August 6, 1945

Kiejiro Matsushima, 16, is on his way to the Hiroshima Industrial College. It's the first week of classes and he's studying to become an engineer. Alone in Hiroshima, he travels from his dormitory to the school by public transit. He sits in the first row on the south side of the classroom, not because he likes to be in front and not because of the spelling of his last name, no his fate and those of his classmates are determined by height. As one of the shortest, he sits in the front row in order to see. Matsushimi remembers looking out the window and clearly seeing two U.S. Bombers shining in morning sun. They were silver and white, and he thought nothing of it. It was common for U.S. planes to fly reconnaissance missions. Math class had already begun when the bomb Enola Gay dropped and exploded about a mile away.

"I remember the strong flash, and shockwave, big shockwave, and heatwave. Of course big noise of explosion followed and all the world turned to real dark world; [it was] pitch black," says Matsushima. The shockwave ripped through the classroom carrying with it glass and debris. Matsushima tried to dive under his desk, but the glass slashed through his clothes and he suffered minor cuts. He noticed later he was covered in his own blood from head to toe. Moments after the explosion, in darkness, Matsushima crawled blindly out of his school. As daylight returned, he was sure hell had come to earth. Buildings for as far as the eye could see were destroyed; some flattened, others torn apart. Fires were popping up all over the city. Around him many of the other school buildings had simply collapsed, and his wounded classmates were sitting dazed on the playground. One of his friends leaned on him, bleeding from a head wound and asked for help. Matsushima decided they needed to go to the hospital, and so he began his journey.

As they made their way closer to the main thoroughfare more and more people who had been downtown when the bomb exploded were walking aimlessly. Many were badly burned, and Matsushima calls them a parade of ghosts. "Charcoal gray skin, peeling almost from their faces, from their arms, skins were hanging from their chins or arms. Can you imagine? We could see red muscle under there," says Matsushima. At first Matsushima thought a bomb had been dropped on his school. Once outside he thought a thousand bombs had been dropped at once. But after he saw the entire city was devastated, he realized it was the work of a single weapon. Matsushima and his friend never made it to the hospital. The atomic bomb detonated directly above and it was no longer there. After returning his friend to school, he tried to make his way to his dorm. It too was gone. With nothing left, and no one to find, Matsushima headed east looking for a train to take him North. As he crossed Miyuki Bridge witnessing the destruction around him, he thought to himself, Hiroshima is dying.

Earlier that year, Matsushima's father passed away due to illness. Since then and the bombings of cities began, his mother decided to return to the country home of her husband. It was here Matsushima was headed. Little did Matsushima's mother know, he was alive. She had seen the mushroom cloud rising over the mountains between her and Hiroshima. As rumors spread that the city was obliterated, she believed her son was dead. That night, after praying to Budda, Matsushima knocked on his mother's door and was welcomed home to loving arms. The next day, and for the week following, Matsushima suffered from radiation poisoning including fever and diarrhea. A short time later, Japan surrendered and World War II officially ended. But Matsushima's story doesn't end there.

October 12, 2009

This week, Matsushima traveled to Colorado to spread his tale in hopes it will open the eyes of many who've never experienced the devastation of a nuclear weapon. Monday, he spoke to a crowd of students, teachers, and citizens at Pueblo Community College (PCC), before heading to Colorado Springs.

His presentation touched many of those who came to hear him. "The range of emotions that he put through conveying his story was just incredible. Most of us have never seen anything of that nature, so to hear someone who's survived something so horrific, was eye opening to say the least," says Denise Flory, a student at PCC. "It was heartbreaking. I'm a child that grew up during the Vietnam Era. It brought back all those horrible images of war that we saw on our TV screens," says Cynthia Graham and instructor at the institution. "I know I touched on it in my History classes, but I never really understood the effect it had on him and his people," says Spencer Hawkins.

When asked how Matsushima's story impacts their perspective on current events like missile tests by North Korea and Iran, and Iran's bid for enriching Uranium beyond the amount needed for a nuclear reactor, this is what they had to say: "It's a tough, tough situation that we're in, but I think we're doing the right thing right now with all our troops and the way we're handling it right now," says Hawkins. "I don't think sanctions work. I believe both North Korea and Iran have proven that as they've gone forth on their programs. But I'm not sure that any kind of military action would also work," says Flory. "Diplomacy has to be attempted. I think that cooperation from countries that could be impacted by their acts of war need to come together and solve it together. I don't think it's just the U.S. that needs to solve the problem, I think it's the rest of the world as well," says Graham.

Meanwhile, Matsushima wants what many want: peace. "All the citizens of Hiroshima of course want all the nuclear weapons [to] be abolished from the world, but we know that it's a very difficult problem," says Matsushima.

Matsushima will be speaking at the following locations this week:

Tuesday October 13 -
7:45 a.m. Spring Creek
10:30 a.m. Hanover High School (open to the public)
3:00 p.m. University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, #302 UC Theater

Wednesday October 14 -
8:00 a.m. Zebulon Pike Youth Services Center, Hefler Hall
11:00 a.m. Colorado College, WES room in Woerner Center, Colorado Springs
6:00 p.m. University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, #302 UC Theater
8:00 p.m. Colorado College, Asian Languages Residence

Thursday October 15 -
10:00 a.m. Denver University; Denver
2:05 p.m. Centaurus High School; Boulder

Friday October 16 -
10:00 a.m. University of Northern Colorado; Greeley
2:05 p.m. Colorado State University; Fort Collins