
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, July 3, 1995                   TAG: 9507030104
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Short

BLOOD, ASHES POURED ON ENOLA GAY

Three people were arrested Sunday at the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum after pouring human blood and ashes on the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan.

The midafternoon incident briefly closed a controversial exhibit of the B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb Aug. 6, 1945, on Hiroshima. A Park Police spokesman, who wouldn't give his name, said that charges had not been placed and the identities of those detained not confirmed.

Twenty activists were arrested when the exhibit opened Wednesday after they unfurled banners and dropped anti-bomb pamphlets from a balcony onto visitors.

The exhibit had caused controversy even before its opening. U.S. veterans' groups had complained the original plan focused too much on the damage and deaths caused by the bomb. Anti-bomb groups claimed the exhibit had been too forgiving of the U.S. role.

A scaled-back display concentrates on the aircraft and crew.

by CNB