×

News

Three Hiroshima survivors to share A-bomb accounts in U.S.

by Toshiko Bajo, Staff Writer

The World Friendship Center (WFC), an NGO in Hiroshima, will send three A-bomb survivors to the U.S. state of Missouri on September 22. On September 15, the survivors and others who will accompany them gathered to talk about the activities of their U.S. visit.

The three survivors to be dispatched are Emiko Okada, 73, Kiyomi Kono, 79, and Sadae Kasaoka, 77. They will travel to the United States with five others, including WFC director Barb Siney, 59, and interpreters.

Wendy Geiger, 40, an associate professor at the University of Central Missouri and the daughter of Ms. Siney, visited Hiroshima for the first time in July 2009. After touring such locations as Peace Memorial Museum, Ms. Geiger set in motion a plan to invite survivors to the United States so that American students could learn about the true extent of the A-bomb damage. The university will cover the travel costs of the group visiting the United States from Japan.

The three survivors will relate their experiences to nearly 800 people at the university, including students and faculty members. They will also share their accounts of the bombing with American citizens at churches in the state as well as at the Harry S. Truman Library.

Ms. Kono will be speaking about her experience overseas for the first time. In an enthusiastic tone, she said, "I will do my best to convey the truth about the bombing while in the United States. Some people there still justify the atomic bombings and I want them all to feel that such a tragedy must never happen again."

(Originally published on September 16, 2010)

Archives