-The year 1955

-10 years after the Hiroshima Bombing.

A world of hate is a world with an end. Many people lost their homes and what is precious to them. Me? I lost my home and my beloved. He was a soldier in the Japanese war and he gave his life for his country. I never knew what I had before it was gone.

-The year 1945

-2 days before the bombing.

“Seon Mi, slow down,” I cried.

“Come on Lee Ming, we’re almost there” He replied

He kept running until we finally reached the sakura tree that sat on top of the hill. Overlooking all of Hiroshima. The most beautiful sight in all of Japan.

“Lee Ming, come here.”

I climbed up the hill and approached him. He turned me around so that would face the bay as the sun set across the water.

“Seon Mi, i-it’s so pretty.”

“Lee Ming, will you allow me to stay by your side forever, even if we are far apart?” He questioned.

“W-why are y-you asking t-that?” I asked.

“We’ve been receiving threats along the Pacific coast.”

“H-how long are y-you gonna b-be g-gone?”

I tried to keep myself from bursting in tears and begging him not to go. As though the thought of him leaving and never coming back was unbearable. I had already lost my mother and sister. Now I was gonna lose him, my father, and older brother.

“I’m not sure but-” He paused and turned me around to face him.

“Promise me that you’ll stay safe. Promise me I’ll always be the only one in your heart, “ He continued.

I allowed tears to escape my eyes as nodded promising that I would stay safe and never love a man the way I loved him.

As the day grew shorter, so did my time with Seon Mi and my family. The next day my father and older brother left with seon mi. Not allowing myself to show any emotion, I smiled and waved goodbye hoping that they would stay out of harm’s way. After hours of cleaning the house, I left for Yamasaki. The home the wealthiest family in Hiroshima. Although the family itself may seem cold-hearted, they welcomed me into their home and offered me a job as a maid in their household. They pay me a fair amount of yen per visit. It’s not much but it’s enough to provide for my family.

Arriving at the gates of Yamasaki, I was greeted by a cheerful young man.

“Lee Ming, welcome back,” He greeted.

“Ohayōgozaimasu Mr. Long,” I said returning the greeting.

“Why don’t you come inside,” He asked.

I nodded my head and followed him inside through the large doors and into the living area.

“You can start in the kitchen.”

I politely bowed and walked into the kitchen. I grabbed the cleaning supplies out of the closet and started working.

After a short while, I heard warning sirens and people yelling for help. I stayed there frozen on the spot for a while until someone pulled me towards a staircase.

“Lee Ming comes on,” His voice had a hint of urgency and panic.

I quickly snapped out of my trance and followed him to the basement.

“Mr. Long what’s going on,” I asked. My voice quivered in fear as I heard families crying out for help.

“The city is under attack.”

The rest of that day was a blur. A bomb went not off not too far from the residence and I passed out. Once I finally got home I realized I was now standing in a war zone. Soon everything standing will no longer be there and it will soon burn to a crisp.

The next day soldiers came and took down my house. Leaving nothing, but food, water, and a tent. Many of the surrounding families were left just like this and very little to survive on. All that was left for me to do was savor the last place I saw Seon Mi. Sitting down on the cherry blossom hill, I cherished the sight before me. Before it was in flames.

“Bring peace to the lost souls-” A voice cried.

I looked over only to see a family holding the pictures of a little girl and boy. I assumed they were victims of the bomb attack yesterday. Looking back at the bay, I saw something that changed my life forever. The Yamato was in flames. The warning sirens came on and the streets were filled with people screaming and panicking. And me, I just stood there staring at the Yamato. My father, brother, and Seon Mi were stationed in that warship. They were all that I had left and now they were gone.

“Promise me you’ll stay safe-” A voice called out.

But no one was around.

“Run, it’s not safe here,” A voice yelled

There it was again and it sounded a lot like Seon Mi.  Remembering what I had promised, tears streamed down my face and I ran straight for Yamasaki. Just as I approached the gate, a fleet of planes flew by. One of them dropping an object that looked a lot like a large gear, yet different. I continually rang the doorbell until the gate opened while Mr. Long ran towards me.

“Hurry it’s not safe out here,” He yelled

I ran after him and into the basement.

“What’s going on?” I thought to myself.

Moments pass before we were finally allowed to go back outside. Once I set foot outside the gates, I saw the most heartbreaking scene in history. All that I knew. Al that was beautiful was now either in rubble or in flames.

-Back to the year 1955

-10 years after the Hiroshima Bombing

I’ll never forget that day. I lost everything. My home, my job, and my family. My children never met their grandparents, uncles, aunts, and they never met their father. Many people suffered a lot after the bombing. Many of them lost their homes and even their lives.

About the Hiroshima Bombing-

(Credits to history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki)

On August 6, 1945, during World War II (1939-45), an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of “a new and most cruel bomb.” General Douglas MacArthur and other top military commanders favored continuing the conventional bombing of Japan already in effect and following up with a massive invasion, codenamed “Operation Downfall.” They advised Truman that such an invasion would result in U.S. casualties of up to 1 million. In order to avoid such a high casualty rate, Truman decided–over the moral reservations of Secretary of War Henry Stimson, General Dwight Eisenhower and a number of the Manhattan Project scientists–to use the atomic bomb in the hopes of bringing the war to a quick end. Proponents of the A-bomb–such as James Byrnes, Truman’s secretary of state–believed that its devastating power would not only end the war but also put the U.S. in a dominant position to determine the course of the postwar world. Hiroshima, a manufacturing center of some 350,000 people located about 500 miles from Tokyo, was selected as the first target. After arriving at the U.S. base on the Pacific island of Tinian, the more than 9,000-pound uranium-235 bomb was loaded aboard a modified B-29 bomber christened Enola Gay (after the mother of its pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets). The plane dropped the bomb–known as “Little Boy”–by parachute at 8:15 in the morning, and it exploded 2,000 feet above Hiroshima in a blast equal to 12-15,000 tons of TNT, destroying five square miles of the city.

Hiroshima’s devastation failed to elicit immediate Japanese surrender, however, and on August 9 Major Charles Sweeney flew another B-29 bomber, Bockscar, from Tinian. Thick clouds over the primary target, the city of Kokura, drove Sweeney to a secondary target, Nagasaki, where the plutonium bomb “Fat Man” was dropped at 11:02 that morning. More powerful than the one used at Hiroshima, the bomb weighed nearly 10,000 pounds and was built to produce a 22-kiloton blast. The topography of Nagasaki, which was nestled in narrow valleys between mountains, reduced the bomb’s effect, limiting the destruction to 2.6 square miles.

At noon on August 15, 1945 (Japanese time), Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s surrender in a radio broadcast. The news spread quickly, and “Victory in Japan” or “V-J Day” celebrations broke out across the United States and other Allied nations. The formal surrender agreement was signed on September 2, aboard the U.S. battleship Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay.