In August 1945, naval engineer Tsutomu Yamaguchi was preparing to leave Hiroshima after a three month business trip. On the morning of August 6, an American B 29 bomber dropped the first atomic bomb, Little Boy, over the city. Yamaguchi was less than two miles from ground zero. He suffered severe burns, temporary blindness, and ruptured eardrums, but he survived.
After spending the night in an air raid shelter, he boarded an evacuation train back to his hometown of Nagasaki to reunite with his family. Despite his injuries, Yamaguchi reported to work at the Mitsubishi shipyard on the morning of August 9 to explain the devastation he had witnessed.
While he was describing the blast to his skeptical supervisor, the second atomic weapon, Fat Man, detonated over Nagasaki. Once again, Yamaguchi was less than two miles from the blast center. Miraculously, he and his family survived this second nuclear explosion. The Japanese government officially recognized him as a double survivor, and he lived to the age of 93.
#history #ww2 #hiroshima #nagasaki #survival #truestory #worldwar2
Disclaimer: This video is for educational and entertainment purposes. The historical narrative comes from public historical records, and the imagery serves illustrative purposes.
