Obama in Hiroshima calls for 'world without nuclear weapons'

Barack Obama on Friday became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, where he called for a "world without nuclear weapons" during his remarks at the city's Peace Memorial Park.

Obama said that "71 years ago on a bright, cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed."

"A flash of light and a wall of fire destroyed a city, and demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself," the President added during his address at the site of the first nuclear bombing.

Obama was not expected to apologize for the U.S. action to hasten the end of World War II and he did not during his 20-minute-long remarks.

"Why do we come to this place, to Hiroshima? We come to ponder the terrible forces unleashed in the not so distant past. We come to mourn the dead ... their souls speak to us and ask us to look inward. To take stock of who we are and what we might become."

In the Hiroshima museum's guest book before his speech, the President wrote that he hoped the world will "find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons.‎"

10 photos: Remnants of the world's first atomic attack

Steel helmet – Teacher Ryo Fukumaru was escorting students to a factory at the time of the attack. He was badly burned over most of his body -- except his head, which was shielded by this helmet. He was able to walk back to his school before he collapsed. Two days later, he was carried on a stretcher back to his family. At first, because of his burns, relatives failed to recognize him. He struggled to heal for more than six months. When he recovered, Fukumaru was left with scars covering most of his body. He was eventually able to return to work.

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10 photos: Remnants of the world's first atomic attack

School bag – On the day of the attack, Mitsuko Kawamura was a 13-year-old high school student. Her sister Yaeko walked through the city searching for her, but never found a body. About a month later, Yaeko found her sister's school bag near the place where Mitsuko was working that day.

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10 photos: Remnants of the world's first atomic attack

Suitcase – When the bomb detonated, Tadayori Kihara was riding his bicycle onto a bridge with this suitcase mounted behind his seat. The blast threw him down on the bridge walkway. His back and arms were so badly burned that most of the skin peeled off. The suitcase bears burns from the bomb's intense heat. Kihara survived and lived 22 more years, treasuring this suitcase before it was donated to the museum.

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10 photos: Remnants of the world's first atomic attack

Wallet – Immediately after the bombing, Tsukushi Nishimura went missing from his workplace. About two weeks later, his remains and his wallet were delivered to his home.

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10 photos: Remnants of the world's first atomic attack

Melted coins – A week after the attack, Kinzo Imura found this clump of melted coins in the burned ruins of a relative's house. This artifact was passed to Imura's nephew, Kazuhiko Ninomiya, who preserved them until donating them to the museum.

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 Remnants of the world's first atomic attack

Seventy years after the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, this toddler's tricycle stands as a bitter reminder of the horrors of nuclear warfare. The story behind it was published as a children's book by Hiroshima survivor Tatsuharu Kodama in 1995. "Shin's Tricycle" is about a 3-year-old boy named Shinichi Tetsutani, who died in the attack. His father buried him with this trike -- his favorite toy. This and other fascinating artifacts have been preserved by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum