DAY 61 - NAGASAKI, JAPAN - MARCH 29, 2010

IT’S ANOTHER EARLY TO RISE KIND OF DAY AS WE HAVE TO EAT, CLEAR IMMIGRATIONS AND MEET FOR OUR EXCURSION ALL BEFORE 9:00 AM. WE ARE IN SOMEWHAT OF A QUANDARY AS HOW TO DRESS WHILE IN NAGASAKI. THE TEMPERATURE HAS DROPPED AT LEAST 10 DEGREES CELSIUS OVER THE LAST TWO DAY AS WE HEAD NORTH. WE ARE EXPECTING TEMPS IN THE HIGH 50’S. IT HAS NOT BEEN THIS COLD, FOR US, SINCE OUR EXCURSION TO COPPER CANYON IN FEBRUARY. I GUESS WE WILL BREAK OUT THE LARRY PULLOVERS TO KEEP WARM.

THE DAY HAS ENDED AND WE ARE PULLING OUT TO SEA AS I TYPE. THE SUN HAS ALREADY SET AND ALTHOUGH IT HAD PROMISE FOR A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET, IT DID NOT MATERIALIZE.

IMMIGRATION PROCESSING WAS A FIRST OF A KIND, ONE THAT WE HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE. AS IMMIGRATION OFFICER EXAMINED OUR PAPERS WE WERE INSTRUCTED TO PLACE OUR POINTER FINGERS IN THE SLOTS FOR ELECTRONIC FINGER PRINTING. WE THEN STARED INTO A SMALL MIRROR SO OUR EYES WOULD BE PHOTOGRAPHED. I GUESS WE ARE NOW ON FILE WITH THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT...FOREVER.

OUR CHOICE FOR TODAYS EXCURSION WAS THE WAR MEMORIAL TOUR, WHICH INCLUDED THE ATOMIC BOMB MUSEUM AND NAGASAKI PEACE PARK. BOTH EXHIBITS BRING TO LIFE THE HORRIBLE TRAGEDIES OF WAR, ATOMIC OR OTHERWISE.

THE MUSEUM SITS HIGH ON A HILL OVERLOOKING EPICENTER PLAZA. WE MET INSIDE THE MUSEUM AND RECEIVED A FEW INSTRUCTIONS INCLUDING MEETING TIMES IN CASE WE BECAME SEPARATED. A LONG CYLINDER SHAPED WALKWAY LED US TO THE LOWER LEVEL EXHIBITION HALL. IT REMINDED GEORGIA AND I OF A SIMILAR WALKWAY LEADING OUT OF THE VATICAN MUSEUM IN ROME.

THE BOMB, CALLED “FATMAN”, WAS RELEASED OVER NAGASAKI BY THE “BOXCAR”, A USA B-52 BOMBER, ON AUGUST 9, 1945, AT 11:02 IN THE MORNING. IT WAS THE SECOND OF THE BOMBING, THE FIRST OCCURRED THREE DAYS EARLIER AT HIROSHIMA.

STILL PICTURES OF ACTIVITIES TAKEN MOMENTS PRIOR TO THE BLAST WERE DISPLAYED ON THE WALL IN DEAD QUIET ROOMS, PLEASE EXCUSE THE CHOICE OF WORDS. SERVERAL PICTURES HAD PLAQUES EXPLAINING OR DEFINING THE SITUATION, OTHERS NEEDED NOTHING OTHER THAN THE EYE TO IMMEDIATELY TRANSLATE THE IMAGES BRFORE YOU. THE TRANSITION WAS DRAMATICALLY CHANGED AS YOUR FEET LED TO THE EXHIBIT THAT FOLLOWED.

MULTI-MEDIA PRESENTATIONS SOON SURROUNDED YOU WITH PICTURES OF MASS DEVASTATION AND AN OCCASIONAL REMNANT OR ARTIFACT OF THAT VERY DAY. IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE 70,000 PEOPLE LOST THEIR LIVES. ANOTHER 80,000 WOULD EVENTUALLY DIE FROM WOUNDS, RADIATION BURNS AND COMPLICATIONS CREATED FROM THE REACTION OF THE RADIATION, SUCH AS LEUKEMIA.

IT SHOULD BE NOTED THE LOSE OF LIVE MENTIONED HERE WAS FOR NAGASAKI ONLY. ON AUGUST 6TH, 170,000 PEOPLE DIED INSTANTLY WHEN THE FIRST BOMB WAS DROPPED IN HIROSHIMA AN EQUAL AMOUNT PERISHED DUE TO THE SAME CIRCUMSTANCES IN THE AFTERMATH.

AS WE STUDY HISTORY AND INVISIONS THE ACTS OF WAR, FROM TV OR MOIVES, I’M SURE WE HAVE ALL HAD IMPLANTED IN OUR BRAINS HOW BOMBS ARE RELEASED ON ITS TARGETS AND THE DESTRUCTION THAT COMES FROM THE EXPLOSIVE IMPACT. THE ATOMIC BOMB WAS DIFFERENT.

THE BOMB AFTER BEING RELEASED FROM THE B-52 WAS DETONATED 1900 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND. THE FORCE LEVELED EVERYTHING FOR MILES. UNLIKE HIROSHIMA, THE NAGASAKI BOMB WAS NOT DETONATED OVER THE MAIN SECTION OF THE CITY, IN ESSENCE GENERATING A SMALLER LOSE OF LIFE. THE HILLS AND VALLEYS IN WHICH NAGASAKI IS LOCATED ALSO PREVENTED A LARGER LOSE OF LIFE.

BACK TO THE EXCURSION:

A LIFE SIZE REPLCA OF THE BOMB DETAILED THE GUTS OF THE BOMB AND OUTLINED THE PROCESS THAT TOOK PLACE DURING THOSE FATAL MOMENTS. ADDITIONALLY, A SCALE MODEL OF THE CITY WITH THE AID OF OVERHEAD BEEMS OF LIGHTS DRAMATIZED THE REENACTMENT OF THE BOMBING.

ANOTHER DISPLAY OUTLINED THE TIMELINE IN THE DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ATOMIC BOMB. FROM THE DAY THE USA CREATED THE “MANHATTAN PROJECT” UNTIL THE DAY THE BOMBS WERE DROPPED, OVER $2 BILLION HAD BEEN EXPENDED IN ITS DEVELOPMENT.

THE BOMB WAS ORIGINALLY INTENTED FOR GERMANY, BUT THERE WERE SIGNS THEY WERE LOSING THEIR BATTLE IN EUROPE. THE USA THEN CHANGED THE OBJECTIVE AND FELT USING IT JAPAN WOULD BE A QUICK END TO THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC. PRESIDENT TRUMAN HAD A VERY ROUGH DECISION ON HIS HANDS. THERE ARE SOME THAT CONTEND THE DROPPING OF THE BOMB WAS THE FIRST STEP IN THE COLD WAR WITH RUSSIA.

WE MOVED FROM THE MUSEUM TO THE OUTDOOR PLAZA KNOWN AS THE EPI-CENTER. SEVERAL MONUMENTS HAVE BEEN ERECTED TO COMMEMORATE THE SITE. THE PLAZA BEAUTY IS ENHANCED BY THE NUMEROUS CHERRY TREES CURRENTLY IN BLOSSOM. OUR ARRIVAL COULD NOT HAVE BEEN AT A MORE PERFECT TIME, THE BLOSSOM PERIOD USUALLY LAST ONLY A WEEK TO TEN DAYS.

IN REMEMBRANCE OF THIS DREADFUL OCCASION, NAGASAKI HAS CREATED THE BEAUTIFUL PEACE PARK. AT ONE END IS A LARGE STATUE WITH ONE ARM POINTING TO THE HEAVENS SIGNIFYING THE PLACE FROM WHERE THE BOMB HAD COME. THE LEFT HAND, WITH PALM UP, STRETCHES OUT IN A SIGN OF COMING TOGETHER IN PEACE. HIS RIGHT LEG IS FOLDED SIGNIFYING A POSITION OF MEDITATION. THE LEFT LEG IS IN THE POSITION OF READINESS TO HELP THOSE IN NEED. THE FACE COULD BE ANYONE. IT WAS NOT INTENDED TO REPRESENT BUDDHA, CONFUCIUS OR JESUS, JUST MAN.

THE PLAZA LEADS TO A LONG PATH LINED WITH STATUES GIVEN AS GIFTS FROM VARIOUS CITIES AND COUNTRIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. A LARGE FOUNTAIN WITH JETS OF WATER IS AT THE OTHER END.

AS WE APPROACHED THE PARK ON THE BUS WE NOTICED A LONG FLIGHT OF STAIRS AND FLOWER BEDS CLIMBING FROM STREET LEVEL TO SOME UNKNOWN PERCH AT THE TOP. AS WE LISTENED TO OUR GUIDE I WHISPERED TO GEORGIA THAT WE WOULD WALK TO THE FOUNTAIN. I FELT AT THE END OF THE FOUNTAIN WERE THE STAIRS WITH FLOWERS. WHAT A DELIGHT TO BE RIGHT.

WE HURRIED DOWN THE STEPS TO SNAP OUR PICTURES AND THEN SIGHED, WITH GREAT ANGUISH, AS WE CONTEMPLATED THE CLIMB BACK TO THE TOP. WE SURPRISED OURSELVES, MAKING IT TO THE TOP WITHOUT THE AID OF AN OXYGEN MASK. PERHAPS WE ARE GETTING MORE EXERCISE, AND EATING LESS, THAN WE THINK.

AS WE ALL GATHERED TOGETHER BEFORE RETURNING TO THE BUS AND OUR RIDE BACK TO THE SHIP, OUR GUIDE ENDED BY CONVEYING THESE THOUGHTS. SHE DID NOT WANT TO GIVE ANYONE THE IMPRESSION THE JAPANESE PEOPLE WERE INNOCENT VICTIMS THROUGH THESE ATTACKS. SHE CONTINUED BY RELATING THE JAPANESE CREATED UNTOLD HAVAC AND DEATH AT PEARL HARBOR, AND RAIDS ON CHINA, KOREA, AND AUSTRALIA, ALL IN THEIR PURSUIT FOR POWER AND DOMINATION.

IN ALL IT WAS ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL BUT SOBERING DAY. IT WAS A TIME TO REFLECT ON THE DISRUPTION AND DESTRUCTION THAT COMES WITH WAR. AND YET WE CANNOT BE RULED BY OR DOMINATED BY BULLIES. PEACE IS A WONDERFUL IDEAL AND CONCEPT, UNFORTUNATELY IT IS NOT SHARED BY EVERYONE.