March 1 marks 71 years since the U.S. used its biggest ever nuclear weapon—on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The bomb was 15 megatons, 1,000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Between 1946 and 1958 the U.S. detonated 67 nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands. The blasts vaporized whole islands, carved craters into the shallow lagoons, and exiled hundreds of people from their homes. The Castle Bravo blast was the largest of all, sending particulate and gaseous fallout around the entire planet. We published this article on the 70th anniversary last year in LA Progressive.
What was once called Castle Bravo Day is now called Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day – a day to remember the many people who have suffered untold pain, sickness, death and environmental damage resulting from the entire nuclear cycle. From uranium mining on Indigenous lands, to poisonous fallout from nuclear testing, to actually being bombed with nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons are bad news for all concerned.
Even more concerning is the nuclear “Sword of Damocles” that hangs over all life on Earth, and which haunts our collective conscience. Will we be the nuclear victims of the future? What about our children and grandchildren?
Notable now are the Trump administration’s tentative initiatives to end the bloody war in Ukraine and establish peaceful relations with Russia. Any moves in this direction bring a sigh of relief. We can hope that one of the major threats of nuclear war is being reduced. President Trump even spoke about cutting the military budget by 50%, in tandem with the other superpowers, Russia and China. Trump said we could stop building new nuclear weapons! Peace-loving people cannot count on Trump’s words. We certainly do second that emotion, however. We should take this opportunity to encourage the U.S. government to take steps toward the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Fortunately, we have more than just hope. Many people around the globe are actively supporting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). According to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), 94 countries have signed on to the Treaty, and 73 nations have ratified it, meaning that half the world’s states are now on board.
The 3rd Meeting of the States Parties – all the countries that have signed the TPNW will be meeting March 3-7 at the United Nations in New York City. Among the many activities, the national coalition Warheads to Windmills is organizing several “hybrid” events (in person and online) on Wednesday, March 5, and Friday, March 7.
Veterans For Peace will host an online event this Thursday, March 6. K.J. Noh, Norman Solomon and Ann Wright will speak about Arming Armageddon: How US Militarism to Could Lead to Nuclear War.
The Golden Rule anti-nuclear sailboat is busy the weekend of March 1-2, with events in Humboldt Bay on the northern California coast, the homeport of the storied 34-ft. wooden ketch whose crew of Quaker peace activists attempted to stop U.S. weapons testing in the Marshall Islands in 1958. A Saturday morning Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day event in Eureka will be followed by a Sunday afternoon Golden Rule Film Festival in Arcata.
There’s no better way to remember the nuclear victims than to work to prevent more nuclear victims in the future. We must continue to educate ourselves and our communities about the looming danger of nuclear war. We must push for the abolition of nuclear weapons as a means of conducting war – and for the abolition of war as a means of conducting foreign policy.
The People Want Peace.