James N. Yamazaki

Children of the Atomic Bomb is a surprisingly eloquent little book about the human cost of the most horrific acts of war ever perpetrated by mankind - the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945. While it has long been argued that the bombs probably saved tens of thousands of American lives that would have been lost in the attack on Japan, after reading Dr. Yamazaki's stories from the survivors of the attack, one wonders, and hopes fervently that such a thing never happens again. The book itself is in the form of a memoir, and that is probably what makes it so interesting - so fascinating, actually. The author, born in 1916, was a Nisei, a second-generation Japanese-American who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, was captured by the Germans and, as a POW, survived bombing and strafing by Allied aircraft. There are also references here to the prejudice and bigotry perpetrated on Yamazaki's family and friends, including the rounding up and herding off to internment camps during the war. The heart of the story, however, concerns the author's lifelong work as a doctor/pediatrician in studying the effects of radiation and fallout on children. He was an important part of such studies in both Japan and the U.S. from 1950 all the way into the 1990s, when this book was published. I wonder if he is still active in medicine. There is much in this brief study that is horrifying and gruesome, but I was most taken by the forgiving nature of people expressed in the tales here, and with the dedication and passion that Dr. Yamazaki has brought to his work with children in the past 60-plus years. This is a book that can be read quickly but its contents will resonate. An important and moving work by a good man.… (más)