USA: ENOLA GAY EXHIBIT SCRAPPED
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ค. 2015
- (30 Jan 1995) English/Nat
The Smithsonian museum in Washington has scrapped plans for a controversial exhibit featuring the American bomber that dropped the atom bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
American veterans had complained that the planned exhibit was biased, portraying the U-S as the aggressor in the Pacific war.
Now a smaller and less divisive display will go on show at the museum.
Workers have already begun construction on the Enola Gay exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum.
But disagreement over how the Enola Gay should be portrayed for its role in World War Two and in the nuclear age is prompting a complete overhaul of the project at America's premiere aviation museum.
Months of debate among peace groups, war veterans and members of Congress led to today's decision to completely redesign the exhibit.
Officials say they'll downgrade the Enola Gay project from an exhibit to a display - devoid of any commentary about the impact or long-term effects of the A-bomb mission on Japan.
SOUNDBITE: "The was in fact a fundamental flaw in the concept of the exhibition. In retrospect I now feel strongly that despite our sincere efforts to address everyone's concerns we were bound to fail."
SUPER CAPTION: Michael Heyman, Director - Smithsonian Institution.
Heyman says outcry from American war veterans was the major force influencing the move to change the exhibit.
SOUNDBITE: "In this important anniversary year, veterans and their families were expecting and, and rightly so, that the nation would honor and commemorate their valor and sacrifice. They were not looking for analysis, and frankly we did not give enough thought to the intense feelings such analysis would evoke." (Heyman)
Officials say the smaller display will likely include part of the plane and a video about the mission - similar to this one already used by the museum.
But it will leave out artifacts from the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki where the bombs were dropped during two atom bomb missions.
And there will be no mention of Japanese reaction to the bomb, an issue which has drawn criticism from anti-nuclear groups in America and protests from the Japanese government.
U-S veterans say analysis of the impact of dropping the bomb would have overshadowed the real purpose of the Enola Gay exhibit.
SOUNDBITE: "What we have always said and always maintain....that is....we had no objection if there was to be discussion in another forum...of the pros and cons of the decision. We opposed the wrapping of this political issue around the Enola Gay in that exhibit...and that continues to be our position."
SUPER CAPTION: William Detweiler, The American Legion
Officials at the Smithsonian say they may push back the May target date for the display opening, in the hope that any lingering controversy over the Enola Gay will die down.
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What were the dates on these press conferences?
War is ugly, should be avoided, at times some people ask for it
Kulasiri Siri shut the fuck up liberal
Southern Railway you like war. Stupid fucksit
Today there's controversy over the Latino exhibit and planned museum. I thought I'd revisit the Enola Gay controversy. This week I re-read a passage in Carl Sagan's _The Demon-Haunted World_ quoting Cicero:
"The first law is that the historian shall never dare to set down what is false; the second, that he shall never dare to conceal the truth; the third, that there shall be no suspicion in his work of either favoritism or prejudice."
What an epic plane!
Caved.
We will never forget using weapon of mass destruction
Caved to the snowflake generation. The bombing while tragic was done to end the war which saved more lives than were lost. If we continue to try to erase difficult things from our history we are doomed to repeat our failures.
Agreed. The snowflakes like Bob Dole and Rush Limbaugh could not even handle the thought that the US is not the pious and holy land they see it as, and whined and complained until people lost jobs. It's a shame they scrapped something that would have REALLY educated the public on the unnecessary horrors of the atomic bombs, and instead needed to present a completely sanitized view because cowards can't face the true despair we as a nation have caused. Sad!
@@Seamus_2 Poetically put
Wrong. This exhibit downtown was scrapped because it was a PC presentation that presented the crew and the US in a bad light. The USAF, who retains ownership of the plane, finally stated if the Enola Gay was not presented with respect for the mission and crew the Air Force would repossess it and display it at the USAF Museum at Wright Patterson AFB. This and veteran backlash forced the Smithsonian to display it properly at Udver-Hazy Annex at Dulles