"The Committee for a National Discussion of Nuclear History and Current Policy charges that the proposed exhibit will be "devoid not only of historical context and discussion of the ongoing controversy surrounding the bombings, but even of basic information regarding the number of casualties." (See the "introductory letter" on the committee's web site at http://www.enola-gay.org.) The committee's Statement of Principles (also available on the web site) declares that displaying the Enola Gay as a technological achievement reflects "extraordinary callousness toward the victims, indifference to the deep divisions among American citizens about the propriety of these actions, and disregard for the feelings of most of the world's peoples." A number of historians signed the statement, which was delivered to Smithsonian officials on November 5. Among the many other signatories are several prominent activists, authors, and other public figures including Noam Chomsky and Robert Jay Lifton; authors E.L. Doctorow, Daniel Ellsberg, Jonathan Schell, and Kurt Vonnegut; writer-producer Norman Lear; actor, director, and activist Martin Sheen; and filmmaker Oliver Stone.
The petition asks Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lawrence Small and NASM's director, General John R. Dailey, USMC (Ret.), to meet with scholars to plan an exhibit that places the aircraft in historical context. It also asks the museum to cosponsor a conference on the history of nuclear weapons. The petition says that should the museum fail to respond, "we will join with others in this country and around the world to protest the exhibit in its present form and to catalyze a national discussion of critical nuclear issues."
A statement issued by the National Air and Space Museum in response to the petition, (see http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/pressroom/releases/110703.htm) notes that "this type of label is precisely the same kind used for other airplanes and spacecraft in the museum." Museum officials believe that the text "does not glorify or vilify the role this aircraft played in history" but rather conforms to the museum's congressionally mandated mission to "memorialize the national development of aviation and space flight."
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