Were there really American soldiers outside the blast zone of Nagasaki and Hiroshima that had to lay down in rice paddy ponds and breathe through reeds to avoid getting irradiated?

by fierewallll

One of the more prevalent stories in my family is about a grandfather I never met in person. My moms dad. He died from bone cancer years and years after having supposedly laid down in his normal way (on his back, left leg laying flat against ground, and right leg bent with his ankle by his left knee and the right knee in the air) while having to lay in a rice field outside the city of Nagasaki and breathe through a reed while the actual blast occurred. Laying that way, he told his kids, left his right knee exposed above the waterline when the blast occurred.

He died of bone cancer that killed him quickly after it’s discovery. It metastasized from the right knee. Just curious if this was a known, or common thing that actually occurred or not.

Comrade_Bobinski

There was no american military presence on mainland japan during the nagazaki bombing, or during the 2nd world war.

The only way he could have been there would have been him being a pilot in the navy/air force and having his plane shot down. He could have managed to bail out and find himself stranded near nagazaki just before the blast. I have, to my knowledge, never heard of something closely related to this. I don't even know if American pilot went MIA during combat mission on south japan around the date of the bombing (9 august 1945).