More than 65 years ago plutonium produced at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation was used to create Fat Man, the atomic bomb used on Nagasaki. Today at 8:30pm many will get together for a memorial at John Dam Plaza in Richland Washington to mark the 65 anniversary of the bombing at Nagasaki, Japan. Those in attendance will be able to take part in music and prayer to remember the past with hope for the future. One of the highlights of the evening will be the ringing of the Bell of Peace that the mayor of Nagasaki gifted to Richland. The Bell of Peace is modeled after a church bell that was rung every day after the bombing to console the survivors. The ringing of the bell tonight will be in remembrance of the lives lost in both sides of the war, the Americans lost at Pearl Harbor and Japanese who died at Nagasaki.

Sixty-five years ago at 3:47am on August 9, 1945 a B-29 named Bock’s Car took off from Tinian. This B-29 was carrying Fat Man an Atomic Bomb intended for Kokura Arsenal where a massive collection of war industries were located adjacent to the city of Kokura. Few things went as planned, due to lack of access to the reserve fuel the pilot of the B-29 would not be able to make it to the final destination. A secondary destination was Nagasaki. At 11:02am Fat Man was dropped on Nagasaki, the yield of explosion was 40% greater than that of the Hiroshima Bomb (Little Boy). The bomb was dropped right in the middle of its intended targets, the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works to the south and the Mitsubishi-Urakami Torpedo Works to the North. It is unclear exactly how many died as a result of the bomb but it is estimated that nearly 40,000 people died initially and possibly 30,000 more died during the next few years.

Posted by Joe and Colleen Lane, your Richland Real Estate Agents. Call or email us today! 509.438.9344

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Thank you for sharing some of that history with us.

Posted by Tom on Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 at 7:08pm

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