
To atomic blast survivors, winning or losing makes no difference to the pain and suffering they've carried over the last decades. It doesn't return their health, family, friends or neighbors. It doesn't give them back their lost dreams, or salve their open wounds, or make them smile again and nothing will ever take away the memories of the mushroom and it's devastation.
Over a third of Hiroshima's population of 350,000 was melted dead by the blast. Thousands more succumbed to related illnesses and injuries over the years. All carry emotional scar from the gruesome reality of this terrible event. At today's Peace Declaration, the lists of names of 5,221 hibakusha who died during the past year were added to those stored inside the park's monument honoring atomic bomb victims. The number of deceased hibakusha now stands at 253,008.
My close friend Cosmo (Grace) Yamamoto will one day be listed on the monument. She was just a child when the bomb was dropped. Many of her family were killed or injured. Immediately afterward, Cosmo (12 yrs old) was sent to Yokohama to board a ship for Taiwan. Only before boarding she was separated from her escort, then picked up and questioned by American soldiers. Imagine her horror and fear especially when she didn't speak English and the American's didn't speak Japanese. Just wanting to survive she handed over the money meant to offer her assistance in her new life, including the ring on her finger and all her identification. And then she begged in Japanese to be allowed to live.
Years later, Cosmo has not only survived but found a new life. She married an American in 1960 and moved to the United States. She founded several businesses, been an active member of her community, and brought happiness to those around her. But privately, she still suffers from the dropping of the bomb and the events that followed. Loving her, I wish I could take away that suffering, but nothing can....but 'never again'.
The promise of 'never again' and the action of Japan's non-nuclear policy banning the possession, production and import of nuclear arms helps. Ultimately the duty of each of us is to work for the abolition of nuclear weapons...it's the only thing that makes a difference and can bring about the change of peace...
Ben at True Majority shows the insanity of the United State's policy...take a look...then work for change so that Cosmo and the other hibakusha might know some degree of peace.

The lanterns represent the souls of the victims.
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