“Everyone was pink,” said Shigeko Sasamori, a Hiroshima Survivor, when she was describing what people looked like after the bomb dropped. Friday, April 27 at the Carl and Glessie Young Community Auditorium, Sasamori was interviewed by the granddaughter of former president Dwight Eisenhower, Mary Eisenhower.

The crowd was speechless as she talked about what happened before, during and after the bomb dropped. She was 13 at the time and said that she was on the playground when she saw an airplane fly over. She lifted her hand to point and show her friend when they dropped the bomb. Sasamori flew back when it exploded and was unconscious for quite along time. When she finally came to she could not see anything. There was smoke and debris flying everywhere. When it cleared she found an adult and followed them to the water where people tried to put her in it. There were so many people getting in the water to heal their burns that she could not fit.

A Methodist priest took her to the shelter until her family came to look for her. To them she was unrecognizable. Her family hid all the mirrors for years and would not let her look in them. Until one day she found a shard of broken glass in the grass and saw her reflection. She described herself as a monster and she said that she felt chills.

Later she moved to America and had reconstructive surgery done. They took skin graphs from her stomach and put them on different places on her face. Vanity used to play a big role in her life, but now she says that beauty comes from the heart.

To end the interview Sasamori stood up and looked at all the Marshfield students and said, “You are all my grandchildren… I love you all.”