John I had so many goosebumps when I was reading through this piece. I am bookmarking this essay for re-read simply because it is so information dense and touches on rich history and how seemingly individual and disjointed decisions are always connected to the larger picture. I am so amused by your connection to the whole WWII era - so directly even.
And thank you for acknowledging all the destruction and suffering this weapon has ensued, this story would have been incomplete without it. Your closing paragraphs and mama-san’s story made me cry, it reminded me of Isao Takahat’s heart wrenching studio ghibli movie- Grave of Fireflies 💔
Thank you, Swarna. I've become aware only recently of the phenomenon of intergenerational trauma in general, and my generation's inherited intergenerational war trauma in particular. It was revelatory to see where some of mine came from. I've only been able to scratch the surface. I'll try to cover more in future posts. The action my father saw in the Indian Ocean, for example, included attacking Japanese facilities in the Andaman Islands. How was that for the indigenous population? When the ship loaded supplies at Trincomalee, was Bengali rice part of it?
We're back in Richland this weekend for the triathlon. I'll be writing about this trip too.
Intergenerational trauma is so subtly and quietly passed down that it might seem like a made it phenomenon to hardened cynics, but the truth is the genetic and behavioural inheritance transfers trauma like a any other normal ancestral knowledge. The body doesn’t discriminate, the body doesn’t know. That is why so many of our fears and inhibitions, like so many of our admiration and love for certain things are inherent and cannot be explained.
I too wonder about the Indian ocean action between the British and the Japanese that your father witnessed John. It must have touched and impacted so many people. Bengal rice was main weapon for the British from stopping the Japanese to enter the subcontinent. It must have played a massive role in the Indian ocean battle too. Waiting to read more along these lines. Thank you for this research. I learned so much from this essay.
Wow, this was gripping, John—weaving your dad’s and the larger social story into your tour visit. Truly a depraved atomic bomb escalation, with a price that people are still paying, and will continue to pay. I remember Duck and Cover drills, and being terrified of the Cold War right through the ‘80s. It was something that you just had to not think about if you had no power to do anything about it. Sometimes I wonder how much of the current culture of denial—of climate change, of disabling viruses—was trained into us during those decades. It is not insignificant.
Thank you so much, Priscilla. I think you’re onto something with the way it has affected our approach to impending apocalypses. Perhaps the root of the denial is a feeling of a complete lack of agency compounded with a sense that the government is simultaneously both responsible and unable - or unwilling - to help us.
Incredible research and storytelling here, John. I wish you didn't have to tell this story. I wish it didn't exist. And like you, of course, wonder what we've learned and if we can find a way to do better.
Thanks, Nia, it was engrossing, if not fun, to write.
I had not seen that in HCN, so thanks. Will read in full as soon as I can, but I note the eventual cost was projected then to be $144 billion. It's now almost $700 billion and is likely to hit a trillion. It's pretty much tracking Elon Musk's net worth.
Beautifully done, John. I'm sure a lot of your readers share familiar experiences. I certainly remember "Duck and Cover" and my Daddy served in the Navy as radio operator on a ship in the south Pacific. He didn't talk much about it, but insisted I learn Morse Code as a young girl. Bomb shelters proliferated in my town in GA during Cuban missile crisis. Ironically rare plants have a safe place at Hanford - irony abounds. Thank you.
John I had so many goosebumps when I was reading through this piece. I am bookmarking this essay for re-read simply because it is so information dense and touches on rich history and how seemingly individual and disjointed decisions are always connected to the larger picture. I am so amused by your connection to the whole WWII era - so directly even.
And thank you for acknowledging all the destruction and suffering this weapon has ensued, this story would have been incomplete without it. Your closing paragraphs and mama-san’s story made me cry, it reminded me of Isao Takahat’s heart wrenching studio ghibli movie- Grave of Fireflies 💔
Thank you, Swarna. I've become aware only recently of the phenomenon of intergenerational trauma in general, and my generation's inherited intergenerational war trauma in particular. It was revelatory to see where some of mine came from. I've only been able to scratch the surface. I'll try to cover more in future posts. The action my father saw in the Indian Ocean, for example, included attacking Japanese facilities in the Andaman Islands. How was that for the indigenous population? When the ship loaded supplies at Trincomalee, was Bengali rice part of it?
We're back in Richland this weekend for the triathlon. I'll be writing about this trip too.
Intergenerational trauma is so subtly and quietly passed down that it might seem like a made it phenomenon to hardened cynics, but the truth is the genetic and behavioural inheritance transfers trauma like a any other normal ancestral knowledge. The body doesn’t discriminate, the body doesn’t know. That is why so many of our fears and inhibitions, like so many of our admiration and love for certain things are inherent and cannot be explained.
I too wonder about the Indian ocean action between the British and the Japanese that your father witnessed John. It must have touched and impacted so many people. Bengal rice was main weapon for the British from stopping the Japanese to enter the subcontinent. It must have played a massive role in the Indian ocean battle too. Waiting to read more along these lines. Thank you for this research. I learned so much from this essay.
Wow, this was gripping, John—weaving your dad’s and the larger social story into your tour visit. Truly a depraved atomic bomb escalation, with a price that people are still paying, and will continue to pay. I remember Duck and Cover drills, and being terrified of the Cold War right through the ‘80s. It was something that you just had to not think about if you had no power to do anything about it. Sometimes I wonder how much of the current culture of denial—of climate change, of disabling viruses—was trained into us during those decades. It is not insignificant.
Thank you so much, Priscilla. I think you’re onto something with the way it has affected our approach to impending apocalypses. Perhaps the root of the denial is a feeling of a complete lack of agency compounded with a sense that the government is simultaneously both responsible and unable - or unwilling - to help us.
A combo guaranteed to teach passivity, isn’t it.
Yes, and a constant state of fear.
Incredible research and storytelling here, John. I wish you didn't have to tell this story. I wish it didn't exist. And like you, of course, wonder what we've learned and if we can find a way to do better.
Not sure if you saw this, but High Country News had a piece ten years ago about failures in the Hanford cleanup from inside whistleblowers: https://www.hcn.org/issues/46-2/the-hanford-whistleblowers/
Thanks, Nia, it was engrossing, if not fun, to write.
I had not seen that in HCN, so thanks. Will read in full as soon as I can, but I note the eventual cost was projected then to be $144 billion. It's now almost $700 billion and is likely to hit a trillion. It's pretty much tracking Elon Musk's net worth.
It would be a much better use of his wealth than pretending to colonize another planet while shitposting us into fascism!
The sooner he raptures himself the better. I just feel bad for Mars.
Mars deserves better.
Interesting piece. I learned some new things, particularly about GB’s nuclear efforts. Also, I listened to your post. Your narration is well done.
Also, you might find this link interesting.
https://cac.org/daily-meditations/remaining-steadfast-in-nonviolence/
Thanks Chuck!
Beautifully done, John. I'm sure a lot of your readers share familiar experiences. I certainly remember "Duck and Cover" and my Daddy served in the Navy as radio operator on a ship in the south Pacific. He didn't talk much about it, but insisted I learn Morse Code as a young girl. Bomb shelters proliferated in my town in GA during Cuban missile crisis. Ironically rare plants have a safe place at Hanford - irony abounds. Thank you.
Cleveland
Thanks, Cleveland! I’m curious to see how it resonates. I’m glad it did with you.