On Aug. 6, people across the globe gathered on the 63rd anniversary of the world’s first nuclear attack.
On that date in 1945, the U.S. military dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, instantly killing over 140,000 people and severely injuring tens of thousands more. Three days later, a second bomb would kill an additional 70,000 in Nagasaki.
More than 45,000 people attended this year’s annual ceremony at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima. Fifty-five countries, including China, participated. U.S. representatives have never attended.
During the ceremony, atomic bomb victims who recently died were added to a memorial, bringing the death toll to 258,310.
Contrary to the story told in U.S. textbooks, the bombs were not dropped to save lives but rather to display U.S. military power as a threat to the Soviet Union and the world. The ghastly attack was integral to the wider U.S. strategy of global dominance.
