Nuclear Non-Proliferation UN Delegates from Japan
On April 26th, I was able to meet the UN Delegation from Japan on Nuclear Non-Proliferation. They had stopped at the International Peace Museum in Dayton, OH on their way to New York.
The main speaker was Rumi Hanagaki, a 70 year old survivor of Hiroshima, who was 5 years old in 1945. She spoke no English, and yet the passion in her voice, the tears that streamed down her eyes provoked such an emotion in me that words were not needed. She did have a translator with her and slowly the story of what happened to her on that day was revealed.
She said that they had received earlier air raid warnings, but were told it was okay to go back to their houses. She was inside her house when the bomb fell 1.7 km from her home. She was thrown across the room, and her head was impaled on an exposed nail. By the way, that wound took 35 years to heal.
The house caught on fire, her mother was frantic to seek shelter in the burning inferno. They sought shelter in a hen house, the chickens blackened, their wings burnt off. Her mother so gentle with animals in the past, began kicking and stepping on the chickens to get them out of the way so she could protect her own children. Little Rumi didn't understand what was happening. In the video clip below she explains the popping of the bamboo forest as it burned.
The events of that day were so tramatic that she lost all memories of it until she turned 60. I took my son along with me that day so he could hear her speak. He plays all those x-box war games, and I wanted him to meet someone who went through a nuclear attack and to hear her story and to hear how an event like this affects your life, your spirit, your community, your country.
Rumi was very graphic as she explained what she saw as they made their way to safety. Things no one should see, things no child should ever witness.
As I listened to Rumi, I realized that she was the first survivor of a nuclear bomb that I had seen or heard. We all know about the Holocaust survivors, but why haven't we ever heard about Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors?
Here is Rumi on the right along with her translator. This little woman was so powerful in her tale, everyone's eyes were brimming with tears.
This delegation presented the Peace Museum two copper cranes as a symbol of peace. The cranes were beautiful, so delicate and I was amazed the artist could have created these out of copper.
The day before her talk with us, Rumi visited Wright Patterson Air Force Base who ironically was having a large gathering of B-52 bombers. My sister, Missy, went and you can see the photos she took on facebook. Although we admire the artwork, I wondered if people viewing those airplanes realized what these planes did.
Yumi saw the U.S. bomber Bockscar which dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki in 1945 during World War II.
As the National Museum of the United States Air Force gives no explanation on casualties and other data about the atomic bombing, Rumi Hanagaki said in tears, "I hope the museum will show the negative aspect of history by displaying materials on atomic-bomb victims."
Rumi's mission is simple... she wants no one else to ever have to undergo a nuclear attack. I hope the UN and the world heeds her words, take them to heart, and begin the process of embracing all their neighbors.
The main speaker was Rumi Hanagaki, a 70 year old survivor of Hiroshima, who was 5 years old in 1945. She spoke no English, and yet the passion in her voice, the tears that streamed down her eyes provoked such an emotion in me that words were not needed. She did have a translator with her and slowly the story of what happened to her on that day was revealed.
She said that they had received earlier air raid warnings, but were told it was okay to go back to their houses. She was inside her house when the bomb fell 1.7 km from her home. She was thrown across the room, and her head was impaled on an exposed nail. By the way, that wound took 35 years to heal.
The house caught on fire, her mother was frantic to seek shelter in the burning inferno. They sought shelter in a hen house, the chickens blackened, their wings burnt off. Her mother so gentle with animals in the past, began kicking and stepping on the chickens to get them out of the way so she could protect her own children. Little Rumi didn't understand what was happening. In the video clip below she explains the popping of the bamboo forest as it burned.
The events of that day were so tramatic that she lost all memories of it until she turned 60. I took my son along with me that day so he could hear her speak. He plays all those x-box war games, and I wanted him to meet someone who went through a nuclear attack and to hear her story and to hear how an event like this affects your life, your spirit, your community, your country.
Rumi was very graphic as she explained what she saw as they made their way to safety. Things no one should see, things no child should ever witness.
As I listened to Rumi, I realized that she was the first survivor of a nuclear bomb that I had seen or heard. We all know about the Holocaust survivors, but why haven't we ever heard about Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors?
Here is Rumi on the right along with her translator. This little woman was so powerful in her tale, everyone's eyes were brimming with tears.
This delegation presented the Peace Museum two copper cranes as a symbol of peace. The cranes were beautiful, so delicate and I was amazed the artist could have created these out of copper.
The day before her talk with us, Rumi visited Wright Patterson Air Force Base who ironically was having a large gathering of B-52 bombers. My sister, Missy, went and you can see the photos she took on facebook. Although we admire the artwork, I wondered if people viewing those airplanes realized what these planes did.
Yumi saw the U.S. bomber Bockscar which dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki in 1945 during World War II.
As the National Museum of the United States Air Force gives no explanation on casualties and other data about the atomic bombing, Rumi Hanagaki said in tears, "I hope the museum will show the negative aspect of history by displaying materials on atomic-bomb victims."
Rumi's mission is simple... she wants no one else to ever have to undergo a nuclear attack. I hope the UN and the world heeds her words, take them to heart, and begin the process of embracing all their neighbors.
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