Local historian Don Farrell yesterday said the objective of the symposium is to discover the truth behind “myths.”
There were reports about cancer and other illnesses supposedly caused by the atomic pit on Tinian, he said.
The symposium will clarify all the issues and apprehensions, he added.
He said they will expect new information from the experts and this will ease the local residents’ apprehension.
The “Manhattan Project and Tinian: An Educational Symposium and Memorial” will be held on Aug. 5 at the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino.
Farrell said admission is free and the general public is invited.
Registration will start at 7:30 a.m. at the Dynasty information desk.
The buffet and dinner meals can be purchased at the registration desk, or online at [email protected].
Among the presenters are Dr. Roger Meade, Dr. Anderson Giles, James Petersen and John Coster-Mullen.
Farrell said Meade served as the Los Alamos National Laboratory archivist-historian for 25 years.
Meade co-authored ”Critical Assembly : A Technical History of Los Alamos During the Oppenheimer Years, 1943-1945,” and wrote about other topics related to the history of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Meade is currently researching the conversion of the community of Los Alamos from a federal reservation to a true public community, the history of radiochemistry at the laboratory, and the history of nuclear weapon testing in the Marshall Islands.
Giles is the creator and director of two feature-length documentaries: “Thunder from Tinian” and “Echoes from the Apocalypse, Tinian: 60 Years Later.”
Giles is also a professor at the University of Maine. His father served with the 4th Marine Division which saw action on Saipan and Tinian during the war.
Petersen is founder and president of the Historic Wendover Airfield Foundation and is leading efforts to preserve the Wendover airfield’s World War II properties that housed the 509th Composite Group and the Enola Gay before they headed to Tinian.
Mullen is the author of “Atom Bombs: The Top Secret Inside Story of Little Boy and Fat Man.”
The guest speakers are Nancy Bartlit, an oral historian and lecturer, and Rear Adm. Paul J. Bushong.
Bartlit is the past president of the Los Alamos Historical Society. She serves on the country’s Historic District Advisory Board, and chaired the historic sculptures committee.
She is promoting a Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which will include Tinian.
Bartlit authored “Silent Voice of World War II: When Sons of the Land of Enchantment Met Sons of the Land of the Rising Sun.”
Farrell said the symposium will be made possible through support from the NMI Council for the Humanities.
Tinian Mayor Ray Dela Cruz said the symposium will allow the general public to know what really happened with the atomic bombs on Tinian.
In a press release, Dela Cruz said the symposium will not be a discussion of the “rightness” or “wrongness” of the bomb, “but rather an opportunity to discover the truth about how and why Tinian was used as the launch-pad of atomic warfare.”
He added, “All my life I have heard stories about the bomb pits and the bombs. Finally, I will get to hear the truth, right here on Tinian from people who really know. As mayor of Tinian, I invite all those interested in the subject of the atomic bombs assembled on Tinian to attend the symposium and learn from some of America’s best historians on the subject.”
On Aug. 6, Farrell said a memorial ceremony will be conducted at the North Field historical monument.
“We will respect all those who died in the Pacific War with a moment of silence and a wreath-laying,” the mayor said.
The ceremony will start at 9:15 a.m.
For more information contact Allen Sandbergen at 433-1800 or e-mail [email protected]
