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The general concensus was we all learned something

We’ve all heard the name…Nagasaki. Usually we heard it following Hiroshima, the other Japanese city hit by the first nuclear bomb used against enemy combatants in Earth’s history. More than 40,000 people were killed, and untold others affected in some way from the fallout and resulting chaos. It ended our war with Japan, but opened the nuclear age. More than one person in our group mentioned that the current crisis with North Korea runs a distinct parallel with this story. In our age, nuclear war would bring unimaginable suffering and destruction. It would destroy economies, food sources and cultures. It would poison our planet, possibly to the point it would become uninhabitable.

 

The stories told in this book do offer some hope, because there were survivors. People who were exposed to the fallout from the bomb, the months after of uncertainty, and the social scorn for survivors all became something every person had to face. Many of the stories chronicled how people worked together, before and after the bombing to help their neighbors and families. Medical personnel didn’t know how to treat radiation victims, and those who got help often didn’t get what we now know they needed. But we also know the story of the rise of Japan after the war: how the economy fought back and how they made peace with this tragedy, and moved forward. In reality, this is more a story of the resilience of the human spirit than the tragedy of war. Hopefully, we can learn from it.

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