Under the Atomic Bomb: American POWs in Hiroshima

Author Mori Shigeaki and his friend Paul Satoh were children living in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was released from the Enola Gay and exploded overhead. They are among the minority of children there who survived the radiation, blast, and firestorm of the atomic bomb that day. As an adult, Mori worked over decades to discover and write the story of Americans who perished along with his own family members and friends.

 With Satoh’s help, Mori was able to find and contact ex-POW Thomas C. Cartwright, Pilot-in-Command of the B-24 bomber Lonesome Lady, along with the families of the young U.S. servicemen who died in Hiroshima in August, 1945. Mori's complete narrative, The Secret History of the American POWs Killed by the Atomic Bomb, is the authorized English version of Mr. Mori’s text. His factual chronicle honors the memory of the American POWs and the more than 140,000 Japanese, Koreans, and others in Hiroshima who perished under the atomic bomb.

 On May 27, 2016, Mr. Mori accepted worldwide recognition in the invitation to attend a memorial ceremony and the unanticipated embrace of Barack Obama, the first President of the United States to visit Hiroshima. Mori made his first visit to the United States in May, 2018.

DEDICATION

This site honors the Hiroshima POWs including Thomas Cartwright, historian Mr. Shigeaki Mori, and all of the people affected by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We recognize the grace and magnanimity of the 8-year-old boy, Shigeaki Mori, who lost his childhood in a holocaust and as an adult gained peace and the world's admiration. He chose to love "the enemy".  Now age 81, Mr. Mori personifies what humanity can aspire to become.

Shigeaki Mori worked selflessly and tirelessly to seek and share the truth about the American POWs' fate. The bereaved families of the deceased men needed and deserved answers, just as he did. Here, in the authorized translation of his book into English, Mori resurrects fallen American heroes and shares his findings. Mori stood alone long enough and tall enough to embrace the returning American warriors who bombed him and his loved ones. In October, 1999, his embrace taught the former 2nd Lieutenant Thomas Cartwright that "your loss is my loss, and my loss is your loss". Cartwright concluded from his experiences that humanity can progress "if we can ask each other for help and accept that help".  Together, Mori and Cartwright showed the world what impact "ordinary” people can have upon receptive political leaders.