August 9, 2020 On this day 75 years ago, the second nuclear weapon used in warfare was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. At 11:02 am, the bomb detonated at a height of 1,640 feet above the city with an explosive yield equal to 20,000 tons of TNT. The radius of total destruction was about one mile, with fires across the northern part of Nagasaki and two miles to the south. Nearly every structure in Nagasaki was leveled in the blast radius. About 90 percent of all medical staff were either killed or disabled and remaining medical supplies quickly ran out. Most […]
READ MORETag Archives: Atomic Bombings
I Will Write Peace on Your Wings
by Leonard Eiger “I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world.” These are the words of Sadako Sasaki, who was only 2 years old when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. She survived the bombing and led an outwardly healthy life; she was said to be an energetic child who never missed one day of elementary school. She was also a fast runner. Things changed dramatically for Sadako in 1955 when she was diagnosed with Leukemia (a radiation-induced disease) and was admitted to the hospital. After 1000 paper cranes folded by high school […]
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Remembering the Voices of the Hibakusha
Humanity stands at a crossroads. Nearly 75 years since the United States dropped two nuclear weapons on the people of Japan, we continue to worship the false idols of the nuclear age. We do so at all of humanity’s peril. The nuclear priests continue to practice their alchemy, working from the same, outdated bible created by men during the prehistory of the nuclear age. The mythos created out of this espouses the doctrine of deterrence, and is unable (or unwilling) to hear the voices of suffering they have brought on countless human beings. Furthermore, as a result of their separation, […]
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No war should be called ‘good’
By David Swanson Originally published in the Kitsap Sun, July 27, 2019 The nuclear bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 74 years ago this August 6th and 9th did not save lives. They took lives, possibly 200,000 of them. The United States Strategic Bombing Survey concluded that, “… certainly prior to 31 December, 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November, 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated.” One dissenter who had […]
READ MOREPeace flotilla and nonviolent direct action at Trident nuclear submarine base mark anniversary of atomic bombings (Press Release)
Contact: Leonard Eiger (425) 445-2190 or Glen Milner (206) 365-7865 Silverdale, Washington: Local peace activists staged a water-based nonviolent protest and witness for peace in Hood Canal at the Trident nuclear submarine base on August 9th marking the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. The activists travelled along the Bangor waterfront where nuclear warheads and Trident missiles are loaded onto submarines and where submarines are resupplied for ballistic missile patrols in the Pacific Ocean. On August 8th activists staged a vigil and nonviolent direct action in which some activists blocked the entrance gate to the same Naval base. The August 9th peace flotilla, named “Boats by Bangor,” […]
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