The narrator indicated that while they had no freedom during this time, in his words "It could have been a helluva lot worse.  They treated us with civility."

He was living and working about thirty-miles from Hiroshima when the balloon went up on August 6, 1945 and somewhat farther away from Nagasaki on August 9.  He did not see the flash of the Hiroshima weapon, and did not realize until later that "something" unusual had happened.  As one might expect, initial reports of the bombing were scattered and full of contradictory information.  Some time later word came out of an enormous explosion caused by a single bomb.  The nature of the bomb was as yet unknown and confusion reigned supreme.

Then came Nagasaki and the Japanese were forced to realize they were dealing with a weapon of then-unimaginable lethality.   The narrator and his buddies were released very shortly thereafter, and a bit later the first American troops, doctors, scientists, engineers, and other such folks started showing up.  Radiation testing revealed no contamination where the prisoners had been located.  Many of the former prisoners stayed in Japan for some time afterwards and used their engineering skills  to help with the rebuilding of the country.  Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the cities that had been firebombed needed all the help they could get.

The teller of this tale said the whole experience had been almost surreal.  After the attack on Pearl Harbor they had feared the worst, but the enemy they had so feared instead treated them decently and with respect.  After conclusion of the war, they worked with that thoroughly cowed and defeated enemy to rebuild the country and helped turn it into the economic powerhouse and ally it is today.

I'd like to hear it Robert. Thanks

Me too, please and thank you.

As it turns out these radiation alerts turned out to be nothing significant.  These things were triggered back in the parts of the plant where the outer space deep science nuclear fuel research took place, and dweebs like myself didn't have a high enough clearance to get anywhere near these areas.  Parts of the facility were much more spooky than others.  Having said that, these alerts went out to all parts of the facility.

Regarding your training, your drill sergeant omitted one little detail:  if you actually saw the burst flash, it likely was the last thing you would ever see even if you survived the experience.  I kid thee not when I say I hate those goddamned things.

I have another tale regarding a guy I met who was a civilian working in Japan when the Japanese decided they wanted to mess up Pearl Harbor.  I found his stories of life in Japan after that event and after Hiroshima and Nagasaki interesting.  Again, I may have already told the tale.  I can tell it again if anybody cares to hear it.

I'd like to hear it Robert. Thanks

Regarding your training, your drill sergeant omitted one little detail:  if you actually saw the burst flash, it likely was the last thing you would ever see even if you survived the experience.  I kid thee not when I say I hate those goddamned things.

I have another tale regarding a guy I met who was a civilian working in Japan when the Japanese decided they wanted to mess up Pearl Harbor.  I found his stories of life in Japan after that event and after Hiroshima and Nagasaki interesting.  Again, I may have already told the tale.  I can tell it again if anybody cares to hear it.

I worked in a facility surrounded by a cyclone fence with nasty-looking strands of barbed wire along the top.  When I checked in in the morning at the guard shack I retrieved my ID badge from a rack, walked over to the guard (by the way, all the security dudes were armed and had nasty dispositions), and handed it to him.  He would then look at the badge, look at me, and convince himself I was the guy pictured on the badge.  He then made an issue of tapping it, as if to say, "This is you." and would hand it to me.  Thus would begin my day.  The whole site was secured.

Leaving the site in the evening was a matter of opening one's briefcase or whatever and having the exit guard go through it.  My last act was replacing my badge in its place in the rack.

The bottom line is this place was by-God serious about security.  Everybody on site, even the cafeteria help, had a clearance.

When I resigned, for reasons not germane to this discussion, I had an exit interview with the Head Cheese Of Security... a guy with a reputation for having absolutely NO sense of humor.  He and I sat down, he guided me through multiple pages of stuff outlining my responsibilities regarding classified information, had me sign at least a dozen pages, and closed with words along these lines:  "Sir, if you should ever choose to visit a country that is a member of the Soviet Bloc or any other Communist country, you must first contact the nearest office of (several names here which have changed over the years but are governmental since the government owns the place where I worked) and let them know your plans."  Yeah, right, I thought.  I wanted to say, "The next time I plan to see Havana, Pyongmang,  Beijing, Beautiful Downtown Tirana (the capital of Albania), or other such places I'll be sure to let you know."  Instead I meekly signed on the dotted line.

It was an interesting and very challenging place to work.  In closing, I have a final tale.  The site had several roles, one of which was work on nuclear fuel for the boats.  We had nuclear physicists tweaking this stuff in very highly secured areas.  An eye-opening experience is to hear a voice come over the speaker system saying something along the lines of:  "Attention! A radiation release situation has developed in Building XYZ.  Close all windows.  Turn off all air conditioning systems.  Avoid all suspicious smoke clouds (that is a quote) and stand by until further notice."

I have never been inclined to rush toward "Suspicious smoke clouds" under the best of conditions.  To be cautioned not to do so during a "Radiation Release Situation" seems to be just a wee bit of overkill in spreading alarm.  This happened three times during my time there.

I confess I miss the place.  I wish I had worked on the Virginia-class SSN.

Good grief.  I take it you survived.

I remember my Army training.  The drill Sgt advised us that in the event of nuclear combat, a bright white cloud might be visible before the sound or force of the any explosion could be heard or felt.  In that case, the best action to take was to very quickly turn away, spread your feet apart, bend at the waist and kiss your ass goodbye.

Leaving the site in the evening was a matter of opening one's briefcase or whatever and having the exit guard go through it.  My last act was replacing my badge in its place in the rack.

The bottom line is this place was by-God serious about security.  Everybody on site, even the cafeteria help, had a clearance.

When I resigned, for reasons not germane to this discussion, I had an exit interview with the Head Cheese Of Security... a guy with a reputation for having absolutely NO sense of humor.  He and I sat down, he guided me through multiple pages of stuff outlining my responsibilities regarding classified information, had me sign at least a dozen pages, and closed with words along these lines:  "Sir, if you should ever choose to visit a country that is a member of the Soviet Bloc or any other Communist country, you must first contact the nearest office of (several names here which have changed over the years but are governmental since the government owns the place where I worked) and let them know your plans."  Yeah, right, I thought.  I wanted to say, "The next time I plan to see Havana, Pyongmang,  Beijing, Beautiful Downtown Tirana (the capital of Albania), or other such places I'll be sure to let you know."  Instead I meekly signed on the dotted line.

It was an interesting and very challenging place to work.  In closing, I have a final tale.  The site had several roles, one of which was work on nuclear fuel for the boats.  We had nuclear physicists tweaking this stuff in very highly secured areas.  An eye-opening experience is to hear a voice come over the speaker system saying something along the lines of:  "Attention! A radiation release situation has developed in Building XYZ.  Close all windows.  Turn off all air conditioning systems.  Avoid all suspicious smoke clouds (that is a quote) and stand by until further notice."

I have never been inclined to rush toward "Suspicious smoke clouds" under the best of conditions.  To be cautioned not to do so during a "Radiation Release Situation" seems to be just a wee bit of overkill in spreading alarm.  This happened three times during my time there.

I confess I miss the place.  I wish I had worked on the Virginia-class SSN.

One can only hope.  Getting back to my earlier screed, while war with modern conventional weapons is horrible enough they do not represent an existential threat to nearly all higher forms of life on this planet and certainly the obliteration of civilization as we know it.  While I worked in the Ohio-class SSBN program I would pray at night the things would never be called upon to perform their ultimate function... that being the launching of nuclear-tipped ICBMs.  Anyone morbidly interested in the firepower the boats carry can simply Wiki the subject.  The stuff I had access to was declassified quite some time ago.

I believe I have told the tale of my exit interview with the Head Dude of Security when I left my then-employer.  If I have not and anyone is curious I will tell a story I find amusing.

I'd like to hear it.

I believe I have told the tale of my exit interview with the Head Dude of Security when I left my then-employer.  If I have not and anyone is curious I will tell a story I find amusing.

That sounds like a story well worth telling, Robert! If you find it amusing, you have no reason to think that it won’t also be amusing to at least some of your audience here.

I believe I have told the tale of my exit interview with the Head Dude of Security when I left my then-employer.  If I have not and anyone is curious I will tell a story I find amusing.

Apologies for the awkward wording.  The meaning is that if Putin is allowed to keep currently occupied Ukranian territory, in time he will get the rest of it as well.

Gotcha now, thanks!

Should Ukraine yield to him what he has currently occupied, in time the remainder of Ukraine will as well.

I’m afraid I can’t quite unravel that sentence, Robert. Is there a typo in there, or perhaps some words missing?