Aug. 6 is the 81st anniversary of the day we dropped an atomic bomb (“Little Boy”) on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, on Aug. 9, the U.S. dropped a nuclear bomb on the city of Nagasaki, Japan.
The two bombs killed at least 105,000 people instantly and injured 94,000 more, mostly civilians. We have since learned of the long-term effects of atomic radiation, even to the unborn. The total death toll from the two bombs can never be known exactly because many died later of long-term effects of the radiation.
Our two bombs, the only nuclear weapons ever used in warfare, altered the history of warfare. The nuclear arms race was on. By 1986, the nuclear nations had 70,300 atomic weapons in their arsenals. With the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963) and Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT, 1968) the nuclear powers (United States, Britain, France, China and the Soviet Union) agreed to limit and control nuclear weapons.
Unfortunately, Israel, India and Pakistan never signed the NPT and North Korea withdrew from it. While various treaties and agreements have reduced the global nuclear arsenal to an estimated 12,240 weapons in 2025, the world is not safe from a nuclear holocaust. In fact, ever more powerful weapons are being developed as time goes on.
Sadly, we are moving away from the nuclear-free goal of Section VI of the NPT. This administration’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2027 includes $4.5 billion in funding for a new Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. This new missile would replace the 450 ICBMs in silos across the upper Midwest and would be fitted with the W87-1 warhead, which packs a punch of 300,000 tons of TNT (20 Little Boys!).
The multi-year, multi-billion-dollar project is in the hands of Northrup Grumman, with an estimated delivery date of 2029. Do we really need that given the destruction that current nuclear warheads are already capable of?
The Pentagon budget is often viewed in terms of jobs and contracts in Congressional districts rather than our actual defense needs or the moral implications of these weapons. New Mexico, with its Los Alamos and Sandia Laboratories, will rake in a good share of the proposed budget outlays for enhanced nuclear warfare potential.
These anniversaries provide us with an opportunity to step back and contemplate the consequences should we decide again to use nuclear weapons. Most military and political leaders say launching a nuclear attack is unthinkable. We now know of instances when U.S. and Soviet military personnel could have ignited a nuclear holocaust but had the wisdom to question false or misleading data they were receiving. Yet we plunge on!
For more than 30 years, Gila Friends Meeting (Quaker) has been hosting an opportunity for shared public contemplation of our nuclear fate at an annual Hiroshima Peace Day Observance.
This year’s observance will take place at the Gough Park Pavilion in Silver City on Sunday, Aug. 9, from 12:30-2 p.m. There will be a period of silent meditation, followed by a time of sharing by participants. All are welcome. Please bring your own chair if you can.
Very Sincerely,
Barbara Stone
David Burr
Diana Edwards
John Heid
Sandra Purnell
