The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima by the US was a horrific event that has since been used as one warning of the lethal potential of a nuclear bomb. 90,000 to 146,000 people died, the numbers skewed because many were vaporized in the explosion. Many effects were and are still present in those who reside in Hiroshima. Thermal flash burns were extremely common after the explosion, causing permanent scarring, sloughing of the skin, infection, and possible death from that infection, considering so many people were injured and not everyone could get treatment in time. Radiation poisoning was an issue after a few days, a result of the intense radiation that was emitted from the bomb. Vomiting, excessive amounts of hair falling out of the head, spontaneous bleeding, and bloody diarrhea were all present in victims. Most had no options to at least ease their suffering or deaths, as 42 of 45 hospitals were demolished and 90% of medical personnel were killed. Long term effects still being experienced 72 years later include leukemia, severe scarring, and even congenital physical and mental disabilities caused by mutated DNA in parents and their offspring. These are well reported symptoms of the “Little Boy” nuke burst, but one of the most strangest and terrifying effects that happened immediately after the Enola Gay dropped its payload were the “Ant-Alligator People”.
The description that begins this article was quoted from the book The Last Train From Hiroshima by Charles R. Pellegrino, who’s first-hand accounts have come under scrutiny. But if these rumors of Ant-Alligator People are true, it could only be rendered worse by the more powerful nuclear weapons that we hold today. Skin burned black as coal creating scales, red holes for mouths, melted eyeballs, clothes fused to their bodies in Hell’s heat. These creatures were barely human anymore and seem more like the lost souls of the damned than something that could roam the Earth. What is most disturbing to me is their lack of the ability to speak. Fingers bent over black, I doubt they could write, and I find myself morbidly curious as to what they thought. Of their condition, perhaps? They probably couldn’t feel much as their nerve endings would have been burned away. Maybe others, of the devastation around them? Did they believe they had entered the afterlife? Is this what had been waiting for them? Or maybe it was their families. The quote ends with a victim holding a baby’s corpse upside down. Perhaps the sufferer thought him his child, and tried to get help as fast as his shocked charred body could take him.
I can’t help but imagine, with North Korea’s brazenness, what the newer bombs could do. Although the USA conducted tests after the war, nuclear bombs have not been used on populated targets since Little Boy and Fat Man dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. What would an American city look like? New York’s skyscrapers would be no more, neither Chicago’s space needle, nor Philadelphia’s distinct city hall. Only scrap metal and a twisted statue of William Penn would be located, possibly miles from their original location if they weren’t melted by the extreme heat. Is mutual annihilation enough of a deterrent to today’s world powers? How much do these leaders care for their own people? Would Putin or Trump care much if their countries were bombed? How would people react? Posts online, “thoughts and prayers," supplies, money, food. What would become of politics? A swift counterattack by our allies, condemnation of foolish psychopathic leaders? Revolution? A complete change of the global order?
