Latest news with #Hersey
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Girl who died in Hersheypark wavepool named as nine year-old Sophia Subedi
A nine year-old girl who died in a busy wave pool at the Hersheypark water park has been named as Sophia Subedi. Sophia was pulled unresponsive from the waters of the busy attraction in Hersey, Pennsylvania, last Thursday and could not be revived. It is still unclear how she died with autopsy results not yet released. An online tribute to Sophia said: 'A bright, kind, and loving young girl, Sophia, brought joy and light to everyone who knew her. Her sudden loss has left our entire community in grief.' Developing story, check back for updates...
Yomiuri Shimbun
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
2025 Expo Osaka: Digitally Re-Created Hiroshima Artifacts Displayed at Expo; Artists' Sculptures Link Past Tragedy to Vision for Future
Digitally crafted re-creations of items that belonged to victims of the Hiroshima atomic bombing are on display at the 2025 Osaka–Kansai Expo. A pocket watch 30 centimeters wide, 30 centimeters deep and 60 centimeters high, and a fountain pen 20 centimeters wide, 20 centimeters deep and 60 centimeters high, were created by New York–based artist Cannon Hersey, 48, and Tokyo-based artist Akira Fujimoto, 49. Hersey is the grandson of Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Hersey, whose 1946 book 'Hiroshima' revealed the devastation to the and Fujimoto believe that the Expo's vision of the future cannot be separated from the past, and they hope the installation will help keep memories of the bombing alive. Since 2019, the pair have produced artwork using 3-D data from artifacts held by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Pasona Group Inc. proposed a new commission last autumn for its pavilion at the Expo, and Hersey accepted, saying it would be meaningful to exhibit at an event visited by so many people. The artifacts were photographed at high resolution early this year, and 3D data were used in a Toyama Prefecture studio to craft the sculptures. Aluminum casts made from 3D-printed molds were hand-polished to reproduce fine details, and each piece was enlarged for easier pocket watch's hands are frozen at 8:15 a.m. — the moment the bomb was dropped — and its dial is melted inward. The fountain pen, discovered in Noboricho near the hypocenter, has a snapped nib, vividly conveying the force of the blast. Fujimoto chose the pocket watch because 'the atomic bombing can be said to have stopped the flow of time; by seeing the hands fixed at 8:15, people can sense the time that was lost.' Hersey selected the fountain pen as a symbol capable of influencing society. The artists visited the Pasona pavilion for the first time on Tuesday. Hersey remarked that without understanding the past, a better future cannot be created. 'Visitors from all over the world will come to the Expo,' said Yoshifumi Ishida, director of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. 'These highly precise works give people a meaningful opportunity to consider and empathize with the damage caused by the atomic bomb.' After the Expo ends in October, the sculptures will be exhibited in Hiroshima City. The Pasona pavilion — whose displays also include life-science innovations such as sheet-shaped cardiac muscle grown from iPS cells — accepts advance reservations, though visitors may also enter by lining up on-site.
Winnipeg Free Press
17-07-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Book Review: ‘The Hiroshima Men' is a reminder of the horrific human costs of atomic attack
John Hersey was a 32-year-old reporter who returned from Japan with in 1946 with a groundbreaking story that challenged U.S. government's version of its atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima, showing the human consequences were far more horrific and extensive than the American public had been told. Hersey's 30,000-word piece for The New Yorker magazine focused on a few of the thousands of survivors who fell ill, and often died, from the lingering effects of radiation long after the bomb's initial impact killed tens of thousands of Japanese men, women and children. Hersey is among diverse group of men author and historian Iain MacGregor profiles in his new book, 'The Hiroshima Men: The Quest to Build the Atomic Bomb, and the Fateful Decision to Use It.' MacGregor earlier wrote 'Checkpoint Charlie,' an acclaimed history of Cold War Berlin, as well as 'The Lighthouse of Stalingrad: The Hidden Truth at the Heart of the Greatest Battle of World War II.' With the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima attack approaching next month, 'The Hiroshima Men' is a potent reminder of the extreme human costs that were wrought by the first atomic weapon employed during warfare. By profiling some key players, MacGregor pulls readers into their personal stories with visually enticing description and lively dialogue. One was pilot Paul Tibbetts, Jr., who fell in love with flying at age 12 when he rode in an old biplane that took off from a horse racing track outside Miami. He named the Boeing B-29 Superfortress that he was flying when it dropped the atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945, for his mother, Enola Gay. Another profile is of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the brilliant scientific theorist who inspired a team testing the atomic bomb at a secret research laboratory in rural New Mexico. There's also Maj. Gen. Henry 'Hap' Arnold, who led the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II and understood what could be achieved with the faster long-range B-29 bomber, which could travel farther and fly much higher than the popular B-17 that had been used on Europe. MacGregor also introduces us to Senkichi Awaya, the mayor of Hiroshima, a city founded in the late 1580s by a powerful warlord who built a castle headquarters on the shores of a strategically located bay. There are many more. The most powerful sections of the book come toward the end, when MacGregor describes the ghastly aftermath of the bombing — a gruesome hellscape littered with charred bodies and stunned survivors with skin dangling from their bodies and eyes hanging from the sockets. He then invites readers to reflect on the event's profound costs: 'I hope, looking right across the experience of this terrifying and cataclysmic event, that you, the reader, can judge for yourself whether this journey through the experiences of a city mayor, a bomber pilot, an Army general and an award-winning journalist, who all were intimately connected to Hiroshima, was worth it.' ___ AP book reviews:
Express Tribune
29-06-2025
- General
- Express Tribune
The war that ended, the suffering that didn't
It is well known that when power is left unchecked, it can lead to disaster. Throughout history, numerous individuals and nations have struggled to emerge as the dominant power, but there is one that remains undefeated — the United States of America. John Hersey's Hiroshima explores this country's relentless pursuit of global dominance through the lives of six survivors and the tragic bombing of Hiroshima. Though this event occurred decades ago, we remain subversive beings, dominated and controlled by the US. Hiroshima remains relevant in today's world, while in the modern era, as the US continues to exert its influence through military interventions, economic pressures, and political maneouvering, Hiroshima remains a crucial text for understanding how power is wielded at the expense of human lives. Published in 1946, this book takes a narrative-driven approach, describing the lives of six survivors — two doctors, two women, a Catholic priest, and a factory worker — before, during, and after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The book is divided into four sections: the immediate impact of the bomb, the survivors' experiences in the aftermath, their struggles in the following weeks, and a final chapter, added 40 years later, examining their long-term physical and emotional scars. Additionally, the structure brings these characters to life in a powerful way, as it documents their entire experience. Hersey doesn't focus on just one instance or occasion; rather, he elaborates on how the past, present, and future of these individuals were completely shattered by the bombing. This is one of the book's greatest strengths, as it allows readers to connect with the narrative on a deeper level. To truly understand a tragedy and draw parallels between different time periods, it is imperative that an author humanise their characters by presenting various aspects of their lives. Hersey achieves this by providing detailed descriptions of his characters, such as Mr Tanimoto's background: 'There was another thing, too: Mr Tanimoto had studied theology at Emory College, in Atlanta, Georgia; he had graduated in 1940; he spoke excellent English; he dressed in American clothes; he had corresponded with many American friends right up to the time the war began; and among a people obsessed with a fear of being spied upon — perhaps almost obsessed himself — he found himself growing increasingly uneasy' (Hersey 10). Moreover, Hersey's depiction of the immediate and long-term effects of the atomic bomb compels readers to connect with the survivors' suffering. For example, Miss Sasaki, trapped under debris for hours, not only endures severe physical injury but also faces a life permanently altered by disability and isolation. Her pain is poignantly conveyed in the line: 'There, in the tin factory, in the first moment of the atomic age, a human being was crushed by books' (Hersey 22). Similarly, Father Kleinsorge's quiet suffering, as he battles ongoing illness due to radiation sickness, mirrors the fate of countless hibakusha (survivors of the bombing), who endured discrimination and health struggles long after the war ended. While reading the book, I constantly found myself linking this tragedy to the present-day world order. To me, Hiroshima still exists today because the US continues to wreak havoc and destruction in many nations. The book illustrates how a sense of normalcy is suddenly shattered by a country's decision to test atomic weapons without any regard for human lives. This remains our reality today. In an instant, war can erupt, a nation can launch an attack, lives can be lost, and international agreements can be breached — all it takes is a single moment for normalcy to be disrupted. This is precisely what we observe in the book from the very beginning. As readers, we are aware that something devastating is about to befall the characters, yet they are merely going about their daily lives when their world is completely upended. More often than not, it is the US that chooses to play the villain, justifying its actions in various ways. But Hiroshima is not confined to one place. You will find Hiroshima in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in the Middle East, and in all the countries that the US has treated as secondary. Hersey's text forces readers to reflect on the immense power this nation wields and raises an unsettling question: to what extent will it remain unchecked? And once this power fades, which nation — perhaps China or Russia — will scramble to seize it? Moreover, several instances in the book illustrate the aftermath of the bombing and how the victims adapted to their new, devastated world. These depictions reminded me of present-day Palestine, Syria, Yemen, and other war-torn regions where civilians are forced to endure unimaginable suffering. Just as Hiroshima's residents became collateral damage in a larger geopolitical struggle, modern wars continue to dehumanise victims, treating them as mere statistics rather than individuals with lives, dreams, and families. Hersey captures this ongoing struggle through his poignant portrayal of the survivors: 'A year after the bomb was dropped, Miss Sasaki was a cripple; Mrs Nakamura was destitute; Father Kleinsorge was back in the hospital; Dr Sasaki was not capable of the work he once could do; Dr Fujii had lost the thirty-room hospital it took him many years to acquire and had no prospects of rebuilding it; Mr Tanimoto's church had been ruined, and he no longer had his exceptional vitality. The lives of these six people, who were among the luckiest in Hiroshima, would never be the same.' (Hersey 89). This passage underscores one of the book's greatest strengths: its ability to humanise the victims and show that survival does not equate to an end of suffering. The destruction of Hiroshima was not just about immediate death — it was about irreversible loss, both physical and emotional, that extended long after the bomb had fallen. This mirrors the reality of millions today who, even after the airstrikes have ceased or the conflicts have subsided, must navigate a shattered world with no hope of returning to the life they once knew. Hersey's text forces readers to recognise that Hiroshima is not just a historical event; it is a recurring tragedy, playing out in different forms across the globe. It serves as a stark reminder that, despite decades of progress, war continues to erase entire communities, leaving survivors to pick up the pieces in a world that often turns a blind eye. As we discussed in class, the bombing of Hiroshima has been framed in US narratives as a necessity — an unavoidable act to hasten the end of World War II. According to this perspective, the attack was justified to prevent further casualties and bring about peace. However, Hersey's text deconstructs this view by presenting the personal suffering of civilians, shifting the focus from military strategy to human tragedy. Instead of reinforcing the dominant narrative of triumph and justification, Hiroshima forces readers to confront the devastating, long-term consequences of war on ordinary people — those who had no role in the decisions that sealed their journalistic writing style plays a crucial role in this deconstruction. His detailed, matter-of-fact descriptions strip away political rhetoric, replacing it with an intimate portrayal of loss, pain, and survival. By following the lives of six individuals, he makes the horrors of war accessible and deeply personal, ensuring that history does not erase their suffering in favor of abstract discussions of strategy and victory. The neutrality of his prose makes the destruction even more chilling; there is no embellishment, no overt condemnation — just raw, undeniable reality. In conclusion, Hersey's text forces us to question existing power structures and the limits placed upon them — if any truly exist. The book serves as a reminder that history is often written by the victors, allowing those in power to justify destruction in the name of progress, security, or peace. Ultimately, Hiroshima is more than a historical account — it is a call to remember, to question, and to resist the dangerous normalisation of war and destruction. Syeda Fizza Jafri is a media student and a freelance writer All facts are information are the sole responsibility of the writer
CBS News
20-05-2025
- CBS News
Man, woman found dead during welfare check in western Wisconsin
Minnesota Legislature headed for special session, and more headlines Minnesota Legislature headed for special session, and more headlines Minnesota Legislature headed for special session, and more headlines A man and a woman were found dead in western Wisconsin on Monday evening. The St. Croix County Sheriff's Office says the woman's family member asked for a welfare check around 9 p.m. Deputies responded to a property north of Hersey in Springfield Township. There, they found a man and a woman, who were both dead. Deputies recovered a firearm at the scene. Family members told the sheriff's office that the two knew each other. The sheriff's office doesn't believe there is a threat to the community. The incident is under investigation.
