Tag Archives: Memorials

Seventy Years After Little Boy – Have We Learned Anything?

Seventy years ago today, the world as we knew it changed forever. On that day, the United States became the only country to ever use nuclear weapons against another country.

At the time this photo was made, smoke billowed 20,000 feet above Hiroshima while smoke from the burst of the first atomic bomb had spread over 10,000 feet on the target at the base of the rising column. Photo public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

At the time this photo was made, smoke billowed 20,000 feet above Hiroshima while smoke from the burst of the first atomic bomb had spread over 10,000 feet on the target at the base of the rising column. Photo public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Somewhere between 45,000 and 80,000 people died that day, and between 19,500 and 40,000 people died in Nagasaki three days later. The same number would die as a direct result of the two bombs over the next four months.

The genie had been let out of the bottle. What had been accomplished could be duplicated. The Soviets, who already had a nuclear program underway, made the acquisition of a nuclear weapon a top priority. The arms race had come to “peacetime,” and the military-industrial complex grew in power by leaps and bounds.

Of course, you need delivery systems for these weapons. Besides strategic bombers, the United States and the Soviet Union both had missile development programs. Where did that knowledge come from? Scientists who worked for the Nazis at places such as the Peenemünde Army Research Center. Here in the US, the recruitment was known as Operation Paperclip.

Since Truman’s order authorizing Operation Paperclip expressly excluded anyone found “to have been a member of the Nazi Party, and more than a nominal participant in its activities, or an active supporter of Nazi militarism,” the Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency (JIOA) created false employment and political biographies for the scientists, while also erasing from public record the scientists’ Nazi Party memberships and régime affiliations. Once that was done, the scientists were granted security clearances by the U.S. government to work in the United States.

So, not only did we (the United States), kill thousands of people in a horrific manner never used before or since, we also brought in war criminals to make the weapons even more deadly. But wait! There’s more…

We hear from various media outlets about the dangers of relaxing sanctions against Iran, and how this will lead to Iran getting nuclear weapons. Where did Iran get its nuclear technology to begin with? If you guessed the United States, you guessed right. Under the “Atoms for Peace” program proposed by President Eisenhower in the early 1950s, American Machine and Foundry (AMF) built nuclear reactors in Iran, Pakistan and Israel. Notice that the only country of those three that hasn’t built a nuclear weapon is Iran…

The memorial at Ground Zero, Nagasaki. Photo by Dean S. Pemberton (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The memorial at Ground Zero, Nagasaki. Photo by Dean S. Pemberton (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons

It’s been seventy years, and the horror is still present. There’s still close to 200,000 people alive today that are classified by the Japanese government as hibakusha; a Japanese word that literally translates as “explosion-affected people,” and refers to people who were exposed to radiation from the bombings.

We in the United States claim to be the only judge of who can or can’t have nuclear weapons, while at the same time we’re responsible for the spreading of nuclear technology to the very countries who we worry about, and we’re the only country to ever use one. Our hypocrisy can be staggering at times.

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Bought The T-Shirt

North Tower Fountain National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Photo by Kai Brinker via Wikimedia Commons

North Tower Fountain National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Photo by Kai Brinker via Wikimedia Commons

The opening ceremony for the long delayed National September 11 Memorial Museum took place on May 15. In attendance were many current and past politicians including President Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Michael Bloomberg, Rudy Giuliani, Bill de Blasio, Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo. Noticeably absent were George W. Bush and Dick Cheney – but that’s a different story.

The Museum opens on May 21, and there’s a couple things that are rather disturbing about it. First of all, there’s an underground “remains repository”, with some 8000 unidentified body parts from the more than 1000 people who were still buried in the rubble- they were moved to the repository. And, even more disturbing to me, there’s a gift shop.

What would a 9/11 memorial gift shop sell? Among other things:

  • A black and white “Darkness Hoodie” printed with an image of the Twin Towers. The pullover, like other “Darkness” items, bears the words “In Darkness We Shine Brightest.” Price: $39.
  • Silk scarves printed with 1986 photos by Paula Barr, including a panoramic view of the Manhattan skyline. Another depicts “lunchtime on the WTC Plaza.” They go for $95 each.
  • “Survivor Tree” earrings, named after a pear tree that stood in the World Trade Center plaza and survived 9/11. Made of bronze and freshwater pearls, a pair costs $64. A leaf ornament molded from the swamp white oaks at the memorial is said to change from amber to dark brown “and sometimes pink around the time of the 9/11 anniversary.
  • ”Heart-shaped rocks inscribed with slogans such as “United in Hope” and “Honor.” One rock bears a quote by Virgil that is emblazoned on a massive blue-tiled wall in the museum: “No day shall erase you from the memory of time.” It costs $39.

Diana Horning lost her son on 9/11; her son’s body’s never been recovered. She told the New York Post“To me, it’s the crassest, most insensitive thing to have a commercial enterprise at the place where my son died.” She further went on to say “Here is essentially our tomb of the unknown. To sell baubles I find quite shocking and repugnant. I think it’s a money-making venture to support inflated salaries, and they’re willing to do it over my son’s dead body.” She also objects to the cafe in the museum (yes, there is a cafe, because nothing stimulates the appetite like being in a place where thousands died, I guess).

National September 11 Memorial South Pool. Photo by NormanB via Wikimedia Commons

National September 11 Memorial South Pool. Photo by NormanB via Wikimedia Commons

The museum is self-funded, so all proceeds from the gift shop, cafe and admissions are supposed to go towards operating expenses. Joe Daniels, the museum’s president and CEO, says “What’s most important is whether the stories it tells…  helps fulfill our promise to never forget... We have to pay for it, we have to make sure this museum is available forever for everyone.” What he doesn’t mention is his $378,000 salary. And, while there’s a plaque saying that the gift shop was “made possible through the generosity of Paul Napoli and Marc Bern,” what it doesn’t mention is that they’re partners in a law firm that made $200 million in taxpayer-funded fees and expenses suing the city on behalf of 10,000 Ground Zero workers. 

Imagine if gift shops like this were the status quo; you could buy stuff at the Oklahoma City National Memorial- oh, wait – you can. Or at the Holocaust Memorial – oh, wait – you can there, too.

I really have to wonder whether there’s any hope for us at all when we allow gift shops in the places we build to remember those who lost their lives so horribly…

 

 

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