On August 6, 2003 at Eden Park, people in Cincinnati marked the 58th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. Remembrance ceremonies were held in solidarity with Hiroshima in cities all over the world. Local participants heard speeches, listened to music and then carried paper lanterns from Seasongood Pavilion to Mirror Lake.
Carol Rainey, who spoke at the event, estimated that 75 people attended the remembrance ceremony. It was organized by the August 6 Planning Committee. Paper lanterns, some decorated with names of victims from Hiroshima or Nagasaki and many containing wishes for peace, were launched into the lake, usually accompanied by prayers for peace. "Salam, Paix, Shalom, Peace, Paz, Pace," and "Open us to your gift," said one of the lanterns. Another lantern glowed with the colors of a rainbow, drawn in the tight, intense hand of a determined child.
The lantern floating in Mirror Lake recalled similar ceremonies in Japan. Every year since 1945 candle lanterns have been floated on the Ota River in Hiroshima in memory of those who died in America's bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On the same day as Cincinnati's ceremony, Hiroshima City Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba reminded the world of "mushroom clouds spilling black rain" in 1945. Officials there added 5,050 more names to the register of victims who died immediately in the blast, or from the after-effects of radiation exposure in Hiroshima. In all, the Hiroshima death toll now stands at 231,920 from the American bomb.
According to Peggy Gish, member of a Christian Peacemaker Team who visited Cincinnati from Baghdad in May and has now returned there, a similar ceremony was to occur in Baghdad. People in Iraq today suffer, and many have died from the slow radiation poisoning of America's "depleted uranium" weapons. The highest levels of childhood leukemia in the world occur in Southern Iraq, where 300 tons of radioactive litter from American "depleted uranium" weapons lies on the ground. It is predicted that by 2007 40-48% of the human population in Southern Iraq will have cancer, mostly due to refuse from radioactive American bombs and bullets.
In her opening remarks, Carol Rainey, Professor of English at Xavier University, warned of new victims of atomic weapons, "Pictures are now coming back of deformed babies in Afghanistan, hospitals full of cancer and leukemia victims in southern Iraq. ... Mr. Bush responded to the events of September 11 with the biggest military buildup in world history and has requested money from Congress to develop new nuclear weapons."
Hiroshima Remembrance ceremonies at Mirror Lake, held yearly during the eighties, may become annual events again in Cincinnati.
by Carol Rainey, August 6 Planning Commitee
Back in the 80s this floating lantern ceremony was held in Eden Park every year on August 6 to remember Hiroshima. At that time it seemed the world was coming to its senses about the horrors of nuclear weapons. We had seen the pictures of what had happened at Hiroshima, men, women and children reduced to shadows on the ground; we had read of the long term biological effects of radiation and the contamination of the environment. We had read of the insanity of the arms race with the Soviet Union, which caused the stockpiling of over 50,000 nuclear weapons in the world with enough power to destroy the world 100 times over. The global anti-nuclear movement in the 80s was committed to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and to changing the political attitudes which had caused them to exist, stressing the need for international understanding, alliances and cooperation. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was signed, the AntiBallistic Missile Treaty was signed, Congress was working on a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. With the fall of the Soviet Unionˆthe supposed reason for the nuclear arms raceˆit seemed that perhaps the madness of the nuclear age was coming to an end. We were going to be able to abolish nuclear weapons and establish a saner more civilized world.
What happened? Why are we now back in a dangerous position again? The last few years we have become aware of a number of new things. First the Pentagon has continued to use radioactive material in weapons, which is causing some of the same kind of biological effects on civilians as occurred in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The phrase depleted uranium sounds harmless, but in fact the material is lethal. Pictures are now coming back of deformed babies in Afghanistan, hospitals full of cancer and leukemia victims in southern Iraq. Dr. Helen Caldicott has said that in effect the wars against Iraq have been nuclear wars. Second, Mr. Bush responded to the events of September 11 with the biggest military buildup in world history and has requested money from Congress to develop new nuclear weapons, in violation of all past treaties. He has also said that he now believes the nuclear weapons should be an acceptable part of any military operation, the first leader since 1945 to make such a threat to the rest of the world. Most Americans are so cut off from accurate information about what is going on right now that they do not know these dangers exist. But we need to begin educating ourselves again. And we need to look again at the origins of the nuclear nightmare and once again remember Hiroshima.
Our speaker tonight, Dr. Ronald Katsuyama, will be discussing the lessons of Hiroshima for today. Dr. Katsuyama is a professor of child psychology at the University of Dayton and the founding director of the University of Dayton's 'Center for Family and Community Research.' He has directed over 35 research projects on racial attitudes and experiences, character building, drug and alcohol abuse, and other community concerns. He is active in the Dayton community on civil rights issues, is the president and founding member of the Asian American Council of Dayton, as well as president of the Dayton chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League. He himself has visited the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima and has family members who remember what happened in August of 1945. We are honored to have him with us this evening. Dr. Katsuyama.
"Hiroshima Mayor calls on the cities of the world to come together in solidarity to seek a way to eliminate nuclear weapons." Mayor's Speech at the MPI Strategy Meeting, Geneva, April 2003 - read article
'Dr Strangeloves' meet to plan new nuclear era, The Guardian -Thursday August 7, 2003 read article
