HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — When the United States dropped the atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, Ari Beser’s grandfather was on board both of the American B-29 bombers that carried the weapons. On the ground, Kosuzu Harada’s grandfather survived both attacks.

Neither of the men — U.S. radar specialist Jacob Beser and Japanese engineer Tsutomu Yamaguchi — met during their lives. But both became staunch advocates of nuclear abolishment.

Decades later, that shared goal has brought their grandchildren together. Ari Beser and Harada are telling their grandfathers’ linked stories, and working to seek reconciliation and understanding about an attack that continues to divide people in Japan and the United States.

During this week's commemoration of the

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