Anthony Drago - Surviving Hiroshima: A Young Womans Story

Surviving Hiroshima: A Young Womans Story

2020 Anthony Drago and Douglas Wellman. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or digital (including photocopying and recording) except for the inclusion in a review, without written permission from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WriteLife Publishing

(An imprint of Boutique of Quality Books Publishing Company)

www.writelife.com

978-1-60808-236-0 (p)

978-1-60808-237-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number 2020938572

Book design by Robin Krauss, www.bookformatters.com

Cover design by Rebecca Lown, www.rebeccalowndesigns.com

First editor: Michelle Booth

Second Editor: Kathy Bock

Portrait of Kaleria Palchikoff Dec. 1945. Under the Mushroom Cloud in Hiroshima. Artist: 1st. Lt. Richard M. Chambers, U.S. Army. Courtesy, United States Air Force Art Collection.

Palchikoff Marquis Coat of Arms - Awarded in 1620.

Praises for Surviving Hiroshima, Anthony Drago, and Douglas Wellman

Surviving Hiroshima is an unforgettable human drama and a moving memory of Kaleria Palchikoff Drago who at 24 years of age was living with her family in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped on 6 August 1945. Her personal accounts of that experience and afterwards for her, her family, and their Japanese neighbors and friends are riveting, inspirational and often sad. As her son and author Anthony Drago writes, Its a story of hope and perseverance that others may model when life turns against them.

Lieutenant General Robert Ord, U.S. Army Retired, Former Commander of U.S. Army Pacific

Drago and Wellman weave an unforgettable, true, and astonishing story about a young woman who with great dignity and determination survives the horrors of the Hiroshima holocaust and the cruelty of war. A descendant of White Russian nobility, Kaleria Palchikoff finds herself and her family in a desperate situation, fleeing the Bolsheviks from the Russian Far East in 1922, making their way across the Sea of Japan in a hijacked freighter, and eventually becoming unlikely immigrants in pre-war Hiroshima, Japan. Strikingly accurate with its in depth research and written in a fluid style that draws in the reader, its a compelling account of how hibakusha Kaleria lived, grew up, mingled with Japanese neighbors and friends, then survived, thrived, and matured as a hero, wife, and mother who eventually settled in America and raised her family. For an insightful perspective and a rare glimpse of WWII history, the wars effect on survivors families and children, and the hellish story and aftermath of the August 1945 Hiroshima bombing, this is an essential book that you wont put down.

Robert Simeral, Captain, U.S. Navy (Ret.)

These riveting autobiographies of Tony Dragos White Russian Orthodox Christian Aristocratic Grandfather and Molokan Christian Grandmother with their family of three children, the only English speaking witnesses who survived the horror of the 1945 Hiroshima atom bomb explosion are so spellbinding that they transport the reader onto the path of history which affirms the belief, truth, and love by which this family lived. When hope seemed lost and the future heralded only suffering, faith in God and His Mercy was their answer. They invite us to use our free will to call on our Creator to guide us allI will be with you always... I was in HellHiroshima, as Kay said. These life journeys are history, now recorded in Hiroshima and Washington DC for all to see and behold.

A.B. Janko MD

Dedication

For my wife, Kathyyou are and always will be my greatest work of love.

Anthony Drago

For Deborahthe love of my life and my exceptionally patient wife.

Douglas Wellman

This book relies heavily on the personal reminiscences, both verbal and written, shared by Kaleria Palchikoff Drago with her son, Anthony. Some of her memories were written immediately after the war, and others years later. Anthony and co-author Douglas Wellman have quoted directly from the written works whenever possible.

In 1945, the United States Army Air Forces conducted a postwar analysis of the effects of their bombing raids entitled The United States Strategic Bombing Survey. In preparing the Pacific War document, Air Force personnel recorded audio interviews with survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and later transcribed the recordings. Kaleria Palchikoff was the only English-speaking atomic bomb victim interviewed. Two audio recordings of her exist, as well as thirty pages of transcription. Since Miss Palchikoff was responding spontaneously to questions asked of her, her answers sometimes contained abrupt changes of thought or corrections of grammar as she considered and responded to questions without having any preparation. We have chosen to quote from the transcript verbatim, rather than rewrite it, to preserve her feelings and emotions as accurately as possible.

TinianAugust 6, 1945

In the context of planet Earth, Tinian isnt much. With just thirty-nine square miles of vegetation clutching a limestone atoll amidst coral reefs, the tiny spit of land in the vast Pacific Ocean seems an unlikely host for a world-shattering event. Under the successive rules of Spain, Germany, and Japan, Tinian was not so much a destination as it was a stopping point on the way to a destination. It was little more than a place for sailors to resupply on their way somewhere else. Most people had never heard of it. That was about to change.

At zero hundred hours local time, seven tense, twelve-man bomber crews of the 393rd Bomb Squadron, 509th Composite Group, gather in the crews lounge adjacent to the islands short airstrip for their preflight briefing. They are about to do something big, they know that, but thats about all they know. They know their target will be Japan, but exactly where in Japan is secret. They know they are carrying a special weapon, but the exact type is also secret. Secrets make people uneasy. Cigarettes and coffee help, but not much.

As Colonel Paul Tibbetts, Jr., Special Bombing Mission No. 13s commander, begins to speak, he has no concerns about holding the crews attention. These men were handpicked as among the best in their military occupation specialties, and their character and experience are exemplary. Theyre ready to do a job and are anxious for Tibbetts to tell them exactly what that job will be. Tibbetts tells them a lot, but not everything. They will have to wait for the rest of the details until they are in the air. Colonel Tibbetts will personally fly the modified B-29 Superfortress bomber, which he has named Enola Gay, after his mother. Their call sign for the flight, Dimples 8-2, certainly gives no hint of their deadly payload.

The Enola Gay will drop the first atomic bomb ever used in war.

Three other Superfortresses named Straight Flush, Jabbit III, and Full House will leave one hour ahead of the Enola Gay to scout weather conditions at the designated target cities of Hiroshima, Kokura, and Nagasaki. Target recognition is especially critical on this mission, so it has been decided that each target must be identified visually, rather than by radar alone. The preceding day, air force meteorologists forecast favorable weather for the mission, but nothing will be left to chance. Any potential target obscured by clouds will no longer be considered viable. Tibbetts will make final target selection in the air. Two more B-29s will join the