 Sound Bite
As the United States debates launching another war in the Middle East, this passionate diary paired with a pondered discussion provides a reality check on how governments goad citizens into going to war and gives a forthright look at the hideous results for civilian casualties. Who bears the responsibility for decisions made in a “democracy” when our leaders or the media exaggerate the threat and downplay the harm our actions will cause? In this agonizing diary, a survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima relates the horror of searching through smoldering rubble for signs of her family. She documents for the world the selfless compassion of the youngest victims. The children Okuda tried to save stunned her with their dignity and enduring will to help others and to hold their families together. She, and the children, generously insist on avoiding bitterness and blame. But as responsible citizens, we still have to face ourselves in the mirror. A thoughtful introduction and supporting essays provide this harrowing memoir with a context in history and social psychology.
About the Author
Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, in 1914, Okuda was a sewing teacher on a small island some 35 miles outside of Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945. Even at that distance, both her sight and hearing on her right side were permanently damaged. Since 1960 and until her recent retirement, she taught home economics at a non-traditional high school in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. She still lives in the mountains she loves, close to her school. The translator and editor, Pamela Vergun, earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from Stanford University, her Masters Degree from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and her B.A. in Language Studies from UC Santa Cruz. She currently lives in the Portland, Oregon area with her husband and two children. The illustrations were created by Mia Nolting, a freelance illustrator who lives in Portland, Oregon. The Foreword is by Catherine Thomasson, past President of Physicans for Social Responsibility.
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About the Book
Sadako Okuda was a sewing teacher on a small island some 35 miles outside of Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945. Even at that distance, her vision and hearing on her right side were permanently damaged.
At the heart of A...
Sadako Okuda was a sewing teacher on a small island some 35 miles outside of Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945. Even at that distance, her vision and hearing on her right side were permanently damaged.
At the heart of A Dimly Burning Wick is her searing diary recording the final moments of dying civilians and their distinctive perspective on this horrific event. The first part of the book presents a series of immediate, sickening, and amazing impressions as the sufferers extend gestures of enormous humanity and generosity amid hell-like conditions. Most harrowing and heartbreaking of the victims were the children she encountered, helplessly roaming the streets in pain and dismay.
The children were heading for school on the morning of August 6 when the Enola Gay soared overhead and dropped the atomic bomb that exploded some 2,000 feet above the city, killing or destroying the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians. In the aftermath, Sadako Okuda searched for eight days for her young niece and nephew in the smoking ruins, in a place that can only be described as “a scar that must have been made by the fingernail of the devil himself.” Mothers and grandparents desperately searched for lost children, wounded children cared for one another, and human beings whose flesh was as torn and burnt as their clothing displayed wisdom and grace as much as agony and distress. Okuda could do little more than offer them her compassion, tenderness, and love.
In the second part of the book, historians, medical experts and sociologists explore the background of the event and the social psychology that allowed Americans to accept this atrocity committed in their names. The official story used to justify the use of the bomb fails to match up with the facts at the time; racial prejudices were fanned into hatred and biased reporting was used to whip up a desire for revenge. The techniques are still with us and they frustrate honest citizens of a democracy as they seek to make responsible decisions.
Ronald Takaki (University of California at Berkeley, winner of the American Book Award) discusses why President Truman gave the order to drop the bomb when it was not a military necessity and shows that he was at odds with his own Secretary of War on how to deal with the Japanese.
Dr. Martin Donohoe and Dr. Catherine Thomasson (board members of Physicians for Social Responsibility) contributed to an essay outlining some of the basic medical effects of the bombing. “People and objects that were situated very close to ground zero were instantaneously vaporized.…[Farther from the epicenter,] Because of extensive burns and high fevers, victims begged and pleaded for water [which was generally unavailable].” Death came immediately for many, more slowly for others — due to uncontrolled bleeding, infections, hunger, etc. Over 200,000 Japanese civilians died as a direct result of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; high rates of cancer, cataracts, birth defects and mental illness plagued those who did survive.
An eye-opening collection of facts presented by Pamela Vergun and Robert Vergun gives a broad idea of how and why President Truman, the US Air Force and others sought to mislead the American public about Hiroshima, first suggesting (falsely) that it was a military base and then delaying and diluting reports of the civilian casualties. Thinking about the Iraq War and evidence that America plans to attack Iran, they observe that “conformity, prejudice, and the tendency to justify the use of militarily unnecessary and inhumane aggression in times of war are powerful social forces that have affected public opinion and policy decisions. Understanding these connections is essential because similar social forces continue to impact beliefs and decisions by individuals and governments.
In the words of sociologist Paul Joseph (Director of the Peace and Justice Studies Program at Tufts University), “The memory of Hiroshima promoted by official Washington has attempted to obliterate [these] messages, namely that war is a tragedy for human beings and that human beings can actually stand up and prevent war. Instead, by attempting to keep the public insulated from horrific imagery, most US policy-makers have encouraged Americans to forget.”
Museums aim to work against such forgetting, but as Sok-Hon Ham (Nobel Peace Prize Nominee) observes, “I have been to Hiroshima and have visited the horrible remains and relics in the museum. The feelings I experienced at that time, however, were no match for the moving emotions I experienced as I read this book.”
The combination of personal story and analysis makes this short, accessible work a definitive resource for understanding the enormity of this event. Several books about Hiroshima appeared on the 50th anniversary, about ten years ago. However, those books are gradually going out of print. Even at a time of heightened international concern regarding nuclear proliferation, we are losing access to the memories of the survivors of nuclear attacks. The US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused unspeakable devastation, yet our collective view of this catastrophic event was shaped by government “spin,” and the memory has faded over time. The testimony in these pages, and the realization that Washington frankly abused the public’s trust, add up to a wake-up call as America debates how best to defend its national interests while acting as a responsible global citizen.
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To understand the nuclear devastation of Hiroshima, few things are more powerful than first-hand accounts. In the case of A Dimly Burning Wick, the overwhelming horror accompanies uplifting moments of hope, generosity, and caring that have the power to lead us further from nuclear weapons and...
To understand the nuclear devastation of Hiroshima, few things are more powerful than first-hand accounts. In the case of A Dimly Burning Wick, the overwhelming horror accompanies uplifting moments of hope, generosity, and caring that have the power to lead us further from nuclear weapons and war. Many people around the world and Americans in particular have never been to a war zone; very few who are alive now have actually witnessed the devastation caused by a nuclear bomb. This book will help bring to the reader a more realistic understanding and abhorrence of the tools of war, above all nuclear weapons. All of us, I believe, have the opportunity and duty to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons. Bombs — even “only” conventional ones — not only kill and maim but also destroy a society’s infrastructure, its hospitals, bridges, businesses, and schools. Their use runs the risk of creating failed states. When such undiscriminating weapons are used, civilians of the targeted societies are alienated and become more militant. As we enter the 21st century, approximately 90% of the casualties (killed or wounded) in war are civilians. This statistic, which shows that war is targeting not soldiers but rather other adults and children, should help all of us to resist governments’ use of war as a foreign policy strategy — it is those of us who are not soldiers who are most likely to die as the result of war. There is no glory in “shock and awe”; we have only to look at Afghanistan and Iraq to see this. How can we avoid this type of warfare from this point forward, whether carried out by nations or by individuals taking up weapons? My perspective as a physician helps me to see the parallels between war and what we conventionally think of as disease. I view war as a disease to be prevented, and the United Nations in the aftermath of World War II emerged as a promising tool to prevent this disease. Yet, prevention also requires that nations respect and strengthen international law and truly commit to the use of peacekeeping forces when needed. In addition, the prevention of war, like any disease, requires the world community to address the root causes: conditions such as poverty, inequality, and the scarcity of valuable resources such as water, oil, and farmland — the unmet needs of people. It also requires us to build peace by using nonviolence and cooperation as organizing principles. In first-world2 countries in particular, the prevention of war requires the facilitation of a more responsible and sometimes circumspect media, and attention to accurate portrayals of opponents, rather than the prevalent tendency to demonize the enemy. In collusion with the media, many governments (including the US) keep the experiences and pictures of war from reaching the average citizen. This allows governments to make war seem justified and hide the humanity of those hurt by war. There are more effective ways to achieve foreign and domestic policy goals than aggressive military action. Unfortunately, some leaders currently suggest that being the first in a conflict to use nuclear weapons is a “legitimate” approach. Some senior NATO military leaders are now advocating this position; for example, they propose exploding nuclear weapons on a country to stop it from continuing to build nuclear weapons…. From the Foreword by Catherine Thomasson, MD Past President of Physicians for Social Responsibility
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Foreword 1In the Beginning 9If There Had Been No WarÂ… 15The Big Brother and Little Sister Who Waited 19Where Has Yuuichi Gone? 29Masako-chan,
Foreword 1 In the Beginning 9 If There Had Been No WarÂ… 15
The Big Brother and Little Sister Who Waited 19
Where Has Yuuichi Gone? 29
Masako-chan, Who CouldnÂ’t See 33
The Boy Who Went Beddy-Bye with His Mommy 41
My Mother Wears Glasses Too 53
Best Friends Forever 65
Insanity and Greed 73
What Purpose Do Children Serve? 79
Waiting at the Foot of the Bridge 85
Bring Yuri-chan Too 93
As Long as the War Ends, ItÂ’s All Right If We Lose 101
Even Now the Memories of That Time 111
Restoring Faith 123
But They Said TheyÂ’d Only Be Gone One Night 127
The Spirits That Haunt Us All 135
The Years Before and After the Bombing 139
My Life Before the Bombing 139
The War Comes to an End 141
Life After the War 141
Remarks by a Nobel Peace Prize Nominee 145 Sadako’s Experience and the Insights of Historical Research and Social Psychology 147 Remembering Hiroshima 153 A Lesson from Hiroshima 159 A Brief Summary of the Medical Impacts of Hiroshima 163 Understanding Hiroshima — Personal and Policy Lessons to Take into the Future 169 The Background — Troubling Thoughts and Vocal Support 169 Conformity and Momentum — No Turning Back 172 Justification and Cognitive Dissonance 174 Cognitive Dissonance and the Search for the Highest Estimate 176 Aggression — The Move Toward Making Everyone Into Enemy Combatants 179 Propaganda — The Construction and Maintenance of Prejudice 182 The Influence of Cognitive Dissonance — The Past and Future 184 Acknowledgements 187
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Japan Focus Sadako Okuda's memoir of Hiroshima at Ground Zero in the wake of the atomic bomb is a clarion call to remember the human cost of the final acts of the Pacific War. And the threat to humanity that resides both in the continued atomic arms race and the unbridled use of air power against civilian populations that has been a continuing legacy of that war.” Mark Selden, Ph.D., Historian, Cornell University, Coordinator of Coauthor of The Atomic Bomb: Voices From Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Raving Dove Literary Journal: Required Reading | More »
Raving Dove Literary Journal: Required Reading A Dimly Burning Wick should be required reading in every school. It begs the audience to consider the innocents caught in the trajectory of war … it cries out for the elimination of barbaric methods to solve global differences … and in its noble prose, devoid of hatred yet brimming with sadness, it crystallizes the importance of peace.
Jo-Ann Moss, Editor
Leonard S. Newman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology and Area Director, Social Psychology Program, Syracuse University, Author of Understanding Genocide: The Social Psychology of the Holocaust | More »
Leonard S. Newman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology and Area Director, Social Psychology Program, Syracuse University, Author of Understanding Genocide: The Social Psychology of the Holocaust For many people, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima brings to mind a towering mushroom cloud and Colonel Tibbets waving from the cockpit of the Enola Gay. Better that those images be replaced by some of the heart-wrenching scenes of human suffering readers will encounter in Sadako Okuda's memoir. One of the most valuable parts of the book is the supporting chapter by Dr. Pamela Vergun that asks us to consider how decisions like the one to obliterate Hiroshima are made--and why so many of us feel compelled to defend those decisions on moral grounds. A very impressive book.
Book News As she searched for her niece and nephew in the wake of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Sadako Okuda kept a daily diary in which she wrote down her own experiences and the stories of the children she encountered. Her memoir presented here is reconstructed from that diary and offers one of the few first-hand accounts of the horrors of that event. Supplementing the memoir are additional materials providing historical, psychological, and medical context for understanding the Hiroshima bombing. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Metro Spirit, Augusta, GA: 10/29/2008 - 11/04/2008 | More »
Metro Spirit, Augusta, GA: 10/29/2008 - 11/04/2008 In a remarkable collection of emotion, Sadako Teiko Okuda (with the editorial and translation assistance of Pamela Bea Wilson Vergun) provides what may be one of the most important books of our time.
How many of us vividly recall exactly where we were or exactly what we were doing on September 11, 2001? How many of us know someone who was deeply injured physically, emotionally, or even spiritually as a result of the devastation of those two towers? Such devastation leaves a mark, a scar beneath the surface inside the people, which can often lead to unforeseen and unexplainable consequence in times to come.
. . .
Facing our own time of warfare, our own media campaigns that demonize those from other regions of the world, and our own obsessional arms races coming into discussion in various debates, it is an important moment in our history, which may be further illuminated by not failing to pay attention to the lessons of “A Dimly Burning Wick.”
J. Edward Sumerau
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Pages 202 Year: 2008 LC Classification: D767.25.H6O4613 Dewey code: 940.54--2521954092—dc22 BISAC: HIS027030 HISTORY / Military / Nuclear Warfare BISAC: HIS021000 HISTORY / Asia / Japan BISAC: POL034000 POLITICAL SCIENCE / Peace
Soft Cover ISBN: 978-0-87586-560-7
Price: USD 22.95
Hard Cover ISBN: 978-0-87586-561-4
Price: USD 31.95
eBook ISBN: 978-0-87586-562-1
Price: USD 22.95
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