"Days of Peace and Remembrance": Oak Ridge ceremony set for sunrise Sunday at bell
The Manhattan Project National Historical Park, in partnership with Pearl Harbor National Memorial, will host "Days of Peace and Remembrance" across its three sites - which includes Oak Ridge - and at Pearl Harbor to commemorate and reflect on the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Japan in 1945.
On Sunday, the park will host a sunrise ceremony at 6:48 a.m. to commemorate the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. The event will take place at the International Friendship Bell in A.K. Bissell Park and will feature music from an Oak Ridge Civic Music Association quartet, according to a news release.
"The ceremony will allow for somber, quiet reflection and the public is invited to ring the bell for any reason that speaks to them," the release stated. One hour before dawn park rangers will light luminarias that have been decorated with messages of peace by community members. The luminarias will remain lighted throughout the event.
The park will have a booth at the Oak Ridge Farmers’ Market, 281 Broadway Ave., from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday for children and adults to draw or write their Messages of Peace on the luminarias, according to the park website. Luminarias are also available at the park’s visitor center within the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, 461 West Outer Drive, now through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For those who are unable to attend Sunday's event in person a virtual bell ringing will be availableon the park’s event webpage from 6 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6 through 11:59 p.m. PDT on Aug. 9.
"This commemorative programming acknowledges and interprets the conflicting viewpoints, both historicaland modern, that surround the development and use of the world’s first atomic weapons. These eventsprovide an opportunity to reflect on the historical and emotional traumas of the atomicbombings," the release stated.
Messages of Peace programs will be held at each of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park sites over the next two weeks. The park includes Oak Ridge, Hanford, Washington and Los Alamos, New Mexico.
On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. Army Air Force dropped the uranium-fueled "Little Boy" atomic bomb overHiroshima in the first of only two nuclear bombings of a population in history. The Manhattan Projectfacility at Oak Ridge produced the uranium used in the "Little Boy" bomb.
This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Local event set for International Friendship Bell at 6:48 a.m. Sunday
