Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 26, 1995 TAG: 9501260134
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Dallas Morning News
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
The National Air and Space Museum in Washington had planned an elaborate display that would have used the front 54 feet of the Enola Gay B-29 bomber as the backdrop for re-examining the 1945 bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Instead, the controversial elements of the presentation are expected to be dropped, according to people familiar with the exhibit and with the negotiations over the changes.
Veterans' groups and congressional leaders have contended that the proposed exhibit unfairly presented the Japanese as hapless victims of U.S. aggression and racism during World War II.
The exhibit planned to raise questions of racism in the use of the bomb and would have devoted most of its floor space to post-blast suffering in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The crew of the Enola Gay bombed Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945; another B-29 attacked Nagasaki three days later.
New plans, which will be announced Monday after a meeting of the Smithsonian's board of regents, probably will do away with most of the controversial photographs and video footage, the sources said.
``The idea will be to treat the Enola Gay like the Wright Flyer or the Spirit of St. Louis or any other famous plane in the museum,'' said one source. ``It would have a plaque identifying the plane and its significance in aviation and probably some video footage.''
Smithsonian officials declined to confirm the changes in the exhibit.
by CNB