Secretary of State John Kerry made history Monday when he became the first sitting secretary of state to visit the Hiroshima Memorial, where he laid a wreath.
A senior State Department official said Sunday that Kerry would not apologize for U.S. using nuclear weapons in WWII during his visit. But Kerry did say during his visit to the Hiroshima Peace Park Memorial in Japan that the museum there was “stunning” and “gut-wrenching,” and said Ground Zero serves as a reminder of the need for a nuclear weapon-free world.
The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima in August 1945, which led to the end of World War II and killed about 140,000 people. Another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki three days later, killing about 70,000 people.
‎”Everyone in the world should see and feel the power of this memorial. It is a stark, harsh, compelling reminder not only of our obligation to end the threat of nuclear weapons, but to rededicate all our effort to avoid war itself,” Kerry wrote in a message in the site’s guestbook. “War must be the last resort, never the first choice. This memorial compels us all to redouble our efforts to change the world, to find peace and build the future so yearned for by citizens everywhere.”‎
Honored to be 1st Sec State to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum & Park. Here is what I wrote in the guestbook. pic.twitter.com/suQSxMCLs1
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) April 11, 2016
Before his visit to the memorial, Kerry and Japanese Foreign minister Fumio Kishida spoke.
“[M]y visit to Hiroshima has very special meaning about the strength of the relationship and the journey that we have traveled together since the difficult times of the war. So I will be pleased to visit later today the Peace Memorial Park with Fumio and with our other ministers in a moment that I hope will underscore to the world the importance of peace and the importance of strong allies working together to make the world safer and, ultimately, we hope to be able to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction,” Kerry said.
President Obama travels to Japan next month for the G7 leaders summit; some say Kerry’s visit on Monday paves the way for Obama to apologize for America’s twin bombings in WWII.
