This time, I've got a question for you,
When looking at the pictures,
you probably can't hear the flies buzzing about,
or smell the burning flesh in the air.
Do you know what blood smells like?

　My brother came back from working in the countryside with his Hiroshima Industrial High school. He was propping himself up on the shoulder of his friend. It looked like he barely made it home.

He told us that he got yelled at by a total stranger that was carrying nothing but a sake bottle. He was about to lie down by the river, and the stranger yelled, "You're not gonna wake up if you take a nap now!"
If it weren't for this stranger, I probably wouldn't have seen my brother again.

Your own body odor is something that you can get used to.
My brother though, couldn't stand the smell of his own blood. Between his groans, he asked me to bring some perfume to cover up the smell. I searched all around for something fragrant to ease my brother, and finally came across a wine bottle. I poured the whole bottle on his wounds to cover up the smell and to hopefully cleanse his wounds.

Come to think of it, it's very odd to imagine a man walking away from his home with just a bottle of sake. But in the middle of chaos, anything goes.
At any rate, my brother is very grateful of the stranger with the bottle and his friend that carried him home.
But that friend, whom hadn't sustained any major injuries died
a few weeks later from what must've been radiation poisoning.

There was a lot that we didn't understand as all this was happening. People without outward injuries suddenly falling ill
and dying days later...

Back then, everything was regulated from the clothes you could wear to the food that you were rationed. But those rations were never enough. My parents took care of us kids by selling off property on the black market in exchange for food. It must've been because of my parents' efforts, but my brother was a few inches taller than most people back then.

He's a healthy working man to this day.

You all should appreciate the good food that you've come to expect.

【Some background information】
For the Japanese, WWII was a national effort. Every citizen was expected to contribute to the war. Students for example were frequently made to work in the countryside building houses for evacuees.