One sees front pages of many newspapers reporting to the world that Hiroshima had been bombed, that the atomic age was upon us. One does not learn that fallout fell in black rain from the sky after the blast, or that the heat under the blast was about the same as the surface of the sun, up to 7,200 degrees Fahrenheit. One learns that the "Little Boy" atomic bomb, represented in a JTC copy bomb built shortly after the war, weighed 8,900 pounds and was 10-feet, 6 inches long and packed the power of 12 to 20,000 tons of TNT. One does not learn that atrocities by Japanese troops "included biological experiments on, and the brutal mistreatment and execution of, civilians, forced laborers, and prisoners of war," as the canceled script said. One learns that turbosuperchargers were used in the B-29 engine to compress air for high altitude flying. One does not see any discussion of the casualties the Allies anticipated as they prepared to invade Japan's home islands, an invasion the bombs made unnecessary. One learns that the range of the B-29 is 1,500 miles, far better than the B-17's 550 miles. A plaque in the show says the bomb caused "tens of thousands" of casualties. One does not learn that about 200,000 people died #F immediately or within three months of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as the fifth and final version of the old script said.
When he finished his remarks, television crews were ushered into the exhibit, from which one learns that the Wright Cyclone model R-3350-57 engine puts out 2,200 horsepower at 2,800 rpm. Heyman, is all well and good for books, scholarly articles and symposiums, but not for museum displays. He said he has merely postponed the planning, which has been going on for two years. He denied that he has canceled an exhibit on air power in the Vietnam War. When asked if the show would have taken its current form if veterans organizations and their allies in Congress had not pressured the Smithsonian, Mr. No, the miscalculation was not political, he said. "I have concluded that we made a basic error in attempting to couple a historical treatment of the use of the atomic weapons with the 50th anniversary commemoration of the end of the war," Mr. Heyman, who repeated a statement that is written on the wall leading into the exhibit, part of the remarks he made in January when he canceled the more elaborate exhibit. Several hundred reporters and photographers previewed the show yesterday. Last week, a man tossed a small bottle of red paint onto the floor of the exhibit entryway and ran off. Harwit resigned in early May, five months after the Smithsonian announced plans to cancel the old plans and substitute a smaller show.Ī number of security guards stood watch inside at the exhibit entrance yesterday, including two National Park Police in SWAT attire. Johnson, who was appointed to the Smithsonian Board of Regents this year, says he never actually read the last version of the script, which comprised about 500 pages. It's in good taste and it's American all the way." Samuel Johnson, the Texas Republican who had joined 80 other members of Congress in calling for the resignation of former museum director Martin O. So did representatives of the American Legion. Members of the Air Force Association saw the show last week and liked it. The Historians' Committee for an Open Debate on Hiroshima has called for a national "teach-in" on the subject and has condemned the Smithsonian's treatment of the subject as "historical cleansing." "To display the Enola Gay without context and without the considerable historical information and interpretation that is available, is to glorify and legitimate the use of nuclear weapons," said Jo Becker of the Fellowship. The Fellowship of Reconciliation, a confederation of peace organizations, was reduced to staging a press conference in the rain out front of the museum yesterday, announcing plans for a few days of leafleting and protest. But they apparently have little clout in Congress these days. Now peace groups and some historians' organizations are upset.
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The exhibit is not 100 percent free of controversy, however. And, I must say that this form and format - this objectivity, demonstrates the merits and the positive influences of management." "There is no attempt to persuade anyone about anything. "I firmly believe that you have gotten to the basic facts," writes Mr.
Michael Heyman on June 21 complimenting him on a "first rate" exhibit. Tibbets, who saw the show a couple of weeks ago, wrote to Smithsonian Secretary I.