Archive for March 25th, 2009

Shimatta!

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

Tsutomu Yamaguchi - The Guardian (UK)(Jemal Countess/WireImage)

Tsutomu Yamaguchi - The Guardian (UK)(Jemal Countess/WireImage)


As reported in the Guardian (UK) on Wednesday, March 25, 2009, back in 1945 Tsutomu Yamaguchi was having a very bad week. As he was in Hiroshima on a business trip on that fateful August 6 when the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb ever used in warfare. He survived with burns and spent the night in an air raid shelter, returning home the next day. Fortunate to have survived, but unfortunate in that his home happened to be Nagasaki. He arrived home on August 8th and the very next day, the second, and to date, the last atomic bomb used in warfare was dropped. He survived that atomic blast as well and is still alive today at 93. I can just imagine what was going through his mind after the first atomic survival…”Whew, I don’t know what that was, but I am glad to be alive. I think I will head home now and try and get over this whole dreadful experience.” Placing what is left of his belongings on his bed he turns in for the night. Waking up the next morning, he hears the air raid sirens wailing through the morning sky and witnesses the second mushroom cloud as he drops his jaw and partially melted toothbrush into the sink shouting, “shimatta!”