Sail On, Honey

Happy Birthday, Chuck.  Sail on honey; good times never felt so good....

Photograph used by permission of SAILING Magazine

August 6, 1945

On August 6, 1945, the atomic bob was dropped on Hiroshima, the first wartime nuclear act in history, killing 140,000 souls.    Three days later, on August 9, 1945, Nagasaki was struck, and 70,000 died.  World War II ended, but the horror of 62 years ago can hardly be comprehended; one cannot believe the hellish images that live on in film and art, images that should be seen so that we never forget. 

I watched an HBO presentation in which survivors described the scenes, and marveled at the stories and images I saw.  Particularly art produced by some of the survivors.  Some of that art can be seen at Mark Vallen's Art For Change web site featuring art of the hibakusha, survivors of the atomic bomb.  With titles such as Melting Hand, Charred Child, Mother On Fire and Gone Mad, one is shaken by the sheer reality of nuclear horror.

An older woman was ten years old at the time.  She and her sister survived, found their mother after the blast and watched her charred body crumble to ashes as they tried to touch her.  "Mommy," she said...this same woman remembered a woman carrying a baby who had no head.  Survivors begged to be killed to be relieve of their misery.  This woman described two types of courage - the courage to live and the courage to die.  Her sister had the courage to die; she had the courage to live and tell her story over half a century later.  One man said that when he wanted to give up he recalled that he was Catholic and suicide was not an option. 

The woman who had the courage to live said that when the Americans came she asked them why they killed her family.  They did not understand and just smiled at her.  She yelled "give them back." 

These next few days mark sacred time for humanity.  A time set aside to remember the destructive capability of the human intellect.  May we remember and be humbled as we do.