As part of his visit to Hiroshima, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter toured the Peace Memorial Museum in Peace Memorial Park this morning and paid his respects at the memorial cenotaph where he laid flowers. Carter was the first former U.S. president to visit the museum and cenotaph. Afterwards he made a plea for peace in front of the cenotaph saying, “The prevention of a nuclear holocaust depends not just on the attitudes or actions of world leaders, but on the concerns and persistent demands of us all as we struggle to preserve the peace.”
Carter, his wife Rosalynn and daughter Amy arrived at Peace Memorial Park shortly after 9 a.m. and toured the museum with Hiroshima Mayor Takeshi Araki and Toshiyuki Fukazaki, deputy manager of the mayor’s office. Carter was the first former president to see the devastation wreaked by the atomic bomb dropped by the U.S.
The Carters spent about 40 minutes at the museum. In the area featuring a panorama of the city after the bombing and mannequins of citizens fleeing in confusion, Carter listened to the explanation with his lips pursed. When looking at photographs of the mushroom cloud and other materials that were returned to Hiroshima by the U.S. and a display on the thermal rays he asked questions such as, “Was this one hour after?” and “Is that the A-bomb Dome?” After touring the museum he signed the museum’s guest book: “This memorial must be a constant and permanent reminder for all people to work for peace and better understanding.”
After paying his respects at the cenotaph and laying flowers there, Carter delivered a speech titled “Remarks at Hiroshima” calling for peace to an audience of more than 1,000. With regard to the destruction of Hiroshima, he said, “As we remember the unprecedented devastation of Hiroshima our most sobering thought is that the future can be much more horrible than anything we have known before” and expressed his “hope that the lessons of Hiroshima will never be forgotten.” At the same time, he said, “With the breakdown of United States-Soviet negotiations and the return of a cold war of vituperation and alienation, the danger is becoming greater.” He also said, “The prevention of a nuclear holocaust depends not just on the attitudes or actions of world leaders, but on the concerns and persistent demands of us all as we struggle to preserve the peace.” With regard to the promotion of peace and the control, reduction and abolition of nuclear weapons, Carter said that “as a private citizen, these will remain the ideals and goals of my life.”