Cyndi Loza

Takashi “Thomas” Tanemori was less than one mile from ground zero when the first atomic bomb hit Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945.

The atomic bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945, according to the Radiation Effects Research Foundation. Among them were Tanemori’s parents, two sisters and his father’s grandparents.

A Japanese soldier found 8-year-old Tanemori seven-tenths of a mile from ground zero, buried under debris in his second-grade classroom.

“Even for them to hear my screams is a miracle in itself,” said Tanemori, now 70, of Berkeley, Calif.

Tanemori spoke at I Can Do Anything Charter School on Friday as part of United Nations Day. He will finish his tour of Reno on Sunday morning at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 780 Del Monte Lane.

Tanemori said it was important to him to recount his experiences immigrating and surviving the atomic bomb.

“When we’re able to connect the past to today, then we can connect the future,” Tanemori said.

The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuclear attacks near the end of World War II against Japan at the order of U.S. President Harry S. Truman on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945.

Tanemori recalled the survivors he witnessed while he was being carried by a soldier through Hiroshima. He recalled a woman shouting the names of children, while she carried an infant with no head on her back.

“Even today that image burns in my mind, my soul,” Tanemori said.

When Tanemori was 18, he said he moved to the United States for two things: revenge and to return to Japan with $1 million.

“I thought I was going to kill all the grown-ups,” Tanemori said.

He added he would kill the grown-ups with Judo and let young adults survive “to let them suffer like I suffered second grade on.”

On Aug. 15, 1985, after all his attempts failed, his father appeared to him.

“(He said) ‘You have found the greatest way to avenge your enemy — by learning to forgive,’” Tanemori said. “Ever since then, it was a new beginning.”

He founded Silkworm Peace Institute of USA, a nonprofit organization, to promote peace through forgiveness.

It would be a more peaceful world if people learn that “what we have is not because we deserve it or we earned it — it’s a gift,” Tanemori said.

Several academy students approached at Tanemori after his speech to thank him for coming.

“I give that man the utmost respect that anyone can possibly imagine,” said Chris Higgins, 15, a freshman at the charter school.

Jake Mercer, 17, a senior, said he wished Tanemori could stay at his school all day long.

“The things that he’s gone through are very intense,” Mercer said. “He’s just an inspiration.”

If you go

• What: Takashi “Thomas” Tanemori will discuss his experience as a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bomb attack
• When: 9 a.m. Sunday
• Where: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 780 Del Monte Lane
• To order Tanemori’s book, “Hiroshima: Bridge to Forgiveness,” send a check for $34.95 payable to TVP to TVP, 657 South Monroe St., San Jose, CA 95128.
• E-mail: Jcrumptvp (at) earthlink (dot) net or SilkwormPI-USA (at) sbcglobal (dot) net