Remembering Hiroshima

Today is the 64th anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima. From that attack, about 144,000 people were killed (about half from the initial blast, the others from wounds and illnesses that resulted from the blast). Over the next few decades, hundreds more would develop cancer or leukemia as a result of the radiation from the attack. Most casualties were civilians.

I am glad that no other war has ended in nuclear holocaust; and I do hope that nuclear weapons will never again be used.

I’m not writing to defend or condemn the actions of a war that took place decades before my birth. I know the Japanese Empire was given an ultimatum before the attack was launched and I know that Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor is what officially drew the U.S. into WW2. I’m not interested in rehashing the rationale for the use of such deadly force at Hiroshima; nor am I interested in trying to discern if in the end such action was ethical or necessary. What’s done is done.

What I do want to do today is honor the lives of innocent people lost in every war. I want to acknowledge the horror of Hiroshima, the brutality of war, and the sacredness of human life. And, I want to express an on-going wish for peace in the world and a constant desire for the day to come when conflicts can be settled by means other than violence.

For those who lost their lives at Hiroshima in 1945…Rest in peace.
For all who have lost their lives because of any war at any time…Rest in peace.
For those who risk their lives in service of their country…May you never be unnecessarily placed in harm’s way.
And for our world that longs for peace, justice, and stability…May an Abiding Peace bless us and keep us, now and always. Amen.