Hiroshima

Stanford, Calif. -- NEITHER THE atomic bombing nor the entry of the Soviet Union into the war forced Japan's unconditional surrender. She was defeated before either of these events took place."

I was initially elated that a letter writer had remembered the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ("The atomic age turns 67,"Aug. 9). But elation turned to disappointment as the author went on to recite the myth, perpetrated by Harry Truman and Gen. Leslie Groves, that "100 million Japanese were prepared to fight to the death to defend their homeland," and that "most historians believe that President Harry Truman made the correct decision to use these weapons.

HIROSHIMA, Japan -- The city has renewed its annual call for the abolition of nuclear weapons while it marked the 47th anniversary of the first atomic bombing of a city.In a speech made at a ceremony in the city's Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima Mayor Takashi Hiraoka yesterday condemned the continued reliance on nuclear deterrence by some countries even though the Cold War is over."Hiroshima cannot condone a policy of nuclear deterrence that makes national security hostage to nuclear weapons," Mr. Hiraoka told an estimated 50,000 participants.

On the 65th anniversary of using the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, no doubt people who decry the use will be coming out of the woodwork to once again castigate the event. While the bomb was a weapon of war, it also became a weapon for peace as well. There can't be the slightest doubt that Stalin and the Soviet Union had czarist eyes on all of Europe, having already demonstrated that by the invasion of Poland, the Baltic States and Finland. The Soviets saw what the bomb does and that we were in position to use it again.

HIROSHIMA, Japan -- As dusk fell yesterday, children who have never known war led a silent memorial on the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.From riverbanks in this coastal city, little hands pushed hundreds of candle-lit paper lanterns seaward on the evening tide. The children were aided by adults, including survivors of the first nuclear attack in history.Down the rivers the flickering vessels -- bearing good wishes for the souls of atomic bomb victims and pleas for world peace -- floated toward Hiroshima Bay and the Inland Sea beyond.

Four Japanese peace ambassadors from the World Friendship Center in Hiroshima are visiting the Brethren Service fTC Center in New Windsor this week.Every two years, the center sends its ambassadors to several cities in the United States, where they meet with church and community organizations to promote peace. The members of the World Friendship Center, founded in 1965, believe that peace is built one person at a time.The ambassadors will be the guests of Carl and Carrie Beckwith, resident volunteers at the Brethren center.

WASHINGTON - Sixty years after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, a film documenting the aftermath is reminding Americans about the horrors of nuclear war. Footage from a U.S. government-produced film, labeled top secret and kept out of public view for decades, is included in Original Child Bomb, a documentary that will air on the Sundance Channel at 8 p.m. today, the 60th anniversary of the day that Hiroshima became the first city...

TOKYO -- Officials at Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Museum are threatening to withdraw from the Smithsonian Institution's atomic bomb exhibit if it is changed in a way that "does not reflect the feelings of the people of Hiroshima."The U.S. Senate last week passed a resolution urging the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum to modify the exhibit to reflect the mood and concerns of American World War II veterans as well as victims of the world's first use of atomic weapons.The exhibit as initially proposed cast the estimated 130,000 Japanese civilians and soldiers killed by the bomb, which fell on Aug. 6, 1945, as victims of an aggressive, ruthless U.S. consumed by vengeance and racism.

On the ashes of destruction, Miyoko Matsubara is building a foundation of peace.In appearance, manner and speech, the Hiroshima resident and survivor of the world's first atomic bomb blast doggedly reminds the world of the tragedies of war.Ms. Matsubara, 61, arrived in New Windsor last week, the first stop on a speaking tour of nine states sponsored by On Earth Peace Assembly, an education organization based in the northwestern Carroll town."Everyone should see and hear the Hiroshima story," she said.

ATOMIC BOMB Shockwave: Countdown to Hiroshima By Stephen Walker. HarperCollins. 352 pages. It's easy to forget that, as cities go, Hiroshima was ordinary. People there lived without any special foreboding and experienced everything in normal, rich colors, not the grainy black-and-white of World War II newsreels. Unless you believe that long chains of circumstances are actually part of some higher power's detailed master plan, there was nothing inevitable about Hiroshima's becoming the first city to be destroyed by an atomic bomb.

"We have to find a way to get along, because we now have the wherewithal to destroy everything." — Jacob Beser, 1985. "If you asked individual people about the bombing, I don't think anybody would want it. It's war that's bad, not the people." — Hiroko Tasaka-Harris, 1985. —Sixty-five years ago today, an atomic bomb was used in warfare for the first time. Eleven crewmen aboard the Enola Gay deployed the weapon known as "Little Boy," devastating the city of Hiroshima.

It took a while for the Order Sons of Italy in America to weigh in on the controversy surrounding the Rev. Jeremiah Wrong - er, uh, excuse me, I mean Jeremiah Wright - but I figured we'd be hearing from them. Wright is the "spiritual adviser" to presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. Wright, before he retired, was also the pastor of the Chicago church Obama has attended for 20 years. The clergyman emeritus is not exactly the bashful type. Excerpts from some of Wright's more - well, how should I put this?

Beer Appreciation 101 For three hours, we drank beer, looked at beer, sniffed beer, talked about beer, studied beer labels to discover their ingredients and drank more beer. Today baltimoresun.com/cowherd Where's the fun in the game? The Ravens won at San Francisco yesterday, but it wasn't a particularly entertaining brand of football being displayed. Sports baltimoresun.com/preston OTHER VOICES Tim Smith on Baltimore Opera Company -- Today David Steele on Ravens' teamwork -- Sports Edward Gunts on Architecture Week -- Today 5 THINGS TO DO TODAY Hiroshima -- The band will bring its unique sound to Rams Head Tavern, 33 West St., at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. $35. 410-268-4545 or ramsheadtavern.

ATOMIC BOMB Shockwave: Countdown to Hiroshima By Stephen Walker. HarperCollins. 352 pages. It's easy to forget that, as cities go, Hiroshima was ordinary. People there lived without any special foreboding and experienced everything in normal, rich colors, not the grainy black-and-white of World War II newsreels. Unless you believe that long chains of circumstances are actually part of some higher power's detailed master plan, there was nothing inevitable about Hiroshima's becoming the first city to be destroyed by an atomic bomb.

WASHINGTON - Sixty years after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, a film documenting the aftermath is reminding Americans about the horrors of nuclear war. Footage from a U.S. government-produced film, labeled top secret and kept out of public view for decades, is included in Original Child Bomb, a documentary that will air on the Sundance Channel at 8 p.m. today, the 60th anniversary of the day that Hiroshima became the first city...

A STORY THAT the U.S. government hoped would never see the light of day finally has been published, 60 years after it was spiked by military censors. The discovery of reporter George Weller's firsthand account of conditions in post-nuclear Nagasaki sheds light on one of the great journalistic betrayals of the last century: the cover-up of the effects of the atomic bombing on Japan. On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima; three days later, Nagasaki was hit. Gen. Douglas MacArthur promptly declared southern Japan off-limits, barring the news media.

Residents of Hiroshima, the Japanese city that suffered the worst nuclear disaster of the century, are delivering messages of peace across the United States.The Japanese Peace Ambassadors Exchange (PAX) team made New Windsor its first stop on a three-week U.S. tour. The team -- a Hibakusha (blast survivor), a historian, a photojournalist and a teacher -- came as peace ambassadors from the World Friendship Center in Hiroshima."We have to tell the true history," said Fumiko Sora, 67, a Hibakusha who has been active with peace activities her whole life.

Editor's note: Sun photojournalist Chiaki Kawajiri recently visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, Japan, dedicated to the memory of the dropping of an atomic bomb there 60 years ago this week. There, she heard the story told by Setsuko Iwamoto, 75, who was a teenager when the bomb made her hometown synonymous with the horrors of war. SETSUKO IWAMOTO saw a light and another blue light. Then she lost consciousness. At 8:15 a.m., Aug. 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was used as a weapon for the first time in history.

Editor's note: Sun photojournalist Chiaki Kawajiri recently visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, Japan, dedicated to the memory of the dropping of an atomic bomb there 60 years ago this week. There, she heard the story told by Setsuko Iwamoto, 75, who was a teenager when the bomb made her hometown synonymous with the horrors of war. SETSUKO IWAMOTO saw a light and another blue light. Then she lost consciousness. At 8:15 a.m., Aug. 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was used as a weapon for the first time in history.

SIX DECADES after a nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, there is a question that remains unanswered and perhaps unanswerable: Should those of us who were not under that mushroom cloud thank these weapons for bringing us an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity? The bomb has been widely disparaged as the most destructive device ever invented, one that brought not only devastation to Japan, but also fear and uncertainty to generations that lived under its shadow of doom. Look at Europe.