Dear John,
On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
I was a teenager when my parents took us there, and I will never forget the pictures I saw in the commemorative museum. I remember seeing a picture of someone whose left arm had melted into their right arm. And worse…
Some who contributed to the making of the atomic bomb actually begged that it not be used, and lived the rest of their lives traumatized by the horror of knowing what they had helped unleash.
Given the reality at that time, none of us can know what we might’ve done or not done then. The question we need to ask ourselves is not what we think should have happened in the past, but rather what we are doing now, or not doing, to confront the horror of nuclear proliferation in our time.
The average American probably does not know that the United States has somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000 nuclear bombs in our nuclear arsenal now, and most of those would make the bomb dropped on Hiroshima look like a pin prick.
When I was growing up, we used to do protests holding huge banners that said “BAN THE BOMB.” Nuclear nonproliferation - and abolition - can and must once more become our most urgent political goal. When I am President, it will be.
If we ever go down that road again - if nuclear war occurs - humanity will be doomed. In the words of Albert Einstein, "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
God bless us and forgive us all. 🙏
