Note: Archbishop Etienne is on a Pilgrimage of Peace to Japan “to establish an ecclesial and personal relationship with the bishops of Japan to work toward the abolition of nuclear weapons, expressing our heartfelt sorrow for the devastating experiences endured by their nation.” We are sharing his blog posts during the pilgrimage.
HIROSHIMA, Japan — Today I had the special honor to meet and visit with one of the hibakusha, survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Aug. 6, 1945. Setsuko Thurlow was 13 years old the day of the bombing. She was inside a building on the second floor, approximately one mile away from the hypocenter of the bomb, with others of her age, and was trapped for some time. When she was finally helped free of her entrapment and able to go outside (it was daytime as the bomb dropped at 8:15 a.m.) it was so dark. It was totally silent, except for the many people she could hear asking for water or calling for their mothers to help them.
As she began to walk, she saw nothing but dead people, and those who were living were horribly burned, with flesh hanging off them. She made her way to an army camp outside of town, which she said was about the size of two football fields, and it was already overcrowded with the survivors, many of whom were dying, or had already died.
Everyone was begging for water, but there were not buckets or cups to carry water to them. She remembers going to the river, tearing off her clothes and soaking them in the water and carrying it back to place on the mouths of those begging for a drink, only to watch many of them die.
She believes she lost something like 8,000 of her classmates and others of her same age, instantly vaporized on that terrible day. By the end of December 1946, nearly 140,000 people had died from the atomic bomb that wiped out her entire city in one day. Just a few days later, another bomb would drop on Nagasaki, taking the lives of another 75,000 people. Many more would die years later from radiation poisoning and various other illnesses.
Setsuko has spent her life advocating for the abolition of nuclear weapons. After my tour today of the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Memorial Museum I was so profoundly moved, saddened, even sickened by all that I saw and learned. I am even more convinced and committed to following Setsuko’s lead to work for peace and to advocate for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us!
Read more of Archbishop Etienne’s reflections from the Pilgrimage of Peace to Japan on his blog. Read daily updates on the pilgrimage here.