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First atomic blast hits 60th anniversary
MSNBC.com ^ | 7-15-05

Posted on 07/15/2005 3:31:24 PM PDT by Jefferson2000

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Herb Lehr hasn’t been to Trinity Site since the day a mushroom cloud filled the early morning sky in the New Mexico desert.

Standing 12 miles from the blast, he looked toward the Oscura Mountains and watched as scientists detonated the first atomic bomb 60 years ago Saturday, ushering in the nuclear age.

“All of a sudden this very bright light came out and where I was, it was intense enough that the whole mountain range itself was completely whited out,” he said. “I could see the ball and fire rising up. It was sort of awe-inspiring.”

This Saturday, Lehr will guide a tour bus from the National Atomic Museum in Albuquerque to the Trinity Site, on what is now the Army’s restricted White Sands Missile Range.

More than 5,000 people visited the site for the 50th anniversary, and officials said they are prepared for an increase for the 60th. But just like the 50th anniversary, no special events or speeches are planned.

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; US: New Mexico
KEYWORDS: 1945; anniversary; atomicbomb; trinitytest; whitesands; ww2

1 posted on 07/15/2005 3:31:25 PM PDT by Jefferson2000
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To: Jefferson2000

WSMR ping


2 posted on 07/15/2005 3:35:44 PM PDT by Rakkasan1 (If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your thing.)
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To: Jefferson2000

Behold, I am become Vishnu, destroyer of worlds! BUMP.


3 posted on 07/15/2005 3:37:08 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: tet68

The 60th aniversery of the end of WW2 is next month.


4 posted on 07/15/2005 3:43:16 PM PDT by Jefferson2000
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To: Jefferson2000
And now,the rest of the story;

V-J celebrations in Iowa, "Three military policemen on a downtown corner were kept busy accepting kisses." (Des Moines, Iowa, August 14, 1945)(click to listen)

5 posted on 07/15/2005 3:43:53 PM PDT by mdittmar (May God watch over those who serve,and have served, to keep us free.)
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To: Jefferson2000

Wwhat - are you saying the events are somehow linked?


6 posted on 07/15/2005 3:45:11 PM PDT by geopyg ("It's not that liberals don't know much, it's just that what they know just ain't so." (~ R. Reagan))
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To: geopyg

>>Wwhat - are you saying the events are somehow linked?<<


Conduct a poll, asking what year WW2 ended, and see how many people can answer.


7 posted on 07/15/2005 3:48:32 PM PDT by Jefferson2000
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To: Jefferson2000

“I could see the ball and fire rising up. It was sort of awe-inspiring.”

Classic understatement from the greatest gen.


8 posted on 07/15/2005 4:12:25 PM PDT by agooga (Rise up against the black robed masters.)
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To: Jefferson2000

" The 60th aniversery of the end of WW2 is next month."

60 years later and Japanese kids are stil being taught in schools that Japan was , more or less the " victim " ...Every year , just before summer vacation ( which starts next week ) the kids are marched down to the local hall and are shown a " peace " themed movie . Inevitably , the US is shown as the aggressor , and also iniveitably the movies end with the explosion of the bomb at Hiroshima . Yesterday's animated movie focused on the firebombing of Tokyo by B-29s , and the story of a little and her family who suffered through that harrowing time . I had to walk out ... You wonder why the Chinese and Koreans bitch about the whitewashing of Japanese wartime atrocities ?


9 posted on 07/15/2005 4:33:06 PM PDT by sushiman
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To: Jefferson2000
Wish I could be there for the tour..
10 posted on 07/15/2005 4:43:30 PM PDT by USMC79to83
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To: Jefferson2000

Both Germany and Japan were also working on the A-bomb. It is likely that Russia was, too.


11 posted on 07/15/2005 4:47:22 PM PDT by RightWhale (Substance is essentially the relationship of accidents to itself)
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To: geopyg

Love the Reagan quote.


12 posted on 07/15/2005 5:11:32 PM PDT by marblehead17 (I love it when a plan comes together.)
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To: Jefferson2000

I was there back in April. There's a fence surrounding the original crater, and a larger one around the area that's still radioactive (the blast zone). The area's HUGE, and that was a LITTLE one! It fairly gives one to think, it does.


13 posted on 07/15/2005 7:53:05 PM PDT by Mountain Troll
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To: Mountain Troll

To be fair, the area isn't *that* radioactive, especially compared to the normal background at that altitude (4000 ft.). Did they have someone with a Geiger counter outside the crater when you were there?


14 posted on 07/15/2005 9:24:16 PM PDT by MikeD (How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?)
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