National Day of Action on August 6: Why We Will Gather to Stop Nuclear Weapons

National Day of Action on August 6: Why We Will Gather to Stop Nuclear Weapons at Livermore Lab and Other U.S. Nuclear Bomb Sites

By Tara Dorabji

From Tri-Valley CAREs' June 2005 newsletter, Citizen's Watch

"On August 6, 1945, I heard a tremendous blast. My hands, head, shirt and trousers were covered in blood," Keijiro Matsushima explained recently when he visited the nuclear center in Livermore. Mr. Matsushima described the people he saw in the streets of Hiroshima after the U.S. dropped the atom bomb: "I couldn't tell if they were crying because their faces were burnt, swollen, and disfigured so badly. Their hair was singed and skin was actually hanging and peeling off."

We must never forget the devastation wrought by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On this, the 60th anniversary of the use of nuclear weapons, there will be a major rally and march at the Livermore nuclear weapons Lab.

The Livermore Lab acts as the "brains" of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. Located in the eastern corner of the Bay Area, Livermore is where new nuclear weapons are created. The Bush Administration selected Livermore Lab as the sole site to complete development of the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, a new "bunker-busting" bomb. Livermore Lab is also where a new nuclear weapon design mega-laser, the National Ignition Facility, is under construction. Its stated purpose? To train the next generation of nuclear bomb designers.

We invite you to join with us in Livermore this August to stop the bomb where it starts.

On August 6th, the day the bomb was dropped on the people of Hiroshima, we will protest the government's plan to double the plutonium at Livermore Lab. The Dept. of Energy envisions keeping more than 3,000 pounds of plutonium at Livermore, enough for 300 nuclear bombs.

We will gather to demand an end to nuclear weapons development at Livermore Lab - and we will plant the seeds of a more peaceful future for the next generation.

The "Seeds of Change: No Nukes! No Wars!" rally and march will take place from 5 - 7 PM on Saturday, August 6th at William Payne Park, located on Vasco Road just north of Livermore Lab.

Join us to resist the further development of nuclear weapons of mass destruction at Livermore Lab. We will also celebrate our deepest aspirations for a nuclear weapons-free world with music by Clan Dyken, Utah Phillips, Dave Lippman - and much more! During the rally there will be children's activities including painting and origami. You are invited to bring a picnic dinner to share with friends and family.

The rally will culminate in a half-mile march to the Livermore Lab. At the gates of the nuclear weapons site, we will join with members of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship who will conduct a special commemorative meditation. There will also be a closing ceremony at the gates and an opportunity for participants to "plant" seeds of change and sunflowers of hope along the fence line at Livermore Lab.

People from all over the country are invited to symbolically participate in the Livermore rally by mailing in paper sunflowers. For paper cutouts and information on where to send sunflowers, visit http://www.wagingpeace.org/sunflower.

The rally in Livermore is part of a national day of actions, which will include August 6th rallies at the Nevada Test Site, the Y-12 Production Plant at Oak Ridge, Tennessee and the Los Alamos Lab in New Mexico.

There will also be a nonviolent direct action at the gates of Livermore Lab on Tuesday, August 9th at 8 AM (the day the plutonium bomb was dropped on Nagasaki).

For more info, and to volunteer to help on either August 6th or 9th, contact Tri-Valley CAREs at (925) 443-7148.