Loretto members, friends remember horror of Hiroshima, call for no new nuclear bombs!

Earlier this month Loretto members and friends traveled to Albuquerque, N.M., to join in the solemn commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. At 5:16 p.m. Aug. 5, a bell tolled to mark the moment the bomb was dropped. We remembered the horror of war and said “No” by standing there, with Mary at the foot of the Cross. 

We continued our commemoration the following day by driving along the public road through the Los Alamos (N.M.) Laboratory, seeing buildings and road signs to research buildings and manufacturing and nuclear waste sites. We passed a checkpoint and were told firmly to stay on the main road, which we did. We were awestruck by the beauty of the mountain and the horror of the product. We ended our trip at Ashley Pond at the foot of the mountain.

Steadfast protests by people all over the world make a difference. A U.N. treaty has made production and deployment of nuclear weapons illegal. But production and deployment continue. The movie “Oppenheimer” contributes to our understanding of the enormity of military and political resistance to our protest. We stand here, saying no.

In attendance at the Hiroshima commemoration were Karel Disponett CoL, Sally Dunne CoL, Mary Jean Friel CoL, Sandra Hareld CoL, Trish Herron CoL, Karen Knoll CoL, Jackie Diego CoL, Allison Lemons CoL, Mary Ann McGivern SL, Rox Monterastelli CoL, Sharon Palma CoL and good friend of Loretto Barbara O’Connor. 

The Loretto Peace Committee urges all Lorettos to become active in the struggle to abolish nuclear weapons, and as a first step, to stop the expansion of facilities for production of nuclear warheads at Los Alamos, NM, and Savannah River, GA.

The weapons we make now are 10 to 100 times more powerful than the bombs we dropped in 1945 on Japan.  Those two bombs killed over 200,000 people, including those who died later from radiation-related illnesses. Our new bombs could easily kill over 1,000,000 in a single blast.  Such bombs have one purpose only: to kill as many civilians as possible. This is why simple possession of such weapons is immoral. With increased warhead production, the United States along with other nuclear-armed countries are ushering in a new arms race, making our planet less safe. In addition, the mining and transporting of uranium, the production of the warheads and disposal of the waste generated all create health risks for the communities involved in these activities.

Contact your Congresspeople and tell them NO NEW NUCLEAR BOMBS!  Get your friends involved, too. Only a groundswell of public disapproval can stop this.