The atomic bombing in Japan on Aug. 6, 1945, was horrific. It will be remembered in silence except for the ringing of the International Friendship Bellat A.K. Bissel Park in Oak Ridge at a ceremony at dawn on the anniversary date of the bombing of Hiroshima.
Dawn will be at 6:48 a.m. this year on Aug. 6, so that’s when a ranger-led group will start ringing the bell at the park, 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The bell will be rung 81 times and then the ceremony will end in silence. No speeches are scheduled.
The day of peace and remembrance is sponsored by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, established to recognize the role of facilities in Oak Ridge where enriching uranium for use in the world’s first atomic bombs was done, and facilities in Los
Alamos, New Mexico, and Hanford, Washington.
The National Park Service has a timeline for the bombing of Hiroshima that helped lead to the end of World War II. The B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay and a crew of 12 lifted off with the uranium bomb, Little Boy, aboard from Titian, an island in the Northern Mariana Islands. From the time the plane left until Little Boy was released, it took nearly 6½ hours. The target was Hiroshima’s Aioi Bridge. The bomb was released at 8:16:02 a.m. with detonation in 43 seconds and nuclear fissions beginning in 0.15 microseconds.
A fireball reached 900 feet in diameter and a mushroom cloud formed. Eight thousand people were instantly killed or grievously wounded. Over 100,000 more would die in the coming months. Another atomic bomb was dropped in Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, forcing Japan to surrender to the United States and ending the war.
Accompanying this column is a drawing done by a friend in San Francisco in 1950. Jack Dairiki, now 95 and born in Sacramento, California, was visiting an ailing grandfather about 10 miles from Hiroshima when he and his father became unable to return to the United States as tensions mounted between the two countries. He was conscripted to work at a Tokyo factory and was there when he saw the bomber and two other planes fly over Hiroshima. In a 2019 Knox News column, he told me about seeing the mushroom-shaped cloud and running with other factory workers for shelter. “I never saw anything like it,” he said.
Dairiki did the drawing when he was a student in architecture at the University of California at Berkeley. It is in a prominent spot in his home in San Francisco.
The International Friendship Bell in Oak Ridge was cast in Koto, Japan, in 1993. It is considered a symbol of peace and unity between the United States and Japan. The bronze bell has several panels, including engravings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
∎ VISITING FROM THE ALPS: Former Knox County Commissioner John Schmid, who was among a dozen elected officials ousted in a term-limits controversy in 2007, says the Republican Party he was identified with “has gone off the rails.”
“Republicans have put self-interest ahead of public service,” he said while having coffee with this columnist on July 15 at Mahalo Coffee Roasters downtown.
As the conversation started, Schmid was discussing more of what he saw happening in politics locally and in Tennessee, but it evolved into a broader context. He said Switzerland, where he now lives, is a conservative country politically, like Republicans used to be. But now Republicans “distance themselves from real problems. Democrats are picking their extremes,” he said.
Schmid, 58, teaches U.S. history and Advanced Placement economics at The American School in Switzerland, just like he did at Webb School of Knoxville for 18 years. TASIS is a day and boarding school designed to be culturally enriching. The school is in Lugano, near the Italian border, in the Canton of Ticino with the locals speaking mostly Italian, Schmid said. He’s going back there Aug. 3.
While on his visit, he joined others for an early 90th birthday celebration for his mother, Carol Schmid. (Her birthday is in October.) His father, Rob Schmid, who had an insurance business, died in 2009. His brother, R. Culver Schmid, is a well-known attorney.
Schmid had represented the 4th District on County Commission for two terms along with Phil Guthe when the Tennessee State Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that a term-limits provision should be enforced despite deficiencies identified in the Knox County Charter. Four countywide elected officials, including the sheriff, and eight commissioners left office.
But the way their replacements were selected by County Commission, with small group meetings and backroom discussions, led to a judge’s ruling that nullified the appointments. The day became known as “Black Wednesday” in Knox County. A citizen initiative ultimately reduced the size of Knox County Commission from 19 to 11 members, with each district now having one representative instead of two or more.
Schmid has a work permit and intends to retire eventually to the mountains – in the Cashiers area of North Carolina. He said he plans to have a house there and an apartment in Knoxville to stay in when he visits family and friends.
Here's a feature a student at TASIS wrote about Schmid that is posted on the school’s website: https://www.tasis.ch/about/blog/blog-article/~board/blog/post/faculty-feature-mr-john-schmid.
∎ WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE FUNDRAISER: Guests are encouraged to wear white at the annual Febb Burn Banquet,on Aug. 18 at the Bridgewater Event Center, 205 Bridgewater Road.
“White became the defining color of the American suffrage movement, symbolizing hope, dignity, and the unwavering determination of women demanding equal rights,” the latest invitation says.
The event is sponsored by the Suffrage Coalition Inc. and Women’s Suffrage Museum – Events & Cultural Center. The center has acquired property at 706 S. Gay St. and is raising money to acquire the adjoining building at 708 S. Gay.
Tony Award-winning “Suffs” producer Rachel Sussman will be the keynote speaker. Her Broadway lead producer credits include the Drama Desk Award–winning play "Liberation" and the Tony and Outer Critics Circle Award–winning musical "Suffs," as well as Alex Edelman’s "Just for Us,” a special Tony and Emmy Award winner. Her Broadway co-producing credits include "Parade," "What the Constitution Means to Me" and "Prima Facie."
Robin Wilhoit, WBIR-TV anchor, will be MC. The event runs from 5-9 p.m.
Tickets range from $150 to $3,000. For more information, go to WomensSuffrageMuseum.org.
Tennessee’s vote to ratify the 19th Amendment supporting women’s suffrage was on Aug. 18, 1920, when Harry T. Burn of Niota voted for it after his mother, Phoebe "Febb" Ensminger Burn, told him in a letter to “be a good boy” and support it. His vote tipped the balance in favor, with the amendment adopted by the necessary states to be ratified.
Georgiana Vines is retired News Sentinel associate editor. She may be reached at gvpolitics@hotmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Friendship Bell to ring on Hiroshima anniversary | Georgiana Vines
