In August 1945, 29-year-old naval engineer Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on the final day of a three-month business trip for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. On the morning of August 6, as he walked to the shipyard, the American bomber Enola Gay dropped the "Little Boy" atomic bomb just under two miles from his location. The blinding flash ruptured his eardrums, temporarily blinded him, and left him with severe radiation burns across his torso.
After spending a horrifying night in a bomb shelter, he gathered his strength and boarded a surviving train back to his hometown—Nagasaki. Arriving on August 8, Yamaguchi sought medical treatment and wrapped his wounds in heavy bandages. Despite his agony, he loyally reported to work at the Nagasaki Mitsubishi office on the morning of August 9.
Around 11:00 AM, Yamaguchi was recounting the terrifying single-bomb destruction of Hiroshima to his incredulous supervisor, who accused him of being mad. Mid-sentence, a blinding white light flooded the office. The "Fat Man" atomic bomb had detonated two miles away.
The shockwave blew off Yamaguchi's bandages and shattered the building, but the heavy office reinforced concrete shielding and local topography saved his life a second time. Yamaguchi, his wife, and their infant son all survived the Nagasaki blast and its immediate aftermath. Though he suffered from severe radiation sickness, lost hearing in his left ear, and lost his hair, Yamaguchi persevered.
In 2009, the Japanese government officially recognized him as a double survivor, or "nijū hibakusha." He spent his later years advocating for nuclear disarmament before passing away in 2010 at the age of 93.