A John Lennon Remembrance in Words for the 60th Anniversary of Hiroshima

     

The first atomic bomb

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

-- Lyrics to "Imagine" by
John Lennon, 1971.

 

A-bomb goes off on Hiroshima
   

A watch that survived the blast which stopped at precisely 8:15

Devastation in Hiroshima....
   

One day after the bomb blast

Boy with burned back
   

A woman whose face is disfigured from the blast. Later, when the rain would fall, some of the mobile survivors would actually drink the rain water which was poisonous with radiation.

Young Japanese boy suffers from radiation burns
   

Japanese female whose face is totally disfigured from heat and radiation.

Another burn casualty from the A-bomb

 May Man have learned from the lessons never to repeat again the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki...
 

 
 
Target Hiroshima Nagasaki
Dead/Missing 70,000-80,000 35,000-40,000
Wounded 70,000 40,000
Population Density 35,000 per sq mile 65,000 per sq mile
Total Casualties 140,000-150,000 75,000-80,000
Area Destroyed 4.7 sq mile 1.8 sq mile
Attacking Platform 1 B-29 1 B-29
Weapon(s) 'Tall Boy' 15 kT
(15,000 tons of TNT)		 'Fat Man' 21 kT
(21,000 tons of TNT)
 

 
 

"Ground Zero" at Hiroshima. The A-bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945.

JAPAN - The 509th CG B-29 takes off from North Field, Tinian at 0245 hours. At two-minute intervals, 2 observation B-29's follow. At 0815 hours local, an atomic bomb is released over Hiroshima from 31,600 ft; it explodes 50 seconds later. More than 80% of the city's buildings are destroyed and over 71,000 people are killed. The B-29 lands on Tinian at 1458 hours followed within the hour by the 2 observation aircraft.

-- Source: Air War Pacific Chronology: America's Air War Against Japan in East Asia and the Pacific 1941-1945" by Eric Hammel, (Pacifica, CA: Pacifica Press, 1988, ISBN 0-935553-26-6)

 

     
 

 
     

The atomic bomb used to flatten Nagasaki...
 


Today, Japan does not forget the loss of life and destruction through nuclear weapons...

Hiroshima's A-bomb dome is a constant daily reminder of the consequences of a nuclear bomb
A young woman rings the bell on the 60th Anniversary of Hiroshima

Japanese visitors at Peace Memorial Park

Japanese Youth Rally-- they file in a field declaring "Stop Nuclear DU Weapons."  The hut by the two vans at the top had musicians providing "live" entertainment.