For much of the rest of the world, however, the commemoration evokes a complicated series of memories. Schedules and offer a collective silent prayer that the tragedy never be repeated.įor the residents of Nagasaki the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the dropping of an atomic bomb on the city is a simple, solemn occasion marked by Those too young to have witnessed the horror of the occasion will pause from their busy Mourn the loss of their friends and loved ones who perished that sultry August morning. Old enough to remember the death and destruction visited on the city fifty years ago by a single atomic bomb, will once again relate their tales of survival and wailing sirens will resonate throughout the Urakami Valley until their cries break up in the distance and precipitate a moment of silence on the part of the people of Nagasaki. RELECTIONS FROM ABOVE REFLECTIONS FROM ABOVE: AN AMERICAN PILOT'S PERSPECTIVE ON THE MISSION WHICH DROPPED THE ATOMIC BOMB ON NAGASAKI