May 5, 1964 - Eight Japanese people who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki met today with Harry S. Truman, the man who ordered bombs dropped to end World War II. (Pictured below, Truman announces the dropping of the first atomic bomb on August 6, 1945).
The group, with four interpreters, met the former President in the auditorium of the Truman Library in Independence, Mo.
Mr. Truman told the visitors: “It is very nice of you to come here under the circumstances. I’m very happy to have you take a look inside the library so you can see what this country has to offer.”
Takuo Matsumoto, the 76-year-old president of the Shizuoka Women’s College near Tokyo, acted as spokesman for the group. He told Mr. Truman: “The decision was a very heavy responsibility on your part. It was wartime.”
Mr. Truman said: “The object was to end the war in such a way that not a half million more people would be killed on each side and that many injured. When you run a war, the objective is to win. I think we have shown that we keep no bitter feelings.”
The group that visited Mr. Truman was one of three touring the world on a peace mission. This group left Japan on April 21 and will go from Independence to Columbia, Mo., St. Louis, Louisville, Ky., and Dayton, Ohio. On June 7, it will go to Paris, West and East Berlin, then to Moscow and through the Soviet Union.
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