Sixty-five years after dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, and killing more than 140,000 people, the United States will send its first ever delegation to a ceremony commemorating the attack.
On Friday, U.S. Ambassador John Roos will join representatives from 75 countries at the Hiroshima event, but he is not expected to speak. World War II allies France and Britain will also send delegations to the ceremony for the first time.
The memorial event will feature a minute of silence and the release of 1,000 white doves, AFP reported. The thousands of Japanese who survived the attack, but spent the rest of their lives suffering the affect-effects of injuries, illness and grief, will also be honored.
During a previous visit to the city, Ambassador Roos toured the Hiroshima Peace Museum and left a note in the guestbook that read: "A visit to Hiroshima is a powerful reminder of the destructiveness of nuclear weapons, and underscores the importance of working together to seek the peace and security of a world without them."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon visited the Atomic Bomb Museum in Nagasaki on Thursday, a first by a U.N. chief. More than 70,000 people died when the U.S. bombed the southern Japanese city on Aug. 9, 1945. Six days later, Japan surrendered and World War II ended.
According to The Associated Press, Ban called for all nations to work together to create a world free from nuclear weapons. "The only way to ensure that such weapons will never again be used is to eliminate them all," he said. "There must be no place in our world for such indiscriminate weapons."
On Friday, U.S. Ambassador John Roos will join representatives from 75 countries at the Hiroshima event, but he is not expected to speak. World War II allies France and Britain will also send delegations to the ceremony for the first time.
The memorial event will feature a minute of silence and the release of 1,000 white doves, AFP reported. The thousands of Japanese who survived the attack, but spent the rest of their lives suffering the affect-effects of injuries, illness and grief, will also be honored.
During a previous visit to the city, Ambassador Roos toured the Hiroshima Peace Museum and left a note in the guestbook that read: "A visit to Hiroshima is a powerful reminder of the destructiveness of nuclear weapons, and underscores the importance of working together to seek the peace and security of a world without them."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon visited the Atomic Bomb Museum in Nagasaki on Thursday, a first by a U.N. chief. More than 70,000 people died when the U.S. bombed the southern Japanese city on Aug. 9, 1945. Six days later, Japan surrendered and World War II ended.
According to The Associated Press, Ban called for all nations to work together to create a world free from nuclear weapons. "The only way to ensure that such weapons will never again be used is to eliminate them all," he said. "There must be no place in our world for such indiscriminate weapons."
Inc. what they did to my great uncle who was a NZ POW under the Japanese...
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