Philosophy
Tsutomu Yamaguchi
Remarkable!
Japan has certified a man aged 93 as the only known survivor of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, both hit by atomic bombs towards the end of World War II.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip on 6 August 1945 when a US plane dropped the first atomic bomb.
He suffered serious burns and spent a night there before returning to his home city of Nagasaki just before it was bombed on 9 August.
He said he hoped his experience held a lesson of peace for future generations.
'Horrifying history'
It was already recorded that Mr Yamaguchi had survived the Nagasaki bomb but on Tuesday officials recognised that he had been in Hiroshima as well.
Certification as a hibakusha or radiation survivor qualifies Japanese citizens for government compensation, including medical check-ups, and funeral costs.
His double dose of atomic bombs, however, does not mean Mr Yamaguchi's compensation will increase, a Nagasaki city official said.
"My double radiation exposure is now an official government record," Mr Yamaguchi told reporters.
"It can tell the younger generation the horrifying history of the atomic bombings even after I die."
About 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and 70,000 in Nagasaki.
Many survivors fell sick with radiation-related illnesses, including cancers, for years after the bombings.
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Philosophy
Wrong place; wrong time--twice
Tsutomu YamaguchiRemarkable!
"Man survived both atomic bombings"
March 25th, 2009
BBC
March 25th, 2009
BBC
Japan has certified a man aged 93 as the only known survivor of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, both hit by atomic bombs towards the end of World War II.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip on 6 August 1945 when a US plane dropped the first atomic bomb.
He suffered serious burns and spent a night there before returning to his home city of Nagasaki just before it was bombed on 9 August.
He said he hoped his experience held a lesson of peace for future generations.
'Horrifying history'
It was already recorded that Mr Yamaguchi had survived the Nagasaki bomb but on Tuesday officials recognised that he had been in Hiroshima as well.
Certification as a hibakusha or radiation survivor qualifies Japanese citizens for government compensation, including medical check-ups, and funeral costs.
His double dose of atomic bombs, however, does not mean Mr Yamaguchi's compensation will increase, a Nagasaki city official said.
"My double radiation exposure is now an official government record," Mr Yamaguchi told reporters.
"It can tell the younger generation the horrifying history of the atomic bombings even after I die."
About 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and 70,000 in Nagasaki.
Many survivors fell sick with radiation-related illnesses, including cancers, for years after the bombings.
- The Unluckiest (and Cutest) Man In The World
Hey dear readers, I won't be around for a couple of days, so there may be no entries until next week. In the meantime, though, you've got to get a load of this: Imagine that your name is Tsutomu Yamaguchi: you live in, let's say Japan around...
- Deceased--morris 'dick' Jeppson
Morris 'Dick' Jeppson June 23rd, 1922 to March 30th, 2010 "Morris 'Dick' Jeppson dies at 87; weapons specialist armed the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima" On Aug. 6, 1945, Jeppson and another man armed the bomb called 'Little Boy'...
- Book Of Horrors
The horrors of a nuclear attack. Are you ready for this: He describes the so-called “ant-walking alligators” that the survivors saw everywhere, men and women who “were now eyeless and faceless — with their heads transformed into blackened alligator...
- Pathos And Irony...children Of Radiation And James Yamazaki
Kobayashi Masao "They fled with their arms raised in front like a procession of ghosts." Year of Birth: 1899 Age at time of blast: 45 Age when image created: 74 Will humanity learn? Children of the Atomic Bomb: An American Physicians Memoir of Nagasaki,...
- Little Boy And Fat Man--an Anniversary
Little Boy [foreground] and Fat Man [background] An anniversary in a way of the beginning of nuclear weaponry development and politics--the assertion of world power and dominance. The debate of the use of nuclear weapons on two Japanese cities is still...