It's interesting that I was just chronicling the "Lucky Dragon's" fateful day during my last video (which you can see here)...and now this article comes out from japantimes.co.jp.
They go over the day the "Lucky Dragon" boat came across the Hydrogen Bomb, and how it would kill at least one of its crew members, and bring many others perilously close to death.
There are some harrowing first account descriptions stated here:
"At 6.45 a.m. on Monday, March 1, 1954, the sky was still dark. What happened then is described in "The Day the Sun Rose in the West," a first-hand account by then 20-year-old crewman Matakichi Oishi that was published in 2011.
He writes: "A yellow flash poured through the porthole. Wondering what had happened, I jumped up from the bunk near the door, ran out on deck and was astonished. Bridge, sky and sea burst into view, painted in flaming sunset colors ... ""
And also this:
"As Oishi writes: "The top of the cloud spread over us. ... Two hours passed. ... white particles were falling on us, just like sleet. The white particles penetrated mercilessly — eyes, nose, ears, mouth. We had no sense that it was dangerous.""
Lots of bad things happening all at once.
The U.S. government not realizing the full extent of the blast...a ship straying too close to the "safety zone" border, crew members not knowing about radiation and what it can do...the U.S. Government initially denying any wrongdoing for security purposes...yikes.
All of this is also described within the newest Godzilla Criterion
Blu-Ray, as it was this story that served as the inspiration for "Gojira", so be sure to check that out too.In any case here's the original article for all of the details:
japantimes.co.jp: Lucky Dragon's Lethal Catch
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