Sixty-Six years ago, a new horror of unimaginable proportions was unleashed one sunny morning over the beautiful city of Hiroshima, Japan. In an instant, countless people were vaporized in a flash and the historic city reduced to ashes rained down upon with deadly radiation. Every year since then memorials have taken place in memory of those who have past on both in the blast and the time that followed. It is not for us to say what was right or wrong but it is for us to keep the memory of these tragic wartime events that must never be repeated again. It is said there are fewer than 1000 A-bomb survivors still among us here living in the United States. Over the past three years we have been both fortunate and honored to come to know these witnesses to absolute anihilation by an atomic weapons. Together we have prayed with them and offered candles to the fallen at the Los Angeles Koyasan Temple in Little Tokyo. No matter how many times we partake in these memorials, we can not be any less moved by the stories and the warm faces that still bear the scars that still welcome us of those two fatefull mornings in August of 1945.The survivors have done their part to educate us to the horrors of nuclear war. As many of the WWII generation embark in their final journey it is our responsibility to continue to educate the generations that follow to never allow such tragedies to ever occur again. Our hearts and prayers will continue to go to the survivors and those who left us so long ago.
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