Hiroshima Day arrests at the Pentagon
by Art Laffin
Early on the morning of August 6, 17 peacemakers held a prayer service and nonviolent witness on the perimeter of the Pentagon to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the U.S. nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to call for nuclear abolition. The day also marked the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The witness was organized by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker and co-sponsored by the Little Flower Catholic Worker, Pax Christi and other faith-based peace and justice groups.
Our vigil site is now on the Pentagon perimeter (S. Fern and Army-Navy Drive) as we have been banned since last October from the original police designated fenced off protest area near the southeast entrance of the Pentagon. Going onto the Pentagon property with signs or banners is now an arrestable action as evidenced by the 27 peacemakers who were arrested on March 27 to mark Patrick O’Neill’s 70th birthday. Please keep Patrick in your prayers as he is in a rehab center recovering from a stroke he had on May 7th. (For updates see: https://www.caringbridge.org/site/5829d060-4c1a-11f1-bba0-4f8f4f4601f6)
With several police officers closely observing us, and in view of some Pentagon workers and soldiers walking to work, we displayed photos of A-bomb victims and held signs and banners. The prayer service began with an Opening statement (see below). This was followed by Verleah Kosloske reading the Transfiguration account from Mark’s Gospel. Paul Magno and Scott Wright then read the Apology Petition that was signed last year by over 500 people and 60 organizations calling on the U.S. government to apologize to Japan for using nuclear weapons against them in 1945 and pledging to abolish nuclear weapons.
Delaney Wilder and Bill Frankel-Streit then read an excerpt from Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow’s moving speech that she gave for the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for ICAN.
The gathered community then sang “I Come And Stand” (Dead Little Girl of Hiroshima). Bill, John Holden, and Marie Dennis then read the “Reflection on the Nuclear Threat” (see below). Kirstin DeMello followed by reading Dan Berrigan’s poem, “Shadow on the Rock” (see below), and we then all prayed together the Lord’s Prayer.
At the conclusion of the prayer service, Bill and Delaney shared their intention to walk with a banner that said “If War is Peace Then God is Dead,” through the Pentagon grounds, thereby risking arrest. As they walked toward the South Parking lot, some from the community who did not hold signs were able to accompany them to S. Fern and S. Rotary Road, and sang the Vine and Fig Tree song. When the pair crossed S. Fern Street and proceeded along a small roadway along the South Parking lot, they were met by a large Pentagon police presence. The roadway was then closed off by police, and they were subsequently arrested and taken to the Pentagon police processing center where they were charged with trespassing, interfering with agency functions-refusal of a lawful order. They were released after several hours. Delaney was given an October 1 court date and Bill was given an October 15 court date.
Opening by Art Laffin: Aug. 6, 2026 Pentagon Prayer Service
May the peace and love of God be with all of us today. I extend a special welcome to this nonviolent witness of remembrance, repentance and resistance.
Aug. 6 and 9th marks the 81st anniversary of the unspeakable atrocities of the U.S. nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Jesus commands us to love and never to kill. We come to the Pentagon, the center of warmaking on the planet, in a spirit of Gospel nonviolence to commemorate these sinful and criminal bombings, to repent for the nuclear sin, to remember all victims of nuclearism, to resist ongoing nuclear war preparations, and to appeal to government officials, religious leaders and all people of goodwill to create a world without violence, injustice, weapons and war–a nonviolent world free of the triple evils that Dr. King proclaimed: racism, economic exploitation and poverty and militarism as well as environmental devastation and Christian nationalism.
We are deeply grateful to all who are participating in this witness today, and all of our co-sponsors: Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, Little Flower Catholic Worker, Pax Christi, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Franciscan Action Network, Assisi Community, Sister of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team, Isaiah Project and Little Friends for Peace. We stand in solidarity with people across the U.S. and worldwide who are praying and acting during this time for nuclear abolition and who are appealing to the U.S. and the other eight nuclear nations to ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which entered into force in Jan. 2021 thereby making nuclear weapons illegal under international law.
We invite all who work in the government and military, and all people of goodwill, to join us and everyone worldwide who is working to abolish nuclear weapons. We pray and act to ensure that the mortal sin of using nuclear weapons will never be repeated!
August 6-9, 2026 Reflection/Prayer on Nuclear Threat
The powers that be want us to believe that nuclear weapons were used to save American lives and end WWII. This is a fallacy! Both General Eisenhower, and Admiral Leahy, head of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff, opposed using the atomic bomb. They declared that Japan was already defeated and on the verge of surrender and, as Eisenhower stated, “that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary” and “no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives.”
R: We Call on the U.S. Government to Repent for the Nuclear Sin–Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now
According to Gar Alperovitz, in his compelling book, Atomic Diplomacy, nuclear weapons were used against the Japanese primarily for two reasons: “first, the U.S. wanted to hasten its victory over Japan without the aid of the Russians, who were about to enter the war; second, and most importantly, President Truman intended to threaten the Russians and warn them not to challenge U.S. plans for organizing the postwar world.”
R: We Call on the U.S. Government to Repent for the Nuclear Sin–Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now
The U.S. government has never repented or apologized for using nuclear weapons against the Japanese people. The violence unleashed at Hiroshima and Nagasaki set in motion a trajectory of unrelenting violence by the U.S. in the wars of aggression that it has waged over the last seven decades in many countries, claiming untold live and which today includes supplying weapons to Israel in its genocidal war and mass starvation of Gaza and waging war against Iran. The U.S. nuclear weapons program was conceived under a shroud of secrecy that continues to this day, and without the consent of the American people. Beginning with the Manhattan Project in 1940, the U.S. has spent over $9 trillion on its nuclear weapons program.
R: We Call on the U.S. Government to Repent for the Nuclear Sin–Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now
On January 27, 2026, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists reset the Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds before midnight, the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been. This is due to the existential threats of nuclear war and the climate crisis, AI and other threats. The Ukraine war has further aggravated the nuclear threat between Russia and NATO. While the U.S. has always maintained a “first-use” nuclear weapons policy, Russia has publicly stated it would consider using nuclear weapons if it feels endangered by increased U.S. and NATO intervention in the Ukraine war.
R: We Call on the U.S. Government to Repent for the Nuclear Sin–Abolish Nuclear Weapons No
AI-enabled weapons are reshaping modern warfare with significant implications for strategic planning, and battlefield operations. Militaries are rapidly integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into the making of life-and-death decisions: whom to target, what force to use, and how to weigh the expected harm to civilians. AI technology also increases the risk of nuclear war. A study by King’s College London published earlier this year revealed that AI models used in 21 simulated nuclear crises escalated the conflict by threatening nuclear war in 95% of 329 turns of play.
R: We Call on the U.S. Government to Repent for the Nuclear Sin–Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now
According to the Federation of American Scientists, nine countries possessed roughly 12,187 and the U.S. and Russia now possess approximately 86 percent of the world’s total inventory of nuclear weapons. U.S. nuclear weapons are also stored at six military bases in the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Turkey. Furthermore, U.S. and NATO missile defense systems ring Russia and China, increasing already heightened tensions. The U.S. and Russia are developing hypersonic weapons that could become nuclear capable.
R: We Call on the U.S. Government to Repent for the Nuclear Sin–Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now
The U.S. government refuses to adopt a “no first-use” nuclear policy, declaring it reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in the case of conflict. Therefore, a U.S. president could unilaterally order a nuclear attack at any time. According to peace advocate and author Joseph Gerson, the U.S. has prepared or threatened to use nuclear weapons against adversaries an estimated thirty times to bolster U.S. aims. https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/reinforcing-imperium-joseph-gerson-us-nuclear-arsenal
R: We Call on the U.S. Government to Repent for the Nuclear Sin–Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now
During the first Trump administration, the U.S. dramatically increased the nuclear danger by threatening to use nuclear weapons against adversaries on several occasions. Moreover, the U.S. withdrew from the Iran Nuclear Deal and the INF Treaty with Russia and carried out a subcritical nuclear test, a flagrant violation of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. There would never be a manufactured crisis of the U.S. attacking Iran if the Iran Nuclear Deal was still in place. Now the nuclear peril is exacerbated by current U.S. nuclear policy and an unstable U.S. president who threatened to “blast Iran into oblivion” and “back to the Stone Ages,” and warned on April 7, 2026: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
R: We Call on the U.S. Government to Repent for the Nuclear Sin–Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now
In its 2019 Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations, policy makers declared that a limited nuclear war could be waged and won. This doctrine was the latest manifestation of a long-held existing Pentagon policy positing that the U.S. must be prepared at all times to use whatever military force is necessary, including nuclear weapons, to protect its vital interests in the world. Also, in February 2020, the “lower-yield” W76-2 nuclear warhead on Trident missiles was deployed, a smaller warhead the military believes is more usable. Additionally, a new U.S. space force was created to oversee military control and domination of space.
R: We Call on the U.S. Government to Repent for the Nuclear Sin–Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now
The Trump Administration is continuing a several decades long upgrade of the U.S. nuclear arsenal which is estimated to cost $1.7 trillion, as life-saving programs for the poor are cut, the climate crisis worsens, and basic human needs go unmet. As a leading nuclear superpower, the U.S. practices a double standard by calling on other nations to disarm while, at the same time, it refuses to disarm and instead is rapidly expanding its own arsenal.
R: We Call on the U.S. Government to Repent for the Nuclear Sin–Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now
The Navy has contracted with General Dynamics to build the Columbia class nuclear subs to replace the existing Trident fleet. Twelve Columbia class subs will cost over $130 billion and the entire lifecycle cost of develop, build and opera As these exorbitant resources are spent on weapons of mass murder, 79 people died without the dignity of home last year in D.C.
R: We Call on the U.S. Government to Repent for the Nuclear Sin–Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now
We join our voice with all those urgently calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an end to all U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel and U.S. complicity in the genocide and forced starvation in Gaza, an end to apartheid and ethnic cleansing in Palestine, self-determination for the Palestinian people, and lasting peace with justice for Palestine and Israel. We call, too, on the U.S. and Israel to make peace with Iran!
R: We Call on the U.S. Government to Repent for the Nuclear Sin–Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now
On July 7, 2017, at the conclusion of a special “UN Conference To Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons,” 122 countries voted in favor of a historic treaty to legally prohibit nuclear weapons. On January 22, 2021, the TPNW went into force, thereby making nuclear weapons illegal under international law. To date, 75 countries have ratified the TPNW. However, all the nuclear armed states have refused to sign it. We call on the U.S., the only country to have ever used nuclear weapons, to ratify this treaty and lead the way to total worldwide nuclear disarmament.
R: We Call on the U.S. Government to Repent for the Nuclear Sin–Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now
Pope Francis declared: “Nor can we fail to be genuinely concerned by the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental effects of any employment of nuclear devices. If we also take into account the risk of an accidental detonation as a result of error of any kind, the threat of their use, as well as their very possession, is to be firmly condemned…The total elimination of nuclear weapons is…a moral and humanitarian imperative of our time.”
R: We Call on the U.S. Government to Repent for the Nuclear Sin–Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now
Nuclear weapons are immoral and illegal. They can never be used under any circumstance. This means that anyone in the military chain of command must refuse orders to ever use these or other similar murderous weapons.
R: We Call on the U.S. Government to Repent for the Nuclear Sin–Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now
The taproot of violence in our society today is our intent to use nuclear weapons. Once we have agreed to that, all other evil is minor in comparison. Until we squarely face the question of our consent to use nuclear weapons, any hope of large-scale improvement of public morality is doomed to failure. –Fr. Richard McSorley, SJ
The A-bomb survivors (Hibakusha) declare: “Humanity and Nuclear Weapons Cannot Coexist.”
“SHADOW ON THE ROCK” by Daniel Berrigan, SJ
At Hiroshima there’s a museum
and outside that museum there’s a rock,
and on that rock there’s a shadow.
That shadow is all that remains
of the human being who stood there on August 6, 1945
when the nuclear age began.
In the most real sense of the word,
that is the choice before us.
We shall either end war and the nuclear arms race now in this generation,
or we will become Shadows On the Rock.