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U.S. airman enlists in hibakusha quest - ENGLISH

10/29/2005 The Asahi Shimbun

HIROSHIMA - A peacetime mission has united an atomic bomb survivor and a U.S. serviceman not even born when "Little Boy" was dropped here in 1945. Their goal is to document and memorialize the U.S. prisoners of war who died in the Hiroshima blast. A dozen or more U.S. POWs were killed in the bombing, a fact that was hidden for many years.

On Oct. 13, hibakusha Shigeaki Mori, 68, of Hiroshima's Nishi Ward, and U.S. Air Force Sgt. Christopher Valgardson, 42, visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park together for the first time.

There, the two dedicated a photo of Charles Baumgartner Jr., an Air Force sergeant who died at 29, to the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims.

For the past 20 years, Mori has conducted research on U.S. POWs who died in the Hiroshima blast.

He said he wants to hand down a real picture of the atomic bombing to future generations.

In 1998, using his own money, he erected a memorial plaque for soldiers detained at the site of what was then the Chugoku region's military police headquarters. He has also registered photos of nine U.S. soldiers killed in the atomic bombing with the peace memorial hall since January 2004.

Valgardson, currently stationed in Japan, has helped Mori with his research since last summer. He says he wants to protect the honor of the U.S. soldiers whose names were not inscribed on war memorials because they died in foreign custody.

Valgardson met Mori last year after being transferred to the U.S. military base at Iwakuni in neighboring Yamaguchi Prefecture. Valgardson had asked Mori to give a speech during a memorial service at the base. Since then, the two have corresponded through e-mail messages.

Valgardson said he appreciates what Mori has done and wants to continue to work with him in the research.

Mori said: "It may be difficult for him (Valgardson) to cooperate for the abolition of nuclear weapons because he is a soldier. But I want him to know the reality of the atomic bombing even if it is little by little."(IHT/Asahi: October 29,2005)

Hantschel, John Joseph, ENS