To Hell and Back: The Last Train from Hiroshima (Asia/Pacific/Perspectives)

by Charles Pellegrino

Though the Truman Administration and the media would officially list it together with the first atomic test in the New Mexico desert, and with the Nagasaki bomb, in the 20–30 kiloton range, it was in fact a 10–12.5 kiloton “disappointment.” The design would never be used again. Some engineers and scientists would even go so far as to call it a “dud,” but humanity would be forever haunted by the power of a bomb that merely “fizzled,” like a damp firecracker.1

“Among humankind’s abilities, it is said imagination is the weakest and forgetfulness the strongest. We cannot by any means, however, forget Hiroshima, and we cannot lose the ability to abolish war. Hiroshima is not just a historical fact. It is a warning and a lesson for the future.”

The powerful, then and now, use the power for themselves without regard for others. Today, if the people do not question, if they go along with the flow and are led to their doom, it will be as much their fault as the [fault of the] stupid leaders who take them there.”