“The people aboard the Enola Gay dropped the bomb from a great height, so they couldn’t see the people going about their lives below. If they could have seen people’s faces, I wonder if they could have gone through with it.”
— Shintaro Fukuhara, organizer of bicycle tours of A-bomb sites.
An artifact of profound significance sits as part of an incredible display of history at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum — the Enola Gay.
But this Boeing B-29 Superfortress is not just an exhibit; it's key to one of the most devastating events in human history: the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.
For too long, the portrayal of the Enola Gay has focused on its technological prowess and its place in aviation history. But there's a crucial chapter missing from this narrative — the immediate aftermath of its mission and the tens of thousands of lives lost. With that in mind, it’s clear that the National Air and Space Museum's exhibit on the Enola Gay is glaringly incomplete.
Museums aren't just there for awe, but for context. This omission is unacceptable, especially when more than a million people visited the exhibit last year alone. That's a million opportunities for education and understanding missed.
Today is the 78th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, so people are paying extra attention to it — which gives us a unique moment to press for change. Sign the petition to Lonnie G. Bunch, Secretary of the Smithsonian, and tell him: It’s time to reckon with the past. The Enola Gay exhibit must mention the casualties at Hiroshima.
Even though it’s been nearly eight decades, the exact casualty count from the Hiroshima bombing remains elusive, with estimates ranging between 70,000 and 140,000 lives lost. These numbers should be etched into our collective consciousness as stark reminders of the devastation that nuclear warfare brings.
Yet, we still find ourselves confronted with a sanitized narrative, one that chooses not to illuminate the reality of the atomic bombings’ widespread devastation, unimaginable human suffering, and long-term environmental and health effects caused.
We must acknowledge the death and devastation that ensued when the U.S., the only country ever to use nuclear weapons in conflict, dropped the bomb. The U.S. cannot shy away from this aspect of its history, and we must do justice to the magnitude of the event in our public exhibitions. It is a moral obligation, not just to people in the U.S., but to our shared humanity.
Tell Lonnie G. Bunch that it’s time to reckon with the past and acknowledge the victims of Hiroshima
Thank you for working for peace,
Stephen, Sara, Faith and the Win Without War team
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