Hiroshima marks 70 years since atomic bombing with call to end "nuclear evil."

What a sad day on human history.

HIROSHIMA, Japan — Japan marked the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Thursday, as its mayor renewed calls for global leaders to rid the world of nuclear weapons, calling them "the absolute evil and ultimate inhumanity."

Tens of thousands of people stood for a minute of silence at a ceremony at 8:15 a.m. in Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park near the epicenter of the 1945 attack, marking the moment the bomb — code named "Little Boy" — made impact. U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and representatives from more than 100 countries, including Britain, France and Russia, attended the ceremony.

"President Obama and other policymakers, please come to the A-bombed cities, hear the hibakusha (surviving victims) with your own ears, and encounter the reality of the atomic bombings," said Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, who criticized nuclear powers for keeping them as threats to achieve national interests. He said the world still bristles with more than 15,000 nuclear weapons.

Sunao Tsuboi was on his way to class at Hiroshima Technical School on Aug. 6, 1945, when the atomic bomb — the world's first — detonated.

Tsuboi remembers a blinding light, followed by a shock wave that hurled him 30 feet and knocked him unconscious. When he awoke, he was covered in burns and could barely walk. All around him was death, destruction and unimaginable horror.


“Bodies everywhere — no arms, no legs, everyone just dead.”
Sunao Tsuboi, Hiroshima survivor


"Houses gone. Bodies everywhere — no arms, no legs, everyone just dead. You look and you ask, 'Were these really human beings?' " Tsuboi, 91, recalled in a recent interview.

The U.S. dropped the bombs to avoid what would have been a bloody ground assault on the Japanese mainland, following the fierce battle for Japan's southernmost Okinawan islands, which took 12,520 American lives and an estimated 200,000 Japanese, about half civilians.

Source

I am not saying there a great thing but If the atom/nuclear bomb was never invented we would of had many more world wars.

mmmmm,ban nukes...........what about countrys that have reactors leaking but cant fix them? They have basically dropped a bomb on them selves,and the rest of the world I reckon.

originally posted by: PickledOnion
I am not saying there a great thing but If the atom/nuclear bomb was never invented we would of had many more world wars.

indeed. The nuclear bomb is the most powerful ever made with devastating effects. Thanks to it, most countries will never go to war.

And yet with the bomb, look at how many countries are involved in war. ...seems like the ones with the bomb are the ones that are in war right now. So if you have a bomb you can invade a country and expect them to just take it. ?

a reply to: Frocharocha

I visited the museum when I was younger

Horrible

It was truly a day that changed the world.

I hope it is never forgotten, and never repeated.
Do a youtube search for Hiroshima documentaries, there are many really good ones out there,
way to many to post here.

Atomic bombs were terrible weapons, and nuclear bombs are even worse,
but we have them, so we should never forget what they do or those who died in order to slap the world out of WW2.
The bombs were a wake up call to the entire world,
and everything changed after.

And to think, Nagasaki was not the intended target that day.I think it was number 3 on the list and almost very nearly not bombed.

The first 2 sites were covered in clouds and scrubbed. Nagasaki was also covered in clouds, but at the last minute it cleared and allowed them to drop the bomb.

US soldier. HEy are we having bar b q?
COmmander: Oh the smell. Thats not bar b q son. Thats people.
US soldier tosses cookies.

Unfortunatly the dropping of those came about because the Japanese emperor was too proud to surender. WHat was that phrase about pride and a fall? Anyway in th eend it saved more lives than it took. Argue th ehows and whys but in th eend it actually prevented a genocide on a scale similiar to the jews by germany.

a reply to: yuppa

As much as I see your point, you can't know that. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but unless you can go back and do it different, you will never know for sure.

On topic it is immensely important that we never repeat the horrors of those events.

a reply to: Darkblade71

What scares me is what happens when the US develop the next step in super weaponry, who will they test that on?

originally posted by: hiddenNZ
mmmmm,ban nukes...........what about countrys that have reactors leaking but cant fix them? They have basically dropped a bomb on them selves,and the rest of the world I reckon.

Although I understand and respect your opinion, I feel that you don't keep up with the news?

From what I understand so far and according to my homework, the Japanese Government (AND NOT THE PEOPLE AS A WHOLE so to speak) want to wash their hands on any wrong doings concerning the Fukushima disaster, this has nothing to do with the country (the people) itself/themselves but those who are high up in TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company)... A CORPORATION... A private company if you like...

For information :

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Friday that Tokyo Electric Power Co should remain in private hands, even though the operator of the quake-stricken nuclear power plant would need financial assistance from the government to deal with the aftermath of the disaster.

Link for full article : uk.reuters.com...

And this :

A Japanese civilian judiciary panel on Friday forced prosecutors to indict three former Tokyo Electric Power (9501.T) (Tepco) executives for failing to take measures to prevent the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Full story here : fukushimaupdate.com...

This is about greed and power within yet another private corporation and its shareholders and not the Japanese people.

The Japanese people of this day... 2015... as a whole are damned right in requesting a ban on nuclear arms after the carnage of Hiroshima and Nagasaki... regardless of what their emperor, his military advisors and his government decided during world war 2.

I would love to know how you felt or would feel if exactly the same things happened to your family, friends and loved ones and your country after 2 bombings such as Hiroshima and Nagasaki and a nuclear disaster?

The Japanese people should not be blamed... just those greedy bastards with the fat wallets wanting to get richer and more powerful...

Kindest respects

Nibbles

originally posted by: Wide-Eyes
a reply to: Darkblade71

What scares me is what happens when the US develop the next step in super weaponry, who will they test that on?

The same place they tested the nukes: the desert of the American southwest.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren't tests, do not devalue anyone involved in the events that day on either side by suggesting that it was a weapons test.

a reply to: Wide-Eyes

when the US develop the next step in super weaponry,

From what i recall, The U.S. didn't develop The Atomic Bomb.

a reply to: Frocharocha

If atomic bombs are to be added as new weapons to the arsenals of a warring world, or to the arsenals of the nations preparing for war, then the time will come when mankind will curse the names of Los Alamos and Hiroshima. The people of this world must unite or they will perish.

Response to question on his feelings about the atomic bombings, while visiting Japan in 1960.
We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and, to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.

Julius Robert Oppenheimer .

Says it all really .

originally posted by: eNumbra

originally posted by: Wide-Eyes
a reply to: Darkblade71

What scares me is what happens when the US develop the next step in super weaponry, who will they test that on?

The same place they tested the nukes: the desert of the American southwest.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren't tests, do not devalue anyone involved in the events that day on either side by suggesting that it was a weapons test.

Well... In a way it was a test so to speak to see how many people both those bombs could kil in short and long term...

After both bombings US military research facilities were sent and set up on both sites to evaluate the long term effects of both bombings....

I cannot for the heck of me remember the name of the US military research group who set up a research facilty in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the wake of the bombing...

Anyone can help it would be much appreciated?

Kindest respects

Nibbles

originally posted by: alldaylong
a reply to: Wide-Eyes

when the US develop the next step in super weaponry,

From what i recall, The U.S. didn't develop The Atomic Bomb.

ACtualy Openheimer WAs a AMerican citizen actually when he did it So yeah....

originally posted by: yuppa

originally posted by: alldaylong
a reply to: Wide-Eyes

when the US develop the next step in super weaponry,

From what i recall, The U.S. didn't develop The Atomic Bomb.

ACtualy Openheimer WAs a AMerican citizen actually when he did it So yeah....

History tells me that The Atomic Bomb development was a U.S. British and Canadian project. Openheimer just lead the project.

originally posted by: PickledOnion
I am not saying there a great thing but If the atom/nuclear bomb was never invented we would of had many more world wars.

That's quite a ridiculous thing to claim, seeing as no Human in history has ever been able to predict the future.

Perhaps if the Nuclear warhead was never developed we would never have had another war because that energy and money would have been put into nuclear energy instead?

Perhaps if those bombs had never been dropped one of those killed could have cured cancer five years later?

originally posted by: hiddenNZ
mmmmm,ban nukes...........what about countrys that have reactors leaking but cant fix them? They have basically dropped a bomb on them selves,and the rest of the world I reckon.

Well, you reckon wrong.
The number of deaths from radiation from the Fukushima accident currently stands at absolutely zero.