Thank you, President Obama, for taking the historic step of visiting Hiroshima. Thank you for continuing your journey toward achieving world peace. It is a long and arduous journey that may take years to complete, but every journey begins with just one step. The United States introduced nuclear weapons to the world, and it is now our responsibility to lead the way towards nuclear disarmament.
Every person in this world should visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki to learn more about what happened nearly 71 years ago. It is a moving experience that can only be felt by being there. It is an eye-opening lesson about war, peace, survival and perseverance. It is emotional. It is educational. But most of all, it is motivational.
When you lay that wreath at the Cenotaph in Peace Park, please think about the 297,684 names that are sealed inside the crypt. Each of them is an innocent victim of a weapon of mass destruction. Every year on Aug. 6, more names of people who were affected by the atomic bomb and died are added during the commemoration ceremony.
Look around you at all the buildings, the trees and the beauty of Hiroshima. That is the strength of the people of Hiroshima. From nothing, they have built a vibrant city centered around peace and remembrance.
Visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. It is filled with information and exhibits you cannot find in textbooks. Look at the display of the people walking with their arms outstretched like zombies. Those are not shreds of clothes hanging from their arms, that is their melted skin dripping from their bodies.
Look at the photo of the charred remains laying on the ground. That is not a doll blackened by fire, that is a lifeless child burnt beyond recognition.
Then listen to the hibakushas’ (atomic bomb survivors) stories. They are the only ones who can convey, with certainty, the horrors of nuclear weapons and how wars destroy people’s lives. Many of their stories are heart-wrenching.
I am not a hibakusha, but I have met with over 400 from around the world — Brazil, Canada, Japan, South Korea and the United States. Surprisingly to me, the majority of them no longer have any ill will towards the United States. Some of them even married Americans and moved to the U. S.
The hibakusha have witnessed the devastating effects of nuclear weapons yet found the courage to forgive the enemy. They have found the strength to endure pain and suffering none of us can imagine. Their ability to see beyond the tragedy and think about the future of the world we live in is one of the reasons why we must continue to remember and retell their stories. We can not forget the horrors of what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki because we can not risk repeating them.
Their hope is that no one experiences the living hell that they lived through. Their hope is that they will see the day when this world is free of nuclear weapons. Their hope is that peace will prevail in the world we live in.
Despite the atrocities they have seen, the heartbreaks they have felt and the tremendous losses they have endured, the hibakusha understand that war is not the answer. Violence, begets violence. War, begets war. Peace, begets peace.
So if we can learn anything from the hibakusha, then we must learn to forgive those who have harmed us, regardless of how deep the wounds may be. We must learn to look beyond our own lives and think about what is best for all, not just for us. We must learn to love one another despite our differences, because the future of our planet depends on it.
Peace is not just a world without war. Peace is not just a world free of nuclear weapons. Peace is a life without conflict. Peace can be achieved when we accept and embrace each other’s differences. Peace begins when we take a moment to think about other people’s perspectives and think about the consequences of our actions. Peace within ourselves is a journey we can all embark upon in our daily lives in order to make this world a better place.
Peace begins with US.
Darrell Miho is the director of the American Society of Hiroshima-Nagasaki A-Bomb Survivors. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
