Mon, Nov 03, 2003
Anti-Nukes Want Display Revised...Again
"You wouldn't display a slave ship solely as a model of
technological advancement," says David Nasaw, a cultural historian
at CUNY Graduate Center. "It would be offensive not to put it in
context."
That's how protestors to the Enola Gay exhibit at the
Smithsonian see it, anyway. For that reason, more than 100 people
have signed a petition demanding changes to the B-29 exhibit in
Washington.
The New York Times reports the exhibit touts the
Enola Gay as "the largest and most technologically
advanced airplane for its time," without noting that the particular
aircraft on display is the one that dropped the first atomic bomb
on Hiroshima in 1945.
The aircraft piloted by Col. Paul Tibbets on the world's first
nuclear strike is being shown at the Steven Udvar-Hazy Center near
Dulles International Airport (VA). The placard in front of the
display shows the B-29's dimensions, information on the aircraft's
original purpose (to bomb Axis targets in Europe) and wording that
the B-29 finally found its place in the war in the Pacific, not
European theater. It doesn't say anything about the August 6th
mission over Japan.
It's not the first time the Smithsonian has been beset by
complaints over the B-29. In 1994, war veterans criticized the
content of material presented along with the Enola Gay,
saying it could be seen as American aggression instead of an effort
to avoid the invasion of Japan.
Eventually, the Enola Gay, named for Tibbet's mother,
was part of a smaller exhibit that went on display in 1995.
This time, petitioners say it's not a very good idea to tout the
Enola Gay as the United States flexes its military muscle
in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. The Smithsonian says there
won't be any official comment on the petition until after it's
presented.
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