Honolulu’s 22nd annual Nagasaki Peace Bell ringing ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. Friday, a free public event at the Frank F. Fasi Municipal Civic Center at Beretania and Lauhala streets.
On this 70th anniversary of the end of the War in the Pacific, the bell will peal with special resonance.
The bell was a gift from survivors of the Aug. 9, 1945, atomic bombing of Nagasaki, and their supporters. The survivors wanted to acknowledge harmful actions of the past and make a gesture of reconciliation to the people of Honolulu, which was attacked by Japan on Dec. 7, 1941.
The bell was rung for the first time on Dec. 7, 1990. Reads a plaque at the bell’s base: “Nagasaki, the city devastated by the bitter tragedy of a nuclear bomb, dedicates this Nagasaki bell as a symbol of the rebirth of Nagasaki and the desire of its citizens for peace in the future through sincere reconciliation and reflection on the folly of war.”
Tennessee Titans suddenly 1 of our favorite teams
The most famous football player to come out of Hawaii in a long time, quarterback Marcus Mariota, likely will make his professional debut Friday when the NFL’s Tennessee Titans play the Atlanta Falcons in the Georgia Dome — and fans here will be able to watch it, starting at 1 p.m. on the NFL Network and also at 5 p.m. on the CW Network.
On Sunday, Aug. 23, Mariota’s team will be featured nationally again, on the Fox network, when it hosts the Saint Louis Rams in Nashville.
Mariota, you may recall, is a graduate of Saint Louis School who went on to become the starting quarterback for the University of Oregon (the Ducks) from 2012 to 2014, which led to him becoming the first Oregon player and the first Hawaii-born player to win the prestigious Heisman Trophy, in addition to many other college football awards.
He was selected second overall in the 2015 NFL draft, just behind quarterback Jameis Winston of Florida State, whose team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Titans will face at the beginning of the NFL’s regular season, on Sept. 13. Go Marcus!
