Personalizing History: Marking the 75th Anniversary of the End of World War

Dr. Joshua W. Walker, President and CEO, Japan Society

On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb in world history on Hiroshima and three days later, on August 9, a second atomic bomb destroyed Nagasaki. These actions, and August 15, 1945, the day that Japan accepted unconditional defeat, have come to be remembered as the most consequential, and controversial, days of historical memory.

Five years ago, I wrote a piece on the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, and I made a connection in terms of my own personal life—between my own career, my parents, Southern Baptist missionaries who took me to my adopted heartland, Japan, when I was a one-year-old and have served there faithfully for close to 40 years, and my grandparents, who served in the American forces during World War II. My maternal grandfather, Lewis Graham, was an Air Force pilot who trained crews on bombers such as the B-29 immortalized by the Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. My paternal grandfather, Carlton Walker, was a member of General Douglas MacArthur's U.S. Army occupying forces after Japan’s surrender. Today, in my career as a diplomatic bridge builder, I am the President and CEO of Japan Society, working to foster U.S.-Japan relations through the Society's 113-year-old mission of connecting the two countries. The U.S.-Japan alliance, now in its 75th year after the war, has never been more important for the world.

This story is personal to me, but it is not unique. The end of World War II is something that we all share on either side of the Pacific, whether we are Japanese or American. We need to remember that 75 years ago, the world witnessed how the destructive power of the atomic bomb, the ultimate killingmachine, was used to end that war. We also need to celebrate and safeguardwhere we are today, in a world order that has in many ways been shaped by the U.S.-Japan relationship.

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