December 23, 2004

Dear Friends,

In August of this year, 60 people gathered in front of the Enola Gay exhibit at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM) to expose and dramatize images of the destruction the Enola Gay caused to Hiroshima alongside the image of the plane as a celebration of technology. In an attempt to demonstrate the lethal purpose of the Enola Gay, I scattered ashes over the bodies of 9 friends who were lying down and over myself who joined them. For this act, I was promptly arrested and charged with Disorderly Conduct.

On December 6, I defended myself before a jury in Fairfax County explaining that our intention was not to cause disorder but to raise awareness about what nuclear weapons can do and have done. With the understanding that peace and lasting security do not come from WMD, our action hopes to foster a common will to beat our swords into ploughshares and our spears into pruning hooks. Exceeding the prosecution's recommendation of “a few days and a $100 fine” the jury sentenced me to two months in jail effective immediately and fined me $2000.

I consider my stay in here to be a monastic retreat for Advent, the season of hope. In a private cell, with simple clothing and food, abiding by a regimented schedule I'm at peace and feel blessed to be without the many distractions attached to this holy season. My 47 blockmates have brought the meaning of Christmas to heart as they are the poor, the immigrant, the illegitimate members of our society for whom this holiday exists. In this place of darkness, the light from their lives is warm and bright.

Our civil disobedience comes after the closure of a 1995 exhibit that recalled the horrors of August 6, 1945, the firing of that exhibits curator, and petitions signed by thousands of Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors, renowned historians, scientists, veterans, journalists, activists and clergy urging the Smithsonian to expand its exhibit to include a segment on nuclear war. At a time when our Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, has said that he has not ruled out the use of “mini-nukes” in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is of utmost importance that we use the site of the most famous historical evidence of nuclear bombs to inform the public and highlight the dangers of nuclear war.

Please write to General Dailey who is the head of NASM and to Gloria Fulwood who is the head of Education at NASM. (Addresses included below) Ask them lovingly, creatively, encouragingly to give further consideration to expanding the exhibit to include an educational segment on the destruction caused by the Enola Gay and the dangerous precedent that has been unleashed into the world and threatens our peace in these days. As the sole perpetrators of using nuclear weapons, the United States is cursed and burdened with the responsibility to exhibit the Enola Gay not as a glorified national monument but as a teaching tool crying out “Hiroshima Never Again”

May you taste and see the peace of justice during this season and into the coming year.

much love,
Brian Buckley

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