Grandson of former U.S. President Harry Truman shares pain of Hiroshima in first visit to the A-bombed city
Aug. 21, 2012
by Masaki Kadowaki, Staff Writer
Clifton Truman Daniel, 55, the grandson of Harry S. Truman, the U.S. president who ordered the atomic bombings, arrived in Hiroshima on August 4, marking his first visit to the city. Mr. Daniel, a resident of Chicago, visited Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in the heart of the city and met with A-bomb survivors. After listening to the consequences of the bombing, he stressed, several times, that nuclear weapons should never be used again.
At Aster Plaza, a cultural center located in Naka Ward, Hiroshima, Mr. Daniel met Mikiso Iwasa, 83, executive director of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations. Before relating his account of the bombing to Mr. Daniel, Mr. Iwasa said, “I’ve come here to share my A-bomb experience, as one human being to another.” He avoided the issue of U.S. responsibility for the attack and calmly recounted how he was able to escape the danger yet had to leave behind his mother, who was trapped under the wreckage of their house.
Mr. Daniel expressed gratitude to Mr. Iwasa for sharing the sorrowful story of losing a loved one, while containing his anger over the event. Mr. Daniel also said that unless efforts are made to reduce nuclear arms now, human existence will be imperiled. The two men then shook hands.
Prior to this meeting, Mr. Daniel and Ari Mayer Beser, 24, laid a wreath in front of the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. Mr. Beser is a resident of Los Angeles and a grandson of the only American soldier to serve on both aircraft in the A-bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Guided by Steven Leeper, the chairman of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, Mr. Daniel and Mr. Beser toured Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Listening to explanations provided by Mr. Leeper, they stared pensively at a diorama of the devastated city and a photo of a survivor who had suffered burns in the blast, among other exhibits.
In the museum’s guest book, Mr. Daniel wrote, “Honor the dead. Honor the living. And never let it happen again.” Later, touching on the reasons for and against the atomic bombing, he said that he had read in books on the history of the time that the atomic bombing hastened the end of the war, but there are different opinions on this, he added, and he himself is unable to come to a conclusion.
Mr. Daniel and Mr. Beser were invited to visit Hiroshima by Masahiro Sasaki, 71, a resident of Fukuoka Prefecture and the older brother of Sadako Sasaki, who was exposed to the A-bomb at the age of 2 and later developed radiation-induced leukemia. Before her death, at the age of 12, she folded hundreds of paper cranes, hoping her wish to live would be granted.
The two Americans arrived in Japan on August 3. They are scheduled to attend the Peace Memorial Ceremony in Hiroshima on August 6 and a similar observance in Nagasaki on August 9.
(Originally published on August 5, 2012)
Clifton Truman Daniel, 55, the grandson of Harry S. Truman, the U.S. president who ordered the atomic bombings, arrived in Hiroshima on August 4, marking his first visit to the city. Mr. Daniel, a resident of Chicago, visited Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in the heart of the city and met with A-bomb survivors. After listening to the consequences of the bombing, he stressed, several times, that nuclear weapons should never be used again.
At Aster Plaza, a cultural center located in Naka Ward, Hiroshima, Mr. Daniel met Mikiso Iwasa, 83, executive director of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations. Before relating his account of the bombing to Mr. Daniel, Mr. Iwasa said, “I’ve come here to share my A-bomb experience, as one human being to another.” He avoided the issue of U.S. responsibility for the attack and calmly recounted how he was able to escape the danger yet had to leave behind his mother, who was trapped under the wreckage of their house.
Mr. Daniel expressed gratitude to Mr. Iwasa for sharing the sorrowful story of losing a loved one, while containing his anger over the event. Mr. Daniel also said that unless efforts are made to reduce nuclear arms now, human existence will be imperiled. The two men then shook hands.
Prior to this meeting, Mr. Daniel and Ari Mayer Beser, 24, laid a wreath in front of the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. Mr. Beser is a resident of Los Angeles and a grandson of the only American soldier to serve on both aircraft in the A-bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Guided by Steven Leeper, the chairman of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, Mr. Daniel and Mr. Beser toured Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Listening to explanations provided by Mr. Leeper, they stared pensively at a diorama of the devastated city and a photo of a survivor who had suffered burns in the blast, among other exhibits.
In the museum’s guest book, Mr. Daniel wrote, “Honor the dead. Honor the living. And never let it happen again.” Later, touching on the reasons for and against the atomic bombing, he said that he had read in books on the history of the time that the atomic bombing hastened the end of the war, but there are different opinions on this, he added, and he himself is unable to come to a conclusion.
Mr. Daniel and Mr. Beser were invited to visit Hiroshima by Masahiro Sasaki, 71, a resident of Fukuoka Prefecture and the older brother of Sadako Sasaki, who was exposed to the A-bomb at the age of 2 and later developed radiation-induced leukemia. Before her death, at the age of 12, she folded hundreds of paper cranes, hoping her wish to live would be granted.
The two Americans arrived in Japan on August 3. They are scheduled to attend the Peace Memorial Ceremony in Hiroshima on August 6 and a similar observance in Nagasaki on August 9.
(Originally published on August 5, 2012)
