STRATCOM Hiroshima/Nagasaki Vigil 2011

Twenty-seven people participated in the August 6-9, 2011 STRATCOM Vigil near Omaha.  This annual vigil is held to observe the anniversary of the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by U.S. atomic bombs in 1945.  Six who maintained a witness for all three days were joined off and on by 21 others. 

Nobuko Tsukui

Nobuko Tsukui, a major scholar in the literature written by survivors of the atomic blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, gave a talk on the first night of the observance entitled, "Reflections on Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Fukushima." (Copy of Nobuko's talk: http://nebraskansforpeace.org/tsukui-lantern-float/

Among the participants were Mark Kenney's sister Maureen Davis and her daughters Susan and Beth, holding a sign that read "I'm Here Because Mark Can't Be!”  Mark F Kenney arrested at the vigil last year when he crossed the line onto STRATCOM property.  Mark is serving a six month sentence at the Duluth Federal Prison Camp for this act.

Each year this vigil joins countless others held throughout the world to mourn the lives lost when two atomic bombs were dropped on the two cities in Japan. 

Mark Kenney before his arrest last year.

The purpose of these vigils and the nonviolent actions that often accompany them is to raise awareness of the dangers of nuclear weapons and the continuing reliance on them as well as the importance of working towards a nuclear weapons-free world.

The U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) is chosen as a vigil site because it the place from which a nuclear war would be controlled.  Since 9/11, STRATCOM’s mission has expanded. It is now command central in the U.S. “War on Terror” and for the U.S. objectives to take weaponry into space and to dominate space militarily.  STRATCOM is responsible for overseeing any Global “First Strikes,” the National Security Agency’s “warrantless wiretaps,” and Ballistic Missile Defense.  It may be too limited to describe STRATCOM as the most dangerous place on Earth.  It could be the most dangerous place in our galaxy.

The annual vigils at STRATCOM include prayer, reflections, and discussions with passersby.  (Some of these discussions are calmer than others.)  On the last morning, a short Closing Observance is held which includes a reading of the famous Thomas Merton meditation “Original Child Bomb.”

The STRATCOM vigil is co-sponsored by the Catholic Workers from Omaha and Des Moines and Nebraskans for Peace.  The Des Moines Chapter of Veterans for Peace also co-sponsored this year.  St. John’s Parish on the Creighton campus, once again, generously provided hospitality.

Background

During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945.

Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects killed 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000–80,000 in Nagasaki, with roughly half of the deaths in each city occurring on the first day. The Hiroshima prefectural health department estimates that, of the people who died on the day of the explosion, 60% died from flash or flame burns, 30% from falling debris and 10% from other causes. During the following months, untold more people died from the effect of burns, radiation sickness, and other injuries, compounded by illness.  Even more suffered great physical pain for life, were permanently disabled, were chemically sterilized, and contracted cancer later.  Nearly all of the dead and injured were civilians.

Despite seven decades of vigils there has been no reduction of these weapons.  Instead their specter has been widened and enhanced including regional nuclearization and the modernization of existing arsenals and weapon systems and even the building of new nuclear weapons plants.. While people are confronted with economic hardship, military budgets continue to increase.

Vigilgers believe they have a moral obligation to recall the cries heard years ago in Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well to advocate justice for every victim of war and that the only proper penance and for this genocide is to create a world free of nuclear weapons and liberated from armed conflict and war.