Commander Daniel P. Hornbogen in his uniform, Nov. 8, 1942.

MARQUETTE – On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. A second bomb was dropped on August 9 on the city of Nagasaki. Japan surrendered on August 15 thus ending World War II. The hospital ship USS Sanctuary arrived in Nagasaki on August 15th to pick up our POWs. My grandfather, Marquette doctor Commander Daniel P. Hornbogen was on that ship. He sent home two letters describing what he saw and felt while on the ground in Nagasaki. The Daily Mining Journal published this letter in the October 5, 1945 issue.

“We arrived here the afternoon of the 22nd and have been receiving POWs. This trip we are also getting a few civilian internees including a few women. The entrance to the harbor is beautiful. After leaving the open ocean, which here is the China Sea, there is a channel about a mile wide which meanders between the hills and mountains for several miles before reaching the harbor. The hills are an abundance of green and present a very tailored appearance from the many terraces which are used as gardens.

For a distance of two or three miles, on either side of the city, are various ship yards which have been bombed out of existence, and sunken and beached ships are everywhere in evidence. This is the only area where any early bombing was done, the remainder being purposely avoided until the release of the atomic bomb. All the damage within the city proper is the result of this single bomb.

After viewing the ruins of Nagasaki, one is inclined to pause and wonder what the future has in store for the human race. It is certain after all nations learn the secrets of the atomic bomb another war would be suicidal. It is appalling to think that mere man, with all his weakness and faults, has an instrument so powerful and so completely destructive at his command; one which, if properly controlled, could bring untold benefits to all, but which if not controlled and if used to further the greed and avarice to aggressive nations could lead to the destruction of mankind.

The bombed area is referred to as the “devastated” area. I think “obliterated” is a better term because everything has been obliterated so completely that only a minimal amount of refuse need be removed before the area can be rebuilt. By this I mean not only the buildings, which were pulverized except for a small bit of foundation near the ground, but frequently the human beings within.

The medical school and hospital which were on the fringe of the area and are of new earthquake-proof construction, still stand minus their doors and windows. However, all of the occupants were killed and moreover, no bodies were found. They had apparently disintegrated and been sucked up into the stratosphere along with the rest of the rubble.

Around the fringe, the buildings still stand though the windows are gone and the roofs are caved in. I question if it will ever be possible to determine accurately the number of dead. The count by the Nagasaki authorities on bodies removed is now 20,937, but to realize that is an understatement, one has only to sniff the ever-present scent. Bones are visible in many areas, and, of course, a great many bodies disintegrated at the time of the explosion.

I visited the local hospital and saw a number of the bombing victims. They still have patients who were injured or burned at the time of the bombing nine weeks ago, and they are still admitting patients injured by the radio-active element, the gamma rays. In these patients there has been a destruction of the blood forming structures especially the bone marrow. They are suffering from hemorrhages as a result of destruction of the blood platelets, anemia, and agranulocytosis, the latter being a deficient number of white blood cells.

Some are bald from the irritating effects of the ray. The early cases of this type all died, and even last week they were averaging about five deaths per day, although now the rate has fallen to about one a day. Most of the cases, still being admitted, are mild and are recovering.

There has been no formal surrender of the city as yet. When we arrived, the USS Haven was already here, along with the cruiser Wichita, and four destroyers. The Marines from the Wichita were in control and everything was out of bounds except an area of two blocks from the pier.

We visited the devastated area in trucks, but I managed to get an out-of-bounds pass from the Marine captain and walked to the hospital alone about a mile and a half away. The hospital was a three-story structure with some bomb damage on the third floor. All buildings surrounding it for several blocks had been destroyed.

The place was quite filthy and made up of large rooms containing 20 or 30 patients. The patients were lying on mats on the floor, covered with dirty quilts. They were so close together there was just room to get between them, the mat on which one patient was lying being in contact with the rest. On the third floor, I managed to find a female M.D. making her rounds and I followed along for a while. It was very depressing.

I know nothing about the psychology of the Japanese people, but after seeing a goodly number of them while driving around and walking about I get the impression that the majority of them are stunned. I don’t see how they could be otherwise in Nagasaki.

The second Marine division started arriving last evening and are going to take control of the area. They are the group, along with the first division, who captured Guadalcanal in 1942, and have fought their way up the islands. It seems rather a fitting climax to their efforts to have them eventually arrive in Japan and take over. It is too bad more of the original group are not still alive so they could see the fruits of their efforts.

I have a great deal more to tell you, but it will have to wait.”