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A Footnote to History

Daniel T. Cloud, MD

JAMA. 1995;274(5):413-415.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

WHEN the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima 50 years ago, a young Japanese physician named Tarô Takemi, within hours, correctly analyzed the nature of the holocaust, then risked his life in a brazen effort to win time for the Japanese military leaders to come to their senses and surrender.

Nearly four decades after the bombing of Hiroshima, Takemi treated me to a personal account of his remarkable venture. It was a riveting tale of courage and legerdemain, and hearing it first hand from Takemi was a moving experience. Equally moving was the haunting Takemi memoir, wherein he reported the story in greater detail, though characteristically understated, published in JAMA only months before his death.¹

When I first met Takemi, in 1979, I was somewhat taken aback. "This guy is right out of central casting," I thought. He was short and bandy-legged with a balding bullethead, furrowed . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Footnotes
Dr Cloud is a pediatric surgeon living in Phoenix, Ariz, and former President of the American Medical Association.

Reprint requests to 3110 E Manor Dr, Phoenix, AZ 85014 (Dr Cloud).

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