On July 28^th, I had gone back to Hiroshima, Japan to visit my parents. My father had a stroke so I went to take care of him. I landed at the Hiroshima Airport and from there; I took a cab to get to my home, which was 10 km away from Downtown Hiroshima. My husband was worried that war may conflict on the air route to Japan. When I arrived, I called him. He was relieved when he found out that I reached safely.

Since the Japanese Government had no contact or interest in the Western World, none of them were aware of what was going to happen. In fact, no one in the world knew what was going to happen except the U.S. government and its scientists who were involved in the “top secret” Manhattan Project. The Manhattan project was launched to get back at the Japanese for what they had done to Pearl Harbour. There were rumours being spread around the Hiroshima area that something fatal will be happening.

On August 6^th 1945, I had gone to the drug store to get some medicine for my father. The drug store was 15 km away from downtown Hiroshima. The skies were clear without a single cloud. On my way back from the Drug Store, there was a sudden, white, flash 15 kilometres away from where I was. An explosion followed the flash. I heard the air raid siren. Above the flash, I saw an American bomber fly upwards to avoid getting affected by the bomb. The explosion was followed by a cloud of smoke. I felt the car getting pushed back with some force during the blast. As I got closer and closer to home, I felt the heat rising. This heat was the heat from the radioactive explosion. I later found out that the people who were half a mile away from the blast were exposed to heat exceeding 50 Million degrees Fahrenheit. The heat instantly evaporated their bodies.

Meanwhile, on my way home, I saw fires break out everywhere at Hiroshima. I might have been 10 kilometres away but I could still see it. I was also worried about my parents on my way back. I kept assuring myself that they’d be fine. When I got home, I saw my dad resting on the couch and my mom was cooking. They did not realize what happened because both of them were partially deaf.

A few days later (August 9^th), another atomic bombing occurred on the city of Nagasaki. Such hatred towards the mankind should have never taken place anywhere in the world. There were around 500,000 fatalities throughout both cities. Many others suffered severe burns, blindness, and many quickly succumbed due to the effects of radiation poisoning.