| A Japanese soldier walks through the flatten center of town, near Hiroshima Castle, 2625 feet (800 meters) from the hypocenter in Motomachi District. The Second Area Army under Field Marshal Shunroku Hata, a veteran commander in China, defended Kyushu and part of Honshu with its Headquarters in Hiroshima Castle. Chugoku Military District Headquarters, the base of the Fifth Division, was also located there. Both military installations were destroyed. Private Yutaka Nakagawa later said, “Some time later I returned to the barracks. Inside the barracks were civilian victims, lying on the ground. When I approached they cried out for water but our officers said, ‘Don‘t give them water – if you do that they‘ll die immediately.‘ But there was a pond inside the barracks – water reserved for fire-fighting – I saw black, burned bodies in the water – it was like a nightmare.“ | |
| Image Filename | wwii1317.jpg |
| Image Size | 2.87 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 2892 x 2946 |
| Photographer | Miller, Wayne |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | September 05, 1945 |
| Location | Hiroshima Castle, Motomachi District |
| City | Hiroshima |
| State or Province | Hiroshima Prefecture |
| Country | Japan |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2007, ©2024 MFA Productions LLC Image in the Public Domain |
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