadness and shame. Indignantly, I muttered, "I claim no relation to America back then. I am not responsible for what happened."
My friend, still in a jesting mood, uttered, "There's no way to escape it. You're one of us. You were responsible for the bomb."
"What they did was completely wrong," I replied in a fit. "There was no need to kill so many innocent civilians. It's so stupid. We could have just attacked their military bases. What did they do to deserve it? How many American civilians were killed in that war? At Pearl Harbor?"
"Probably two."
A long debate ensued in which my friends tried to convince me that the A-bombings had to occur in order to make Japan surrender.
Meanwhile, the contented Japanese couple had quietly left the pool, unaware of the relevance of our heated discussion.
Before the discussion had a chance to veer into the brilliance and stupidity of Hitler, we had argued about such issues as justifying the bombs with the Japanese atrocities in Asia and about the bombs' violations of the Geneva Convention compared to Japan's inhumane treatment of its prisoners.
In retrospect, I really had no right to criticize America the way I did, not having endured the terrors all sides must have suffered then. Nor had I the right to speak for Japan or even for little Sawako.
However, I adamantly maintain my opposition to the usage of the A-bomb and would just as soon deny any allegiance to the administration that allowed the bombs to be dropped.
From 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 6, 1945, when America detonated the first uranium atomic bomb over Hiroshima, to Aug. 9, 1945, when the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, an even months afterwards, over a quarter of a million people died.
The deaths -- to appease vindictive advocates of the A-bomb droppings -- included Koreans, exchange students from China and other areas in Southeast Asia and, yes, even valiant U.S. prisoners of war.
Was this the justice we wanted? Two wrongs did not make a right in this case. I readily reject any patriotic connection to the use of the A-bomb in 1945.
On the same vein, I would like to echo the mayor of Hiroshima Takashi Hiraoka's peace declaration and pleas last August for the abolition of nuclear weapons, particularly in light of the anniversary of the bombings and of the recent French and China nuclear tests.
As he stated, "Considering the indiscriminate nature of nuclear weapons and the cruelty of radiation that passes on negative effects to following generations, I believe that nuclear weapons are in clear violation of international law."
No excuse exists for the nuclear tests now being defiantly planned by France and China except the anticipation of future opportunities for senseless mass destruction and murder.
According to Hiraoka, "If nuclear war does break out, there will be no losers, but neither will there be winners."
How true. The theory of nuclear deterrance will always be a crock like Reagan's Star Wars.
As a member of this generation, I cannot deny responsibility for the future as easily as I had for the past. Hiraoka said that "the problem of how to impress younger generations with the misery of war, the horror of atomic bombings and the importance of peace is a matter of pressing concern." For this reason, I protest the testing of nuclear weapons.
Let's work together to ensure a more harmonious world free of nuclear arms. Let's push to ensure a future.
Now, I speak not only for Sa-wako and for Japan, but also for myself, my family, my friends and the rest of the beautiful world which God has so graciously provided us.
This item appeared in the Opinion section of the September 8, 1995 issue.
Copyright © 1996 The Rice Thresher. All Rights
Reserved.
This document may be distributed
electronically, provided that it is distributed in its
entirety and includes this notice. However, it cannot be reprinted
without the express written permission of:
The Rice Thresher, Rice University, 6100 Main, Houston, TX 77005-1892, USA.
The Thresher Online Project -- ethresh@listserv.rice.edu