On behalf of the MV Peace Council and of MV Friends Meeting (Quakers) I thank Jeff Scheuer for his perceptive observations in last week’s Gazette (Hiroshima Remembrance Day Weighs Heavily). There was another factor in Truman’s decision to use atomic bombs on August 6, 1945: to demonstrate to the Soviet Union, just across the Sea of Japan, that we knew how to trigger this immense destructive power and were willing to do so.

We demonstrated more than that. Though we did not know it then, that moment at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, made atomic bombs obsolete. For it to be obvious to all that war itself is obsolete is taking such a long time. Humanity is still in its infancy.

Mr. Scheuer alludes to memories of early hours, chill winds, and warm hearts at Gay Head in Aquinnah. Such memories have deep resonance for many of us. We especially miss Alden Besse, Chris Fried and Bill Gamson, and other stalwarts for peace who are no longer with us.

But we haven’t gathered for Hiroshima Day at the lighthouse since it was moved, though we did try the overlook a couple of times. For several years now we have gathered below the lifeguard stand at Bend in the Road Beach in Edgartown at 8 a.m. The time and place are more accessible, and it was not dawn but 8:15 on a bright blue morning when the watches and clocks of Hiroshima were stopped by the shock of the bomb.

Public maps are confused about the location of Bend in the Road Beach. Google calls it Edgartown Beach and centers its map on the big bridge. The Massachusetts GIS map puts the Bend in the Road label on the entire stretch of the Joseph A. Sylvia State Beach. Don’t be misled. Bend in the Road is the town-owned beach right where there is in fact a sharp bend in the road. At that time of morning there has always been ample parking. See you Friday.

Bruce Nevin

Edgartown