日本被団協

For the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons

Signers

October 2003

Mr. John Dailey Director of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum of the United States of America
Mr. George W. Bush President of the United States of America

Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations

PETITION

Regarding the exhibition of the restored B29 bomber "Enola Gay"

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum has announced that it has completely restored the B29 bomber "Enola Gay," which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and that it will display this plane to the general public from December onward. The explanatory text for the public display devotes a great deal to the performance characteristics and the like of the Enola Gay, but is said to restrict itself to a brief reference to the dropping of the atomic bomb: "Dropped the first atomic weapon on Hiroshima in 1945." Moreover, we have heard that Director Dailey has explained: "This is a museum of technology, and we have focused on the technological achievement."

We cannot repress our deep astonishment and anger. What the Enola Gay wrought was the loss of well over 100,000 lives that were cruelly destroyed by the atomic bomb, and the deep wounds and radiation-induced handicaps that continue to afflict victims of the atomic bomb to this day. Of the 140,000 people estimated to have died in Hiroshima within that year, 65% were women, children and elderly people who had no connection to the war. To exalt this Enola Gay - which caused an unprecedented atrocity that violated all norms of morality and international law - as a testimony to "technological achievement" is completely unacceptable to the atomic bomb victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In 1995, as well, your museum planned a special exhibition of the Enola Gay. According to the initial plan, the facts of the damage from the bomb were to be conveyed, and the assertion that "the dropping of the atomic bomb was right" would also have been presented. We clearly recall that you were compelled to cancel the exhibition of materials on damage from the bomb due to strong pressure from the Air Force Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the like. From the perspective of those who are aware of this background, the fact that you are on this occasion conducting an exhibition of the Enola Gay on the pretext of focusing on "technological achievement," with concealment of the "calamity of the bombing," can only be considered to signify that your museum has adopted the position that "the dropping of the atomic bomb was right."

If an exhibition of the Enola Gay is to be conducted, the exhibition should be presented without concealing the "calamity" that the atomic bomb inflicted upon humanity. While there may be a variety of viewpoints regarding the history of the dropping of the atomic bomb, is not the "presentation of materials for reflection" in keeping with American democracy?

In the year 2000 review meeting of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the government of your country made an "unequivocal undertaking" to "accomplish the total elimination of its nuclear arsenal." If faithful to this "undertaking," your country has assumed the international duty of fostering an atmosphere favorable to the elimination of nuclear weapons, and this exhibition should be conducted with the underlying resolve that "Hiroshima will never happen again." It is for this reason that we believe that this exhibition is an opportunity to give hope to the victims of the atomic bomb that nuclear weapons will be eliminated, and to enhance trust in your country on the part of all people who desire peace.

We therefore request as follows.

On the occasion of the public display of the restored B29 bomber "Enola Gay" which is planned for December, we request that you also exhibit photographs and materials showing the damage inflicted by the atomic bomb that was dropped from this airplane.

If this should prove impossible, we request that you cancel the currently planned exhibition of the Enola Gay.

Signers:

Dr. Joseph Gerson, Director of Programs, American Friends Service Committee
Lee Palmer
Craig Heinke
Jen Hall
Patricia Barnes
Sarah Gill
Jean Palmer
Paul Dobbs
Kyle McBride
Mark Earley
Stephen McNeil, American Friends Service Committee
Beryl Schwartz
M. Margrit Hoepfler, Amberg, Germany
Brent Hymer
Richard Boardman, American Friends Service Committee
Faith M. Madzar
John L Bowman
Zoe Sachs-Arellano
Nancy Falk
Ginny Warren
Sarah Savery Marter
Paul Goodwin Dexter
Cynthia August
Benjamin Ross
Erin Camarena
Julia and James Wallace
Crispin Jordan
Jeanne Liechty
Andre Sheldon
Larry Erickson, educator
Mary Jo Litchard
Devera Ehrenberg
Poul Eck S rensen
Ken Michael Raposa
Jackie Cruz
Mark Schafer
Jane McPhetres Johnson
Susan Lee
Emily Lederman
Robert W. Andersen, Ph.D.
PF Soto
Steff Kerr
Gail Parsloe
Sarah Metcalf
Hilda Galvan
Katherine W Cook
Vicky Steinitz
Susanna Porte
Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
Brendon F. Preston
Louis Kampf
Jacob Brancasi
Lois T. Smith
Gordon Harris
Walter Wink
Michaelann Bewsee
Mary A. Sykes
Davis Droll
Dorothy Latour
Leslie G. Saffer
Ron J. Shapiro
Tom Neilson
Mary Brock
Leah A. Brown
Catherine Orloff
Carla Herwitz
Carter West
Yuichi Moroi
Tim Walter
Lee Noble
Kenji Moroi
Mary Kaye
Joan Sadowski
Denali Delmar
Stephanie Abundo
Habsa Sileymane
Roberta Rood
Roberta Shaples
Pamela Boudreau
Bonnie F. Atwater
Barbara Burke
Linda Ballard, OSC
Rev. H. P. Barkham (UK)
S. Marlene Bertke, OSB
Bruce F. Blaisdell
Hope Brogunier
Jane Cadarette
Courtney B. Cazden
Charles William Eliot, Professor of Education Emerita, Harvard University
Jerry Chase
Carole Chinman
Mimi and Jim Cordalis
Walter Ducharme
Diane Dujon, College of Public and Community Service, University of Massachusetts
Anabel Dwyer, Board, Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy
Mafalda Faillace
Elizabeth B. Gerlach
Lani Gerson, Librarian
Lynn Houston
Sal Insogna
Quentin Klein
Prof. John W. Lamperti
Donald N. Lathrop, Professor of Peace and World Order Studies, Berkshire Community College
Marion Lathrop, Cioordinator of the Never Again Campaign
Sabra Lee
Dorothy Litt
Mary and John Maffeo
Robert H. Maffeo
John R. Maffeo
Mariane Muriel Maffeo
Lois Maffeo
Antony Mullaney
Storrs and Shirley Olds
Vivian O’Niel
Anthony Palomba
Bobbie Paul, President, Atlanta Women's Action for New Directions
Cynthia Riley
Donna M. San Antonio, Lecturer on Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Phillis Schleicher, OSB
Joan Cambell Shaw
Alison Simcox
Marjorie Smith
Mary Hembrow Snyder, Ph. D. Professor of Religious Studies, Chair, Humanities Division, Mercyhurst College
Larry Starkey
Carolyn R. Swift
David Tarr
Signe Taylor
Katie and Loroy Tovar
Julia and James Wallace
Janel D'Agata
Joanne Conroy
Anabel Dwyer
Seth Andrew Thompson
Mr. and Mrs Albert S. Jacobson
Mark Esser
Doreen Miller
Maureen Walsh
Leeta White
Natassia Pura
Maria Simoneau
Miriam Shakow
Alison Gottlieb
Hannah Tennant-Moore
Laura Klepeis
Robert O'Brien
Liam Flanagan
Rucha
Zine Sano
Kayoko Ishizuka
Elizabeth M. Andress, adult educator
James Baumbach
Phoebe Knopf
Henry Lowendorf
David Weinstein
Laura G Smith
Helenmary Hotz
Johanna Kovitz
David Gray
Chris Eastburn
Phyllis Goldfarb, Professor of Law, Boston College Law School
Jayne MacPherson
Chelynn Tetreault
Agatha So
Carol Chapman
Virginia Schonwald
Cynthia Snow
Heather Wise
Peter Weiler
Barbara Wynroth
Penny Adams
Beverly M. Hector-Smith
Kelvin J. Monroe
Bernadine Young
Gloria Bletter
Walter Wink
Elise Hayden-Ferdman
Dr. Frank Ackerman, Research Director, Global Development and Environmental Institute, Tufts University
Elaine Antonia
Dr. Rita Antonia
Dr. Eric Bourgeois
Debka Colson, American Friends Service Committee
Jeffries Frances
Frances Crowe
Terry Kitchen
Dr. Gary P. Leupp
Andre L. Mechelynck
Klaus Melf Tonsasen Pugwash Belgian Group (Belgium)
Kirsten Osen, Professor Dr. of Medicine (Norway)
Jeff Petrucelly
David Rothauser
Ginger Ryan
Pamella Saffer
Liz Scurfield
Allan Solomonow
Dorothy A. Stroup
Martina Weitsch
Sally Laidlaw Williams
Leonie W Luterman
Vladimir Ferdman
Yumiko Hata
Mark Langager
Anthony Glover
Kathleen Merletti
Antonia Darder
Karen Jarmon, museum education consultant
Phitsamay Sychitkokhong
Lenis Chen
Lou Waronker
Renato Lings
Ruben Cuebas
Daniel Garwood
Mary Benefiel Dunn
Rachel Crandell
Joanne Horgan
Frances Chavarria
John Sullivan
Barrie Thorne, Professor of Women's Studies and Sociology, University of California, Berkely
GREGORY R. PARADISE (Costa Rica)
Veena Viswanathan
Peter Crownfield
Yukiko Matsuoka
Sarah Richards (UK)
( November 18. 224 signers)

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