NPS - National Park Service

08/03/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/04/2021 15:03

Manhattan Project National Historical Park at Los Alamos Hosting Moment of Silence in Observance of Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Date:
August 3, 2021
Contact:Kris Kirby, (720) 512-7700

The National Park Service at Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Los Alamos, New Mexico will be hosting a moment of silence to observe 76 years since the atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the waning days of World War II. The park will host two separate events, one on August 6, in observance of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and one on August 9, in observance of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. The event will take place at the at the Ashley Pond Park Pavilion, located at 2200 Trinity Drive in Los Alamos, NM at the following times:

Friday, August 6, 2021: 9:15 a.m. mountain daylight time

Monday, August 9, 2021: 11:00 a.m. mountain daylight time

The uranium fueled atomic bomb 'Little Boy' was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, at 8:16 a.m. local time in Japan, resulting in the death of tens of thousands of people. It is one of only two times an atomic weapon was intentionally used on a human population. The second being when the plutonium fueled 'Fat Man' was dropped over Nagasaki, Japan, on Aug. 9, 1945, at 11:02 a.m. local time in Japan, also killing tens of thousands. World War II came to an end less than a week later with the surrender of Japan on Aug. 15, 1945. The surrender became official on Sept. 2, 1945, 6 years and 1 day after World War II began when Germany invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939.

Formally established in November 2015 via a Memorandum of Agreement between the Department of Energy and the National Park Service to preserve portions of three World War II sites where the United States developed the first atomic weapons, the park marks the history of the people, science, events, and controversy associated with the creation of the atomic bomb in the top-secret effort known as the Manhattan Project. Under the agreement, the NPS and DOE jointly manage and administer the park.