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Ashland commemorates 80th anniversary of U.S. nuclear attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor Dr. Hideko Tamura Snider recounts the day of the bombing during a commemoration on Aug 6 2024. (Photo by Morgan Rothborne / Ashland.news )
Peace House will be holding its annual commemoration of the U.S. nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, on August 6, beginning with a ceremony in Lithia Park.
Joining the Exchange to discuss are Dr. Ira Helfand, past president of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and Michael Niemann, a board member of the Ashland Peace House and professor of International and African Studies.
Michael Niemann, a board member of the Ashland Peace House, visits the JPR studio on Aug 5, 2025. Niemann is pictured with Mike Green, host of the Jefferson Exchange.(JPR Senior Producer, Natalie Golay)ABOUT
Dr. Ira Helfand is a co-founder and past president of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), the Immediate Past President of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), which is a recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize and a member of the International Steering Group of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which received a Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.
Dr. Helfand is the author of the PSR/IPPNW report, “Nuclear Famine: Two Billion at Risk?” and has published on the dangers of nuclear war in the New England Journal of Medicine, the British Medical Journal and the World Medical Journal. He has lectured on the medical consequences of nuclear war around the world and spoken for IPPNW and ICAN at the UN General Assembly, the Oslo and Nayarit Conferences on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, before the US Senate Homeland Security Committee. and at the French Senate, the Turkish Parliament and the Israeli Knesset.
Michael Niemann is a member of the Board of Peace House in Ashland and retired professor of International and African Studies, a novelist and woodworking hobbyist. He's been involved in the anti-nuclear movement and supported the annual Hiroshima/Nagasaki observances since moving to Ashland in 2008.
PEACE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE
On August 6th, residents of the Rogue Valley will have an opportunity to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the August 6, 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The deployment of the Little Boy bomb, in addition to the August 9 nuclear targeting of the City of Nagasaki, killed upwards of 200,000 people. These two events marked the only time that nuclear weapons have been used in combat and the beginning of a legacy of nuclear threats that continue today.
The August 6th observance, “Hiroshima & Nagasaki: Remembering So We Won’t Repeat,” will take place at 8:00 a.m. at the entrance to Lithia Park, with an invocation by Rev. Janna Meyers, reflections by Brother Daniel Currie Green, and shared insights by Dr. Michael Niemann, Peace House fellow Meg Wade, and Mayor Tonya Graham. Seating is provided.
The observance includes a special water ceremony to honor those who have died. Attendees will be invited to step forward and pour water over stones, an act that remembers that many of the victims of the bombings called out for water in their final moments.
Additional events during the week of observance include:
August 8 dinner and dance to raise funds for anti-war activities at Peace House, featuring dance band Blue Lightning and the Cajun-Creole cooking of Chef Curtis Leon Paul, co-owner of the Agora Artisan Eatery in Grants Pass.
The dance is 6 to 9 p.m. at the Bellview Grange, 1050 Tolman Creek Rd., Ashland. Tickets are available via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/no-nukes-dance-for-peace-tickets-1493451055309
On August 9 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. a film screening of Ilana Sol’s “On Paper Wings” will take place at Calvin Hall at the First Presbyterian Church of Ashland, 1615 Clark Ave. The film documents the story of four Japanese women who worked on balloon bombs, the families of those killed in the U.S., and the man whose actions brought them all together forty years after WWII, and the balloon bomb project. A trailer of the film is available at onpaperwingsthemovie.com. The screening is free and open to all.
The events are organized by Peace House, One Sunny Day Initiatives, South Mountain Friends Meeting, Southern Oregon Pachamama Alliance, and Southern Oregon Peace Vets, and co-sponsored by Ashland First United Methodist Church, Ashland United Church of Christ, First Presbyterian Church of Ashland, Medford United Church of Christ, Rogue Valley Peace Choir, Social Justice & Action Team of Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Southern Oregon Japanese Association, Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church of Medford, and Trinity Episcopal Church of Ashland.
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By Mike GreenHiroshima atomic bomb survivor Dr. Hideko Tamura Snider recounts the day of the bombing during a commemoration on Aug 6 2024. (Photo by Morgan Rothborne / Ashland.news )
Peace House will be holding its annual commemoration of the U.S. nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, on August 6, beginning with a ceremony in Lithia Park.
Joining the Exchange to discuss are Dr. Ira Helfand, past president of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and Michael Niemann, a board member of the Ashland Peace House and professor of International and African Studies.
Michael Niemann, a board member of the Ashland Peace House, visits the JPR studio on Aug 5, 2025. Niemann is pictured with Mike Green, host of the Jefferson Exchange.(JPR Senior Producer, Natalie Golay)ABOUT
Dr. Ira Helfand is a co-founder and past president of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), the Immediate Past President of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), which is a recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize and a member of the International Steering Group of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which received a Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.
Dr. Helfand is the author of the PSR/IPPNW report, “Nuclear Famine: Two Billion at Risk?” and has published on the dangers of nuclear war in the New England Journal of Medicine, the British Medical Journal and the World Medical Journal. He has lectured on the medical consequences of nuclear war around the world and spoken for IPPNW and ICAN at the UN General Assembly, the Oslo and Nayarit Conferences on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, before the US Senate Homeland Security Committee. and at the French Senate, the Turkish Parliament and the Israeli Knesset.
Michael Niemann is a member of the Board of Peace House in Ashland and retired professor of International and African Studies, a novelist and woodworking hobbyist. He's been involved in the anti-nuclear movement and supported the annual Hiroshima/Nagasaki observances since moving to Ashland in 2008.
PEACE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE
On August 6th, residents of the Rogue Valley will have an opportunity to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the August 6, 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The deployment of the Little Boy bomb, in addition to the August 9 nuclear targeting of the City of Nagasaki, killed upwards of 200,000 people. These two events marked the only time that nuclear weapons have been used in combat and the beginning of a legacy of nuclear threats that continue today.
The August 6th observance, “Hiroshima & Nagasaki: Remembering So We Won’t Repeat,” will take place at 8:00 a.m. at the entrance to Lithia Park, with an invocation by Rev. Janna Meyers, reflections by Brother Daniel Currie Green, and shared insights by Dr. Michael Niemann, Peace House fellow Meg Wade, and Mayor Tonya Graham. Seating is provided.
The observance includes a special water ceremony to honor those who have died. Attendees will be invited to step forward and pour water over stones, an act that remembers that many of the victims of the bombings called out for water in their final moments.
Additional events during the week of observance include:
August 8 dinner and dance to raise funds for anti-war activities at Peace House, featuring dance band Blue Lightning and the Cajun-Creole cooking of Chef Curtis Leon Paul, co-owner of the Agora Artisan Eatery in Grants Pass.
The dance is 6 to 9 p.m. at the Bellview Grange, 1050 Tolman Creek Rd., Ashland. Tickets are available via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/no-nukes-dance-for-peace-tickets-1493451055309
On August 9 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. a film screening of Ilana Sol’s “On Paper Wings” will take place at Calvin Hall at the First Presbyterian Church of Ashland, 1615 Clark Ave. The film documents the story of four Japanese women who worked on balloon bombs, the families of those killed in the U.S., and the man whose actions brought them all together forty years after WWII, and the balloon bomb project. A trailer of the film is available at onpaperwingsthemovie.com. The screening is free and open to all.
The events are organized by Peace House, One Sunny Day Initiatives, South Mountain Friends Meeting, Southern Oregon Pachamama Alliance, and Southern Oregon Peace Vets, and co-sponsored by Ashland First United Methodist Church, Ashland United Church of Christ, First Presbyterian Church of Ashland, Medford United Church of Christ, Rogue Valley Peace Choir, Social Justice & Action Team of Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Southern Oregon Japanese Association, Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church of Medford, and Trinity Episcopal Church of Ashland.