Annual Hiroshima and Nagasaki Memorial Vigil
August 6 and August 9 are the anniversaries of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively. On those dates more than 100,000 Japanese instantly lost their lives and left several hundred thousand more to die painful deaths over the next days, weeks, and months.
As citizens of the only country in the world to have ever used nuclear weapons (not just once but twice) it’s important for us to mark this anniversary in a way that shows solidarity with those who were victims and to commit ourselves to work to prevent another similar atrocity. The subject of nuclear weapons in the hands of other countries is again in the news and the United States is busy upgrading and modernizing its own arsenal of about five thousand nuclear bombs that now have a total explosive energy of more than a hundred thousand times that used in 1945. Remembering Charleston
Unfortunately, we were called to do this in June after the Charleston, SC shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Of the approximately 300 community members in attendance, 49 committed to taking action in order to prevent such violence in the Susquehanna Valley. |