The people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki who were in the city at the time the bombs fell are getting old. Their average age is in the eighties. Once they are gone, who will remember the horror of that day?

We will!

We will remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki because the destruction was so horrible, the loss of life so devastating, and the aftermath so threatening. Because of those two bombs, we live in fear that one day they will be used again. Even now countries are trying to get atom bombs for themselves. North Korea, Iran, and Saudi Arabia would all like to have a bomb just like the countries that already have them. And have them they do. There are 13,410 nuclear warheads. And while the number has gone down thanks to some of the wiser heads in the world, that is still enough to decimate life on earth.

So what can we do to make sure these are never used?

The New York Times suggests three things:

1. We can read fiction and non-fiction about the aftermath of the US dropping of the bombs on Japan.
2. We can listen to the thousands of Japanese who have memorized the survivors’ stories to form a bank of living memory.
3. We can support organizations dedicated to world peace and nuclear disarmament.

Arms Control Association ACA

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament 

Global Zero

International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons or ICAN

Nuclear Threat Index NTI

Suggested Readings on Nuclear War:

Hiroshima by John Hersey

John Hersey interviewed survivors of the atomic bomb and presented their stories to the world. High school & up

On the Beach by Neville Shute

Called the most important novel of the Atomic Age, this novel shows how after an accidental nuclear war, people react as they wait for the radiation and certain death to reach them. High school & up

The Doomsday Machine by Daniel Ellsworth

The award-winning first hand account of the United States nuclear program in the 1960s and the threat it poses for us today. College & up

For younger children check out:

Hiroshima by Lawrence Yep

-Sadako  Eleanor Coerr & Ed Young

The Thousand Paper Cranes: The Story of Sadako and the Children’s Peace Sculpture by Ishii Takayuki

And for everyone:

The Butter Battle Book  by Dr. Seuss

And that is how we remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki.