Hiroshima's hidden tragedy: American prisoners lost to history
Barack Obama was the first American president to visit Hiroshima since the nuclear attack on the city. In his speech in May 2016, he moved the audience by noting that among the victims of the nuclear attack were also Americans.
A few hours after dropping the second atomic bomb on Japan, on August 9, 1945, U.S. President Harry Truman addressed the nation on the radio. He explained that the decision to use weapons of mass destruction was a response to the brutal treatment of American prisoners by the Japanese. Truman pointed out that the bomb was used against those who had unexpectedly attacked Pearl Harbor and oppressed and killed imprisoned American soldiers, violating all international war norms. The goal of using the bomb was to shorten the war and save thousands of young Americans.
One of the lesser-known facts about World War II is that the bomb in Hiroshima led to the death of 12 Americans who were imprisoned there. Historians emphasize, however, that the number of Allied prisoners who died at the hands of the Japanese was higher.
The failed "Lonesome Lady" mission
The "Little Boy" bomb, dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, from the Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay," was massive, weighing approximately 9,000 lbs. It is estimated that up to 90,000 people may have died as a result of its use, equaling one-third of the city's population at the time.
Earlier, on July 28, 1945, the crew of the B-24J "Lonesome Lady" bomber embarked on a mission to sink the battleship Haruna. The pilot, young Second Lieutenant Thomas Campbell Cartwright, led the operation, which ended in failure when Japanese anti-aircraft defenses shot down the aircraft. One of the pilots attempted to eject, but his parachute did not open. The rest, including Cartwright, were captured. The attempt also included the "Taloa" aircraft, with part of its crew dying on July 28 and the rest perishing in the explosion on August 6.
The imprisoned pilots were held at a police station in Hiroshima. Washington reportedly was unaware of the presence of American prisoners in the city, as there were no prisoner-of-war camps there.
The forgotten victims of the bomb
A total of 14 Americans were taken prisoner. The "Little Boy" explosion killed ten of them instantly. Four others survived, being in different parts of the building.
Among the survivors were gunner Normand Brissette and Sergeant Ralph Neal, who took shelter in a latrine during the explosion. They were later found in the abandoned city and then in a nearby hospital, thanks to a Japanese man named Tank. Unfortunately, both later died from radiation sickness.
Of all the prisoners held in Hiroshima, only two members of the "Lonesome Lady"—Sergeant Bill Abel and Second Lieutenant Cartwright—returned to the USA. Cartwright's story was captured in a photograph by John Swope, showing liberated Allied soldiers. Upon his return, Cartwright published an autobiography titled "A Date with the Lonesome Lady: A Hiroshima POW Returns."
