Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

Tag: 1945

  • 2012 Sadako Peace Day Message

    David KriegerToday marks the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.  It is the anniversary of a bombing that targeted school children, pre-school children and infants, as well as women and the elderly. 


    When you think of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, think of innocent children.


    Sadako was such a child, only two years old when the bomb exploded over Hiroshima.  As she grew older, she became a bright student and a fast runner, but ten years after the bombing she was hospitalized with radiation-induced leukemia. 


    Japanese legend has it that one’s wish will be granted by folding 1,000 paper cranes.  Sadako folded these paper cranes in the hope of fulfilling her wish to regain her health and achieve a peaceful world.  She wrote this poem, “I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world.”


    Sadako’s life was cut short by the bomb, but her dream of peace has lived on.  She did not live to become a wife, mother and grandmother.  She did not live to fulfill her dreams.  But her memory has lived on in the hearts of children around the globe.  Today there is a statue of Sadako in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, and throughout the world people express their wish for peace by folding paper cranes.


    Today we gather in this beautiful peace garden named for Sadako and commemorate the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with our 18th annual Sadako Peace Day.  We remember Sadako and the countless innocent victims of war and renew our commitment to abolishing nuclear weapons and ending war as a human institution. 


    This may seem utopian, but it is also necessary.  It is our common responsibility and it is the daily work of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. 


    The Secretary-General of the United Nations sent this message to Hiroshima today:


    “The elimination of nuclear weapons is not just a visionary goal, but the most reliable way to prevent their future use.


    “People understand that nuclear weapons cannot be used without indiscriminate effects on civilian populations….


    “Such weapons have no legitimate place in our world.  Their elimination is both morally right and a practical necessity in protecting humanity.


    “The more countries view nuclear weapons as unacceptable and illegitimate, the easier it will be to solve related problems such as proliferation or their acquisition and use by terrorists….


    “In remembering those lost, in recognizing the hibakusha, and in considering the legacy we will leave to future generations, I urge all here today to continue your noble work for a nuclear-weapon-free world.”


    We are honored to have present today a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing, Kikuko Otake, who will share with us her memories of what she experienced as a young child.  We also have wonderful poets and musicians and a beautiful, quiet garden for reflection. 


    Thank you for being with us today and for your compassion for those who have been the victims of war, your commitment to building a more peaceful world free of nuclear weapons, and your courage to take action to change the world.

  • Message for Hiroshima Day 2010

    The Nuclear Age is 65 years old.  The first test of a nuclear device took place on July 16, 1945 at the Alamogordo Test Range in New Mexico’s Jornada del Muerto Desert.  The Spanish name of this desert means “Journey of Death,” a fitting name for the beginning point of the Nuclear Age.  Just three weeks after the test, the United States destroyed the city of Hiroshima with a nuclear weapon, followed by the destruction of Nagasaki three days later.  By the end of 1945, the Journey of Death had claimed more than 200,000 human lives and left many other victims injured and suffering.  

    Over the past 65 years, the Journey of Death has continued to claim victims.  Not from the use of nuclear weapons in war, but from the radiation released in testing nuclear weapons (posturing).  We can be thankful that we have not had a nuclear war in the past 65 years, but we must not be complacent.  Our relative good fortune in the past is not a guarantee that nuclear weapons will not be used in the future.  Over the years, the power of nuclear weapons has increased dramatically.  They have become capable of ending civilization and complex life on the planet.  What could possibly justify this risk?

    We remember the anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as cautionary tales.  The survivors of the bombings, the hibakusha, have been strong proponents of “Never Again!”  They have spoken out about what they experienced so that their past does not become our future.  They have warned us repeatedly, “Nuclear weapons and human beings cannot coexist.”  We must choose: nuclear weapons or a human future.  The choice should not be difficult.  Humanity should shout out with a single voice that we choose a world free of the overarching nuclear threat, a world free of nuclear weapons.

    The people must lead their leaders, choosing hope for a far more decent human future.  The United States alone has spent more than $7.5 trillion on nuclear weapons over the span of the Nuclear Age.  The world currently spends more than $1.5 trillion annually on weapons, war and the preparation for war, while spending only a small portion of this on efforts to meet human needs and achieve social justice.  Clearly, change is needed.  Bringing about this change could begin by joining together to eliminate the nuclear weapons threat to the human future.  

    The future is now.  Sixty-five years of nuclear threat to humanity is enough.  We continue to rely upon the theory of deterrence at our peril.  The theory requires rationality from leaders who are not always rational.  The higher rationality and greater good for humanity would be to eliminate the threat by eliminating the weapons.  The time to raise our voices and demand a world free of nuclear weapons is now, before it is too late.  On this demand we must be both insistent and persistent.