| In March, 2008, a delegation of Hibakusha,
the survivors of the atomic bombings, will travel to My Lai
to attend the various ceremonies for the 40th anniversary
of the massacre at My Lai. This visit by the Hibakusha evolved
from a series of discussions in Hiroshima about the similarities
between the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and
My Lai. Both sites are terrible killings grounds, both have
been ignored by the U.S. government, both still suffer the
long term effects of weapons which were different in nature
but left a similar legacy; radiation and Agent Orange have
resulted in high death rates from cancer and genetic damage
which continues to be passed on generation after generation. |
Peace Candles at the Hiroshima Peace Park. Visitors were invited
to write their wishes expressing their visions of peace on
the paper wrapped around the candles which would then be lit
at night. |
Japanese girls practicing baton twirling at the Hiroshima
Peace Park.
The triumph of life over death. |
But what both the victims of My Lai and the Hibakusha also
have in common is that hope has arisen from both sites. This
is the theme that will be stressed when the survivors of the
atomic bombings and the survivors of the My Lai massacre meet
in 2008. Who can deny the moral authority of such victims
and their message of hope and world peace.
That this meeting could be made possible at all was due to
the efforts of Professor
Hiroshi Fujimoto of Nanzan University, Nagoya,
Japan. Vietnam, the American War in particular, has been his
teacher since his high school days.
Our hope is that this will lead to further meetings with other
victims of atrocities such as the survivors of Auschwitz or
Darfur or Cambodia or any of the many killing grounds that
exist around the world. |
