Hiroshima survivor: Even former enemies deserve closure

In President Obama's recent trip to Japan, he paid his respects to those who lost their lives when the US dropped the atomic bomb. While at the memorial site, he met up with one Japanese man who was only 8 years old and on his way to school when the bomb was dropped. His school was only 400 meters from where the bomb dropped and nearby was also a police station which is where a handful of US POW's were being held captive. That man recalled that during the daytime while at school, you could see those POW's and him and some of his friends would draw pictures of them. Well he would never see them again since they along with around 200,000 people in Hiroshima were killed when the bomb dropped, but that did not mean he would forget about them. He soon set out on an extraordinary task to track down their families in the United States. He was met with hefty phone bills along with many families rejecting his condolences because he was Japanese. But after the US government released the once classified documents containing those 12 POW's names in the 1970's, Mr. Shigeaki Mori had more ease finding those families. He was the only person ever to attempt finding those soldiers families and as a result, those 12 names of the US soldiers are now on the list of those killed in the bomb at the memorial site. His actions were recognized by the President and show us that even though countries and people may be vicious enemies, simple humanitarian efforts can supersede those distinctions.

-Chris Kucinsky

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/26/homepage2/hiroshima-reflections-will-ripley/index.html