The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

/QPFC[ 5CVWTFC[ CO RO 5WPFC[ RO RO 3 Th u rsd ay, A u g u st 11, 2011 O A K V ILLE B E A V E R w w w .in sid eH A LTO N .co m By Nathan Howes OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF On Aug. 6, 1945, the world was forever changed in the blink of an eye, as a new era of unimaginable destruction was detonated in Japan. Thousands of people perished in the first-ever atomic bomb unleashed on Hiroshima, but there were survivors. Setsuko Thurlow, 79, was one of them. The recipient of The Order of Canada shed light on her hor- rific ordeal in a candlelight vigil at the Oakville Public Library Tuesday, on the 66th anniversary of the Nagasaki bombing. Four months prior to the bomb, Thurlow said she knew some- thing was coming because all the other major cities in Japan were attacked in the war, but not Hiroshima. All the other major cities had been bombed. We were very anxious and rumours spread. Little did we know that Pentagon had a special plan for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, said Thurlow. Hiroshima had been chosen to be piloted for the first nuclear weapon to be dropped on a living city. At 8:15 a.m. Monday, rumours became reality for the residents of Hiroshima. Thurlow was only 13 years old, and just a mile away from the epicenter of the atomic blast. When the bomb was dropped, Thurlow was one of 30 students on assignment at the army headquarters as part of The Student Mobilization Program, she said. We were in an assembly they were giving us a pep talk, (and) then at that moment, I saw a bluish-white flash outside the win- dow and I remember a feeling of floating in the air and thats the end of my consciousness, said Thurlow. When I began to regain consciousness, I found myself in total darkness and silence. I tried to move my body, but I couldnt, so I was faced with death. When Thurlow opened her eyes, she heard the faint voices of her classmates, yelling, God help me and Mother, help me, she said. I knew I was surrounded by death, and all of a sudden some- one started shouting over my left shoulder from behind. Dont give up; keep moving your body. Im trying to help you. Just get moving, start crawling through that opening, said Thurlow. With their help, Thurlow was able to move from beneath the rubble. The building was on fire and most of her classmates were burned to death, with only a few survivors. By the time she came out of the building, it was dark as dusk because of all the dust, dirt Atomic blast survivor tells what it was like to be there DANIEL HO / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER SURVIVOR'S STORY: Setsuko Thurlow, 79, a survivor of the atomic blast in Hiroshima during the Second World War, a recipient of The Order of Canada and a peace advocate, was guest speaker at a candlelight vigil held in Oakville Tuesday the 66th anniver- sary of the horrific event. See Victims page 5