The Park

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A victim of war is no more or no less a victim whether taken by famine or disease or by bayonette or by machine gun bullet or by bomb.  There are far too many war memorials in this world.  Here's a New Year's wish that there never need be another.

PHOTOS FROM THE HIROSHIMA PEACE MEMORIAL PARK - 2 JANUARY 2012

1. The ruins of the Industrial Promotion Hall.  Now known as the A-bomb dome.
2. The Memorial to the Mobilized Students.  Wartime demands created a shortage of able-bodied workers.  Teen-agers were drafted and brought to Hiroshima to produce munitions in its factories.  Over 6000 perished.  Notice how their memorial is draped with thousands of paper cranes at either side of the statue.
3. Monument to the Korean Victims.  Again, due to labor shortages, thousands of Koreans were brought to Hiroshima to work in forced labor.  The turtle at the base of the stele is a distinctively Korean symbol.  Note that the neck of the turtle is draped in paper cranes and two bottles of liquor are placed as offerings in front.
4. The Children's Peace Monument.  Bless the children.  Please God protect our children and our grandchildren.
5. Paper Cranes.  The Children's Peace Monument is surrounded by small glass structures that house thousands of colorful origami cranes. 
6. The Peace Bell.  Every Sixth of August on the evening news there is a 20 second segment on Hiroshima and you hear the sound of this bell tolling in the background.
7. The Memorial Mound.  Victims who were not identified or claimed by a relative were cremated and laid to rest here.  The ashes of over 70,000 people are buried under this mound of dirt.
8. The Cenotaph.  At the base is a stone chest that contains a list of victims - whether immediate or by radiation illness years after.
9. Displays in the museum of bottles, statues, and other objects that were melted by the heat of the blast.  Other displays (not pictured) include a child's lunchbox whose contents were turned to charcoal and stone steps upon which the shadow of a person was burned by the atomic flash.