Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Clifton Truman Daniel Visits Japan

Pol Light Moment #30 is when Clifton Truman Daniel visited the Hiroshima Memorial in Japan on August 4, 2012.  Clifton Truman Daniel is the Grandson of the 33rd U.S. President Harry Truman (1884-1972). Harry Truman ordered the nuclear bomb to be unleashed on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, a decision which killed 140,000 people. A subsequent bomb on Nagaski killed 70,000 people.

Clifton Truman Daniel's visit to Hiroshima and Nagaski was the first by a Truman family member. In his visit to Japan, Clifton Truman Daniel laid a wreath at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in memory of the 140,000 that perished there. Clifton Truman Daniel said as he laid the wreath, "I think this centaph says it all -- to honor the dead to not forget and to make sure that we never let this happen again (Source)."

In his quest for reconciliation through this trip, Daniel had the opportunity to visit with surviving relatives of some of the victims.  Masahiro Sasaki is a surviving brother of a 12 year old boy named Sadako who died of Leukemia after the bomb and left a legacy for how he handled his suffering. Sasaki said,
I hope we can bring a true reconciliation to atomic bombing survivors, many of them still caught in animosity toward the United States, as well as other survivors of war and their families, and help instill a strong sense of peace among young people (Source).
For more information on Clifton Daniel Truman's visit to Japan read the Huffington Post article.

Pol Light does not endorse political candidates. We present a brighter side to politics when they are found on either side of the aisle. We don't have to agree with all of a person's politics to recognize these bright moments.

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