Survivor shares story with Viterbo

Hideko Tamura Snider was just 10 years old, playing at home just over a mile away from downtown Hiroshima, when an atomic bomb destroyed her residence, her family and almost everything else around her.

Snider recounted the events that day as well as her subsequent dedication to a life of healing and hope to nearly 1,000 guests in attendance at the Fine Arts Main Theatre on Monday, Feb 1.

Hideko is the author of the book, "One Sunny Day," an account of her life before, during and after Aug. 6, 1945 – in her words, "the day the sun and the earth melted together."

As part of the Humanities Symposium held on campus about the nuclear threat facing the world today, Hideko shared her experiences to show the importance of nuclear warfare awareness to the La Crosse community.

 "We all have a moral responsibility towards global nuclear disarmament, and I came here not to talk about death and destruction, but about the beauty and wonders of life," she said. "As a member of the human family, I rejoice with all."

What worries Snider is an absence or avoidance of factual knowledge about the results of nuclear explosions on human lives and ecological systems.

"The consequences of nuclear war cannot be put on hold in denial of necessity and deterrence," she said. "The quest for being truly human must continue and spread throughout the world."

 After surviving the atomic blast in 1945, Snider came to America disconnected and lost. 

"It's etched in my mind like it happened yesterday. There is no way I can erase it, there is no way to escape the drenching memories and the terror," she said. "I could not feel, I had no feelings and I did not know where to turn."

She came to realize that with the hurt and pain that she endured from the horrific experience in Hiroshima, she felt the need for and found her calling by helping others cope and deal with their own issues. 

While seeking authentic reasons for living and searching for an understanding of the human condition, Snider has spent most of her life in the healing profession, the last 13 with cancer patients during their radiation treatment.

 "I felt much empathy for those who had traumatic experiences and finally felt connected to something for the first time since that horrific day," she said.

Since that day, Snider has come full circle in working directly with the radiation that destroyed her childhood. She has witnessed the life and benefits that come from radiation being used for cancer patients, the same thing that took so many lives in 1945.

 "I cherish every day I wake and see the sun rising," she said. "I look at all of you and see the vibrant future that you bring not only for yourselves but for the future of all of our children."

One reaction to Snider's story of her horrific childhood and that fateful day was that of disbelief and disgust.

"I had to stop paying attention to what she was saying during the part of her speech when she described, in detail, the sight of people's skin melting off their bodies," said Travis Thibodeau, junior English and philosophy major from Faribault, Minn.

"It makes me angry that our government would go to such lengths and to be so inhumane just sickens me," he said.

Snider seems to have a more forgiving approach. She has grown to love America, what it stands for and all it has to offer. She was able to start a new life and find her true purpose along the way.

"I am so grateful for America; my life has been truly blessed here. I have a wonderful husband and two amazing children who have also been blessed with wonderful lives here in America," she said.

Another reaction to Snider's stories of that fateful day and her life since then was one of admiration.

 "I am so amazed that after what the United States did to her country and her family, that she has embraced the way of American life like she has," said Nick Lenzendorf, senior accounting major from La Crosse. "That is something to admire because I don't think I would have been able to do the same thing."