Trip to Japan: Peace Park in Hiroshima

Part of the Global Perspective on War and Peace Collection.

0:00Copy video clip URL Over visuals of Hiroshima’s Peace Park, President Harry S. Truman’s voice explains his rationale for dropping the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima. “My purpose was to end the war in victory, with the least possible loss of American lives. I never had any qualms about using an instrument that finally ended the war… Napoleon once said, ‘The Lord is on the side with the heaviest artillery.’ I had to make the decision as to whether the Atom bomb was just another piece of artillery.”

0:46Copy video clip URL Aaron interviews a woman in the park who explains that the large central monument remembers a little girl who died from Atomic bomb disease. There was a Japanese story that if a sick person made 1,000 paper cranes, she would regain her health. The little girl attempted to make the 1,000 cranes while she was in the hospital, but died before she could finish. Now many Japanese people, touched by the story, continue to make cranes to comfort the girl’s soul. Millions of cranes surround the monument. “So it seems that the people of Hiroshima really are dedicated to peace.” “Yes, I think so.”

2:37Copy video clip URL Japanese schoolchildren clown around in front of the camera, shouting “Hello!” and flashing peace signs.