In John Hersey’s, Hiroshima, he tells the story of six individual inhabitants who lived through the greatest single manmade disaster in history, the bombing of Hiroshima. Hersey goes on to explain what each of the six individuals was doing, from their daily lives to the very moment the bomb drops, and even 40 years later. Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto is one of the six individuals that Hiroshima focuses on.

On the morning of August 6, 1945, Rev. Tanimoto was moving a tansu to the house of Mr. Matsui, a rayon manufacturer, in the suburbs for safe keeping due to the air-raid warnings that week. While Tanimoto and his friend were on that errand, the air-raid siren went off. Then as the morning continued, they saw a bright flash of light traveling east to west. He instantly knew something bad …show more content…
Once more he began to run in fear—toward the city.” (p.25) Mr. Tanimoto felt ashamed that he was unhurt by the bomb and immediately started helping those afflicted by the bomb, in Asano Park. Mr. Tanimoto worked endlessly to bring the dying and wounded to safety. However, there were so many people in need of help that he couldn’t begin to help them all, and the numbers were unfathomable. He worked tirelessly to do what he could. He carried a tub of water to the wounded and took people by ferry to higher ground. He physically carried people as well as organized groups to help one another. Mr. Tanimoto was forced to "borrow" a boat from five of the deceased victims, asking their forgiveness and then rescued the people from the flooding river. He encountered two sisters, he rescues from the river, one dies almost immediately from shock. The others he attempts to rescue are too weak to lift themselves and when he grabs them their skin falls off. Raising a major concern, that he cannot stay with all the people he attempted to