[Joi Tennessee Slim Is The Bomb Rar
Eliora Shopbell
Have you ever actually seen the effects of radiation on a living creature? I have. My first glimpse of the unforgettable horror was at the Washington Zoo in 1948 when I was 11 years old. I stood in front of a glass-enclosed cage, spellbound by the presence of a large, listless pig. A sign on the glass said the pig had been radiated by an atomic bomb blast. I assumed that she had been found somewhere near Hiroshima or Nagasaki. No one explained what the pig was doing there or why she was being shown to the public. The memory of the pig was so frightening that at times in my life, I have questioned whether I had really seen a radiated pig or whether she had been a part of a wartime childhood nightmare.
Today, Pig 311 and the bombs dropped for experimentation at Bikini Atoll are barely known and have little recognition in history. In Nagasaki, however, there are powerful reminders of the effects of radiation. Besides the Museum, the most poignant symbol to me is a slim black obelisk that marks the spot where the atomic bomb pierced the earth seventy years ago in August.
From the reverence of their prayers to the enthusiasm of their greeting, I felt no accusations, no awareness that we were the children of the Americans who once devastated the world of their ancestors. I would like to think that they understood, as many in the civilized world understand, that the horror that once rained down on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has served as a clear demonstration, an historic warning against the use of nuclear weapons by any other country for any reason. The forgiveness and optimism of the Japanese youth was an inspiration. Still, nothing can ever dispel for me the indelible image of radiation in my memory: I saw Pig 311.
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