October 28, 1994

MEMO TO: Monroe Hatch
Info: Aubin, Giese, Goss

SUBJECT: Enola Gay Script # 5

FROM: John Correll

The Smithsonian delivered the latest revision (#5) of the Enola Gay script to us Wednesday afternoon. Line-by-line comparison with the previous "interim" version (#4) is surprising in that the changes in the 489-page product are so few and so minor.

In the 275 text pages, we find only 26 instances of change, all marginal adjustments at the word or line level. Some of these were significant, such as elimination of such offensive lines as "nothing further stood in the way of using the atomic bomb" (200 60), but our tally of 26 changes also includes some pretty small stuff, e.g., "destructive" rather than "efficient and destructive" to describe the hydrogen bomb (200 17), B-29 "development and production" rather than "production" (300 2), and the insertion of "in addition" (500 14).

We found no change whatsoever in the 214 graphics pages.

Except for one minor instance, the critical "Ground Zero" section -- text, photos, artifacts, and structure -- is identical to what we saw last time. The only change is on page 400 33, which now says that later death counts for Hiroshima and Nagasaki were "more detailed" rather than "more accurate," and adds that "the exact numbers will never be known."

As before, the add-on Section 000 consists of nine pages said to be a "partial representation" of things to come.

There is no indication of willingness to balance the attention (words, pictures, and video "testimony) of the hibakusha ("explosion affected persons") with attention to another group of people-- disabled American veterans -- for whom the suffering continued. We have now raised this point twice to the Smithsonian with no effect.

Our written comments -- supplemented by our extensive comments in the three-hour meeting with Smithsonian officials October 19 -- about the military and strategic perspectives of the bombing campaign seem to have had little or no effect. The emphasis continues to be on death and destruction.

There is still what might be called an "emphasis gap" on the pre-1945 attitudes and actions of Japan and the Japanese.

-- Bushido and the fight-to-the-death ethic still sound like something that Tojo invented and imposed in 1941. (000 7)

-- The wanton slaughter of civilians at Nanking -- which exceeded the death toll of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined -- still gets only passing notice.

-- More than a month ago, we provided Smithsonian officials with information about 12 Asian-American groups that want to help tell the full story of Japan's long war of aggression. It does not appear that any contact has yet been made.

We suggested that rather than using all 4,000 square feet of additional floor space for a grafted-on, unincorporated preamble (section 000) that the curators consider reallocating some space, moving some walls, and making some real changes. That does not appear to be part of their plan.

Basic-- and unfortunate -- assessment: Minor and marginal improvements, but continuation of the structural and ideological bias we identified before. Given the limited changes from Revision #4 to Revision #5, most of our previous comments still stand.

To be totally fair to the Smithsonian, we should recognize that of the 26 word-and-line changes, the following 12 revisions respond (at least nominally) to AFA's detailed analysis of Interim Script # 4, which we faxed to the Smithsonian on October 17.

-- Page 000 2 now stipulates that the United States was engaged in "a just war against Japanese aggression in the Pacific."

-- The curators have added the word "contingency" to pre-Pearl Harbor plans for bombing Japan (100 32). (This change is too minor to help much.)

-- A dozen or so words added (100 34) about reduced industrial output -- specifically oil and aluminum -- as a result of B-29 bombing.

-- Some shifting around of words (200 13) on curators' speculation that the US was prompted to use the bomb in order to justify the cost of its development. Net effect, however, is that the speculation persists.

-- Wall label title changed from "Japan Looks for a Way Out of the War" to "Japan Seeks a Negotiated Peace" (200 23). Net effect: Different words, same message.

-- Recognition that Emperor Hirohito "did not discourage Japanese expansionist policies in Asia" in the 1930s (200 25).

-- Elimination of claim that Magic and Ultra intercepts yielded a "confusing" picture of Japanese intentions. (200 29)

-- Elimination of the offensive line, "nothing further stood in the way of using the bomb." (200 60)

-- Elimination of the item we had logged under "Strange Entries" about the Indianapolis survivors turning on each other "in their extreme delirium." (300 65)

-- Insertion of Hirohito statement (500 10) that "The peace party did not prevail until the bombing of Hiroshima created a situation that could be dramatized."

-- Retitling of a wall label (500 11) from "Enduring the Unendurable" to "Shock and Surrender." This stops short of emphatically making the point we identified: that use of the bomb led to the surrender.

-- Transposition of last and next to last paragraphs in script (500 21) to avoid ending on a pejorative note.

You may contact the Air Force Association at 1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, Virginia, 22209-1198, or by email: com@afa.org

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