Japanese man confirmed survivor of two nukies

[Enigma]

Posted a Link because you forgot to - Lagmonster

Japanese man certified as double A-bomb victim
By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press Writer – Tue Mar 24, 7:39 am ETTOKYO – A 93-year-old Japanese man has become the first person certified as a survivor of both U.S. atomic bombings at the end of World War II, officials said Tuesday.

Tsutomu Yamaguchi had already been a certified "hibakusha," or radiation survivor, of the Aug. 9, 1945, atomic bombing in Nagasaki, but has now been confirmed as surviving the attack on Hiroshima three days earlier as well, city officials said.

Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip on Aug. 6, 1945, when a U.S. B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on the city. He suffered serious burns to his upper body and spent the night in the city. He then returned to his hometown of Nagasaki just in time for the second attack, city officials said.

"As far as we know, he is the first one to be officially recognized as a survivor of atomic bombings in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki," Nagasaki city official Toshiro Miyamoto said. "It's such an unfortunate case, but it is possible that there are more people like him."

Certification qualifies survivors for government compensation — including monthly allowances, free medical checkups and funeral costs — but Yamaguchi's compensation will not increase, Miyamoto said.

Japan is the only country to have suffered atomic bomb attacks. About 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and 70,000 in Nagasaki.

Yamaguchi is one of about 260,000 people who survived the attacks. Bombing survivors have developed various illnesses from radiation exposure, including cancer and liver illnesses.

Details of Yamaguchi's health problems were not released.

Thousands survivors continue to seek official recognition after the government rejected their eligibility for compensation. The government last year eased the requirements for being certified as a survivor, following criticism the rules were too strict and neglected many who had developed illnesses that doctors have linked to radiation.

Wow. Surviving one nuclear blast was bad enough but two?

[Lusankya]

He's like those guys who survive getting hit by lightning all the time, except more hardcore.

[Kanastrous]

That's enough to make a person feel downright persecuted.

[Enigma]

He's like those guys who survive getting hit by lightning all the time, except more hardcore.

I don't think you can get more hardcore than surviving two nuke attacks. Well.... maybe someone that survives three?

[Stuart]

You mean we missed him twice?

I wonder where he lives now

[Samuel]

You mean we missed him twice?

I wonder where he lives now

Bad Stuart! Let the Soviets have a shot now. "Somewhere in Japan" is probably good enough.

[Oskuro]

And he did it without a fridge!

Now, seriously, that's epic bad luck. I can't imagine the "not again" look on the man's face when it happened in Nagasaki.

[Kodiak]

I remember a stand-up comic routine by a Chinese woman.

"It's tough getting anything from my grandparents. 'Can I borrow money for a car?' They always come back "When we were your age we had two nuclear bombs drop on us, and we never complained."

I'm impressed that even with all the radiation he's lived to the ripe-ol-age of 93. That's some tenacity.

[Lusankya]

At least he might have known what to do second time round, I guess.

He could have been, "Hey, guys. I've done this before. Follow me, I know what to do!" He would have been the local expert.

[TheMuffinKing]

He is 93 years old? I wonder if he hulks out when kids step on his lawn.

But seriously, living through two atomic bomb explosions is impressive and I hope he has or can document his experiences for the benefit of future generations.

[Havok]

The U.S. should step up and pay for the rest of this guys life. In luxury. Holy fuck man.

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

Guys, I think I have the plot for the next Final Destination movie.

[Kanastrous]

The U.S. should step up and pay for the rest of this guys life. In luxury. Holy fuck man.

After expending $billions worth of nuclear weapons trying to nail his ass, and failing?

Good money chucked after bad.

[Broomstick]

Wow, I think the dude used up all his lucky points in 1945!

All the bad ones for being in TWO nuclear blasts, and all the good ones for surviving both times.

[Stuart]

The U.S. should step up and pay for the rest of this guys life. In luxury.

I agree, we should certainly make sure he gets what's coming for him.

I wonder if he has a conditioned response? Perhaps we should fly a B-29 over his house and see how he reacts.

[Solauren]

Stuart, stop being an asshole. You're attempts are humour are as bad as Republican economic policies.

Has this guy breed? I mean because, DAMN, that's some genes to pass on.

[Sea Skimmer]

A number of people survived both A-bombings, which is pretty logical. Japan had very few cities left in 1945 in any state to accept refugees and Nagasaki happened to be one of them. No sympathy, far too many Chinese died under a rain of Japanese chemical and biological weapons for me to give a shit.

[Adrian Laguna]

Stuart, stop being an asshole. You're attempts are humour are as bad as Republican economic policies.

The man is a nuclear weapons targeteer, who once upon a time earned a living calculating the effects of atomic blasts on cities, block by block, using slide rules. He's not being an asshole, he's showing a rarefied form of gallows humour which is apparently much too strong for you.

[Erik von Nein]

Has this guy breed? I mean because, DAMN, that's some genes to pass on.

No, really, they aren't. If he survived and was exposed to quite a bit of radiation there'd be enough damage to his genes that passing them on wouldn't be a good idea. Genetic defects would be (relatively) high.

What did he do that helped him survive that was based on his genes, anyway?

[Broomstick]

Has this guy breed? I mean because, DAMN, that's some genes to pass on.

No, really, they aren't. If he survived and was exposed to quite a bit of radiation there'd be enough damage to his genes that passing them on wouldn't be a good idea. Genetic defects would be (relatively) high.

Not necessarily true.

Those with the most damaged genes post-nuke were simply unable to reproduce, so on average the survivors have lower than typical numbers of children. However, the birth defect rate among the offspring of survivors (excluding those exposed to radiation while in the womb) is actually the same, perhaps even less than average. The latter may be due to the extensive medical care given the survivors, which may have improved their overall health, or it may be due to defective fetuses being detected early and aborted, or it may be that the human genome is more resilient than anticipated.

The degree of radiation to which survivors were exposed also varies widely, with some getting more and some less due to a wide variety of factors. There were people who were badly burned in the resulting fires who, nonetheless, received less radiation than others.

And finally, men exposed to significant radiation tend to become sterile for awhile, but when sperm production resumes it may resume with no more defects than average. Women, who do not produce new eggs during their lifetime, have more problems with genetic damage.

As far as his genes promoting surival - it is more likely that he survived due to luck than anything else.

[Erik von Nein]

Yeah, I just looked around. Apparently there wasn't any increase in defects, though it might owe more to the ability to detect defects at the time of study. Nothing apparent, though.

[Solauren]

Stuart, stop being an asshole. You're attempts are humour are as bad as Republican economic policies.

The man is a nuclear weapons targeteer, who once upon a time earned a living calculating the effects of atomic blasts on cities, block by block, using slide rules. He's not being an asshole, he's showing a rarefied form of gallows humour which is apparently much too strong for you.

I was not aware of his vocation, and that he was doing gallows humour. That is different then being a crass asshole.

(Case in point, I make jokes about computer crashes and data loss)

[Stuart]

No, really, they aren't. If he survived and was exposed to quite a bit of radiation there'd be enough damage to his genes that passing them on wouldn't be a good idea. Genetic defects would be (relatively) high. What did he do that helped him survive that was based on his genes, anyway?

Remember these are old fission devices, not fusion ones. Radiation from the initiation is limited to a relatively small area and those in that area are going to be much more at risk from blast, thermal pulse and debris than radiation. Put another way, if the victim was close enough to be irradiated, he'd be dead from a lot of other things first. Also, the radioactive contaminants were mostly debris from the device itself (both devices were very inefficient, the Mark One on Hiroshima horribly so) and although they got blown around a lot, they were pretty dispersed. The fission products were very short-lived and within 24 hours, they'd mostly be gone. In a nuclear attack, the worst thing to do is send teams into the blast area, they'll acheive nothing and die themselves. People either get out on their own or they don't get out at all.

Fusion devices are a very different proposition, there radiation can be a serious problem.

Sorry you don't like gallows humor Solauren, it sort of goes with my line of business. But don't worry, in a nuclear attack, its not blast, fire, radiant heat, debris or radiation that'll kill you. It's when you fall to the bottom of the crater.

[Erik von Nein]

Thanks for the info on why there wasn't much of a difference in defects. I knew the sites themselves were mostly habital fairly soon after the bombings themselves, but I had the idea that there was a significant increase in defects.

[Slacker]

I remember a stand-up comic routine by a Chinese woman.

"It's tough getting anything from my grandparents. 'Can I borrow money for a car?' They always come back "When we were your age we had two nuclear bombs drop on us, and we never complained."

Emphasis mine.

That's gotta be some really bad luck, but at the same time, I don't know...good luck? Not sure what to call a person who both suffers and benefits from probability like that.