The result was a civilian loss from a single bomb that was unequalled in the history of warfare. Tibbets would later write in his personal journal, "My God, what have we done?"

A strong wind generated by the blast bounced off the surrounding mountains. The result was that almost all buildings within a 3-mile diameter were destroyed while humans in the area were incinerated. Subsequent fires completed the destruction. It was estimated that the initial blast and radiation effects killed almost half of the population of the city.

Two days after the bombing, the US joined the United Nations. The following day, the US bombed Nagasaki with another atomic blast, "Fat Man" that destroyed about one-third of the city and caused about 70,000 deaths.

Although there were military installations in Hiroshima-a few army supply depots, a communications center, and a naval base-it was later revealed that the choice to bomb the city was not made for military reasons. In fact, prior to this one instance, US forces never bombed Hiroshima during the entire war. Hiroshima was chosen because it was a pristine laboratory to study the power of the explosion and to demonstrate to the world that the US had and would use this new terrible weapon of mass destruction.

Soon after the attacks on 9-11, many commentators and concerned citizens initially compared the surprise attacks with the surprise attack by Japanese military forces on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i that began the US involvement in World War II.

But it is more relevant to compare the surprise attack of Hiroshima with New York City. That's because of the 2,403 people killed during the Pearl Harbor attack, only 68 were civilians who were mostly killed through "friendly fire," anti-aircraft shells that landed in Honolulu by mistake. Those killed in Hiroshima and New York City were almost all civilians.

But when objectively compared, the terrorism that was 9-11 pales against the terrorism inflicted upon the civilian population of Hiroshima. The aerial attacks on the World Trade Center were the equivalent of 200 tons of TNT while the bomb exploded over Hiroshima was the equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT. A little over one city block in lower Manhattan was destroyed while two-thirds of Hiroshima was destroyed. About 3,000 innocent people were killed in the 9-11 attacks vs. about 140,000 innocent people killed in Hiroshima.

One outgrowth of the tragedy of 9-11 is perhaps ability for Americans to look at the bombing of Hiroshima in a new light.

All these facts and more were running through my mind recently as I traveled by train through the sunny countryside of Japan on my way from Tokyo to Hiroshima.

To my delighted surprise, modern Hiroshima is a thriving, vibrant city. Over a million people now live in the metropolis that was entirely rebuilt from the ashes, which is why Hiroshima is sometimes called the "phoenix of Japan." For example, across the street from the "A-Bomb Dome," originally constructed in 1915 as an exhibition hall, the one skeleton of a building that remained after the bombing and is preserved as a reminder for future generations, there is a large professional baseball stadium where the Hiroshima Carp play to enthusiastic fans who bring drums and trumpets.

But I felt immense sadness, guilt, and some shame for my country in the hours I spent touring the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum with its graphic exhibits that detailed the destruction and the cost in human lives.

However, when I returned to the sunshine of the streets and traveled to the Hondori shopping district on a Sunday afternoon, I found it filled with lively shoppers as with any major town. When I arrived in a yakitori-style restaurant, I was asked where I was from. When I said America, the waitress smiled, clapped, and asked if I had been to the peace museum.

Perhaps that is the greatest lesson to learn from 9-11. With forgiveness, not forgetfulness, humans find a way to overcome extreme adversity and forge a better way for ourselves.

The trip helped to remind me that the media images in my head from the past are not the images that are found in the present. I can only hope that media images in the future will show "ground zero" in lower Manhattan as having the same mix of reverence to those killed, an understanding of why such a tragedy happened, and a celebration of life that is borne from forgiveness. That's the lesson I discovered at "ground zero" in Hiroshima.

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