PSR Board Member Delivers Apology to the People of Hiroshima and Nagasaki March 25, 2024

PSR national board member Ann Suellentrop traveled to Hiroshima and Nagasaki March 2-17 as part of a Pax Christi USA pilgrimage. Ann visited with Hibakusha, survivors of the U.S. atomic bomb attacks, met with Japanese activists for nuclear weapons abolition, and delivered messages of apology and solidarity, including from PSR. 

Here is an excerpt from Ann’s presentation:

My name is Ann Suellentrop. I am a pediatric nurse, retired after having cared for children for 45 years. I come from Kansas City, which is located in the exact middle of the United States. Kansas City is known as the “Heart of America”. But I think that we have a heart problem or heart disease! Because Kansas City is home to a nuclear bomb plant, now called the National Security Campus! It is one of the 8 major sites that together make U.S. nuclear weapons! Since 1949, Kansas City’s factory has made over 80% of the parts for US nuclear weapons. Kansas City is also the home of President Harry Truman, the one who ordered the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For this, I apologize deeply.

Ann carried with her a letter from PSR Executive Director Brian Campbell to the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:

Although the United States government has never apologized to you for the atomic attacks on your cities in August 1945, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) would like to take this opportunity to do so. Our membership includes tens of thousands of doctors, nurses, public health professionals, and other allies from across the United States. We are united in our mission to protect human life from the gravest threats to health and survival, especially the threats of nuclear weapons and climate change. We are grateful our board member Ann Suellentrop can visit with you to bear witness, to listen to and learn from you, and to share this message. 

Click here to read the full letter from PSR.

Photo Gallery