A lifelong journey of moving beyond wartime trauma for survivors from Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor

ANS Adv Nurs Sci. 2011 Jul-Sep;34(3):215-28. doi: 10.1097/ANS.0b013e3182272370.

Abstract

This study examines 51 stories of health, shared by people who survived the wartime trauma of Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor, seeking to identify turning points that moved participants along over their lifetime. The central turning point for Hiroshima survivors was "becoming Hibabusha (A-bomb survivor)" and for Pearl Harbor survivors was "honoring the memory and setting it aside." Wartime trauma was permanently integrated into survivors' histories, surfacing steadily over decades for Hiroshima survivors and intermittently over decades for Pearl Harbor survivors. Regardless of experience or nationality, participants moved through wartime trauma by connecting with others, pursuing personal and global peace.

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Psychological*
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Japan
  • Male
  • Nuclear Warfare
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / psychology*
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / rehabilitation*
  • Survivors / psychology*
  • United States
  • World War II