nagasaki marks anniversary

[Norman & Karen Cohen <norco@bellatlantic.net>]

magnu96196@aol.com wrote:

> Source:
> <A HREF="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20000810a1.htm";>
> http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20000810a1.htm</A>
> ========================================================
> August 10, 2000
>
> CALL ISSUED FOR NUCLEAR BAN
> Nagasaki marks anniversary of 1945 atomic bomb attack
> NAGASAKI (Kyodo) Nagasaki commemorated the 55th anniversary of the U.S.
> atomic bombing of the city Wednesday with a call for nuclear powers to
> immediately begin multilateral talks so a treaty banning nuclear weapons can
> be concluded as early as possible.
>
> Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito made the plea in a ceremony attended by about 28,000
> people at Nagasaki Peace Park, near the point where the bomb exploded Aug. 9,
> 1945, killing an estimated 73,800 people.
>
> Ito recounted the horrors of the bombing, saying, "Heat rays with an
> intensity on the ground of several thousand degrees instantly burned people's
> bodies, charring them black (while) invisible radiation invaded and destroyed
> people's cells and tissues, swiftly resulting in yet more death." Nagasaki is
> 300 km southwest of Hiroshima, the first city to experience to an atomic bomb
> attack. An estimated 140,000 people died as a result of the Hiroshima
> bombing, which took place three days before the devastation of Nagasaki in
> the closing stages of World War II.
>
> "Nagasaki has remained the last battlefield where nuclear weapons have been
> used, with the unspeakably tragic experiences having served as preventative
> forces," Ito said in his declaration of peace.
>
> Ito welcomed a commitment made in May by the five major nuclear-armed states
> to eliminate all nuclear weapons, and supported the idea of a general and
> complete disarmament.
>
> "The voices of concerned people from around the world were successful in
> eliciting agreement from the nuclear weapons states," he said.
>
> At 11:02 a.m., the time the city observes as the moment of the explosion, the
> attendees offered a silent prayer as a bell resounded through the park in
> downtown Nagasaki.
>
> Representatives from seven of Japan's leading political parties, including
> two party leaders, attended the ceremony, as did House of Representatives
> Vice Speaker Kozo Watanabe and House of Councilors Vice President Hisamitsu
> Sugano.
>
> Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori noted in his address that nongovernmental
> organizations will gather for a meeting entitled the Nagasaki Global Citizens
> Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons in autumn.
>
> At the beginning of the ceremony, Ito and two Nagasaki citizens placed on a
> stage three books listing 2,603 people who died between Aug. 1, 1999, and
> July 31 and whom the city office recognizes as victims of the bombing.
>
> Akio Nakashima, an atomic bomb survivor who was 18 when the bomb was dropped,
> read out a "pledge for peace" and a poem.
>
> "Under the perfect blue sky, I speak to the children," the poem read. "Rid
> all countries of days of war! Shake hands firmly and sing a song to peace,
> love, friendship and the gleam of life!"
>
> The Japan Times: Aug. 10, 2000
>
> ========================================================

Coalition for Peace and Justice and the UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr Ave., Linwood, NJ 08221; 609-601-8537 or 609-601-8583 (8583: fax, answer machine);  norco@bellatlantic.net;  UNPLUG SALEM WEBSITE:  http://www.unplugsalem.org/  COALITION FOR PEACE AND
JUSTICE WEBSITE:  http://members.bellatlantic.net/~norco/  ICQ# 54268619; The Coalition for Peace and Justice is a chapter of Peace Action.
“We have two lives, the one we’re given, and the other one we make” (Mary Chapin Carpenter)
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