THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 8, 1994 TAG: 9412060023
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A22 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 28 lines
The planned postage-stamp commemorating the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (news, Dec. 1) is outrageous. The stamp's caption, ``Atomic bombs hasten war's end, August 1945,'' fails to mention that it hastened the end of more than 200,000 lives, most of them civilian. Many more suffered the horrible effects of atomic radiation for years to come.
While the bombing may have been a kind of trade-off of Japanese lives for American lives, the caption tries to put a positive spin on grim reality. The caption serves only to hide the horror of an event that should never be forgotten.
At a time when the world is searching for ways to ensure that these weapons of mass destruction never again be used, placing the mushroom cloud on a postage stamp is in very poor taste.
SAMMY C. ADKINS
JEFF W. ADKINS
Virginia Beach, Dec. 3, 1994 by CNB