Children of the Atomic Bomb

Children of the Atomic Bomb: An American Physician's Memoir of Nagasaki, Hiroshima, and the Marshall Islands by James N. Yamazaki, with Louis B. Fleming. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1995. 182 pp., $22.13.

My final book from the archives of the State Department Library, this memoir was a fitting conclusion to my (brief) investigation into the US atomic tests from 1945 to 1963 in the Marshall Islands and elsewhere. A meandering yet searing memoir, this novel highlights the lingering effects of the atomic bomb in the lives of the children and "survivors" of the bomb. Yamazaki has a story to tell, and he does it with incredible humility, patience, and forgiveness.

As a doctor, the author encountered lasting birth defects and terrible tragedies resulting from man's ignorance when confronted with the incredible power of the bomb. Without getting bogged down in medical jargon (we can perhaps thank Louis Fleming for that), Yamazaki guides us through the process of laboratory testing in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, the Marshall Islands, and California that led to our modern understanding of nuclear radiation. Considering that the scientific community had not yet uncovered the structure of DNA, it is no wonder that we grossly underestimated the impact of radiation particles on the unborn and vulnerable populations.

As an American, he and his family endured terrible persecution because of his Japanese heritage, despite serving valiantly for his country. While his father lived in a concentration camp in California, he was fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and eventually taken as a prisoner of war. The juxtaposition between Hitler's camps and America's camps are startling and uncomfortable. The prejudices he and his family encountered, even after returning to the US as a decorated war veteran and completing a rigorous medical training, are even more disconcerting.

As a historian, Yamazaki and Fleming have an unparalleled perspective on one of the most trying times in modern America. There is little of bitterness in this book, nor is there excessive moralizing or finger wagging. Rather they tell the story of terrible tragedies with compassion, forgiveness, and caution. The book is a warning for a myopic era, but without a policy prescription per se.

My final feeling from reading this book is one of moral ambiguity. World War II is often seen as the most "just" of America's modern wars. That is, good and evil are clearly delineated, and we come off clearly on the side of good. But war is never good. Especially modern warfare. Nuclear weapons, racism, stereotypes, and distrust are all tools of war that have a persistent impact on society. Whenever we paint society with broad strokes, we risk encouraging individual snobbery. Good and bad can only truly be evaluated at an individual level, and even that judgment should best be left to God. I hope I can thus be like Yamazaki and be good by serving my fellow man.