Twin City Times- Thursday, May 28th, 2009
Mayor's Corner #88
Several months ago, Dr. Bernard Lown in whose honor we have named the bridge between Lewiston and Auburn, told me I would be receiving a letter from the Mayor of Hiroshima, Japan. I didn’t question him further other than thinking it would be very interesting to receive such a communication.
Shortly thereafter, I did receive a letter from Mr. Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima and President of Mayors for Peace. I now share with you his letter:
Dear Mayor Gilbert,
I was so pleased to learn that you have honored Dr. Bernard Lown by naming a bridge after him. Many years ago when I studied and taught in the Boston area, I had a chance to collaborate with Dr. Lown. We have worked in parallel ever since. He thought that you would give favorable consideration to joining Mayors for Peace. I hope you will accept this invitation.
As you may know, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were instantly obliterated by atomic bombings in August 1945. Hundreds of thousands of precious lives were lost. To avoid any repetition of this horrifying tragedy, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have worked continuously to communicate to the world the inhumanity of the atomic bomb and the need to abolish nuclear weapons.
Mayors for Peace was founded in 1982 by the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to promote the total elimination of nuclear weapons and the realization of genuine and lasting world peace. Today, we are a category II international non-governmental organization accredited by the United Nations with 2,536 member cities (134 in the U.S.) in 133 countries and regions.
In any war, especially nuclear war, it is cities that suffer most. We mayors are duty-bound to protect our citizens, and to prevent the unimaginable tragedy of nuclear attack, we must work together to eliminate all nuclear weapons. Therefore, Mayors for Peace are now conducting a “2020 Vision Campaign” with the goal of total nuclear weapons abolition by the year 2020, the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings.
To strengthen this campaign, we need as many cities as possible to join our organization. For more information about Mayors for Peace and our campaign, please visit our website at: http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/.
Membership involves no annual dues. However, we are now calling for our member cities; foundations, like-minded corporations, and individuals to contribute funds for promoting the 2020 Vision Campaign. I hope you will consider not only joining us, but also contributing to our campaign. To join, simply fill in and sign the attached registration form and return it to us.
I close with my best wishes for your continued good health and sound growth and development for your city.
Sincerely yours, /s/ Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima, President, Mayors for Peace.
On Friday, May 22, 2009, I joined Mayors for Peace. Why did I join? Well, I see no better way than individuals joining together with community leaders working with their governments at the local, state, national and international levels in building a coalition working towards the elimination of the world’s nuclear weapons.
There are those who believe that such a goal is impossible. If we don’t try, their belief is inevitable. That being the case, what will result? We truly have no other choice than to work towards the elimination of weapons that will annihilate the world. Mankind has been handed a planet for our very existence and it is our duty and responsibility to pass it on to generations after us.
There were those who thought the cold war would never end. There were people in this world such as Dr. Bernard Lown, Lewiston’s own Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, who believed differently. He and his Russian counterpart formed an organization called International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). Their organization grew to some 150,000 physicians world-wide. With the data they were able to gather, they were able to demonstrate to the world that even if you survived a nuclear attack in a major city such as Boston, there weren’t enough hospital beds and doctors to care for you and you would die regardless.
Dr. Lown and his co-founder of IPPNW, cardiologist Russian Dr. Evgueni Chazov shared their findings with Mikhail Gorbachev who was then General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. They brought to the world an awakening that meets the title of Dr. Lown’s recent book entitled “PRESCRIPTION FOR SURVIVAL; A Doctor’s Journey to End Nuclear Madness.” So, before President Ronald Reagan spoke the words “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” There were many people who came together to work towards that goal of ending the “cold war.” If this was an unachievable goal then, I ask; why can’t we achieve the goal of total elimination of nuclear weapons?
In my response letter to Mayor Akiba, I wrote; “I am firmly committed in alliance with President Barack Obama in working towards the total worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons.” President Barack Obama in working towards this goal outlined his intentions in an address before the people of Prague, Czech Republic on April 5, 2009. I would urge that each of you read his speech which you can find on the www.whitehouse.gov website. President Obama in my opinion is a man of great wisdom like Dr. Lown. They bring about a commonsensical approach to working towards world peace.
In this world today, we should ask the question; what would Jesus do? That is a phrase that many use with the letters WWJD when confronted with a moral question. I believe Dr. Bernard Lown has the answer with his quote that is inscribed on the stones at both ends of the Bernard Lown Peace Bridge between our Twin Cities. It reads as follows “We must behave as though the destiny of the world depended on each of our actions. This is the moral imperative of our age.” The world’s destiny is in each of our hands, how will you deal with it?
