fortunate since it is now apparent that the wall of my room opposite the
window has been lacerated by long fragments of glass.

We proceed to the front of the house to see where the bomb has landed.
There is no evidence, however, of a bomb crater; but the southeast section
of the house is very severely damaged. Not a door nor a window remains.
The blast of air had penetrated the entire house from the southeast, but
the house still stands. It is constructed in a Japanese style with a
wooden framework, but has been greatly strengthened by the labor of our
Brother Gropper as is frequently done in Japanese homes. Only along the
front of the chapel which adjoins the house, three supports have given way
(it has been made in the manner of Japanese temple, entirely out of wood.)

Down in the valley, perhaps one kilometer toward the city from us, several
peasant homes are on fire and the woods on the opposite side of the valley
are aflame. A few of us go over to help control the flames. While we are
attempting to put things in order, a storm comes up and it begins to rain.
Over the city, clouds of smoke are rising and I hear a few slight
explosions. I come to the conclusion that an incendiary bomb with an
especially strong explosive action has gone off down in the valley. A few
of us saw three planes at great altitude over the city at the time of the
explosion. I, myself, saw no aircraft whatsoever.

Perhaps a half-hour after the explosion, a procession of people begins to
stream up the valley from the city. The crowd thickens continuously. A
few come up the road to our house. We give them first aid and bring them
into the chapel, which we have in the meantime cleaned and cleared of
wreckage, and put them to rest on the straw mats which constitute the floor
of Japanese houses. A few display horrible wounds of the extremities and
back. The small quantity of fat which we possessed during this time of war