Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 (The Pacific War Trilogy Book 3)

by Ian W. Toll

wards were filled with an estimated 10,000 horribly burned and wounded patients. Little could be done for the worst burn cases. If the doctors even tried to remove their clothing, the skin peeled off with it. Signs of radiation poisoning were seen even on August 6; they would grow more distinct in the following weeks and months. Victims bled through the skin, gums, and eyes; they vomited blood, or expelled bloody diarrhea; their hair came out in clumps. Many patients in the hospital received nothing but a dab of iodine on their wounds. One man confronted a doctor at the hospital, asking why the medical staff were doing nothing for the immense crowds in Asano Park. The doctor replied: “In an emergency like this, the first task is to help as many as possible—to save as many lives as possible. There is no hope for the heavily wounded. They will die. We can’t bother with them.”