Manufacturer: ABC News
The idea must have seemed pretty straightforward. Design an exhibition to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima, display the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped that first bomb, set out pictures and artifacts and documents from the time, and give life to a 50 year old moment in history. The devil, as they say, was in the details. As soon as the Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian released the 500 page script for the exhibition, critics charged the project turned history on its head. The Japanese became the victims, the Americans the aggressors. Americans should feel bad, not good, about ending the war with the bomb. When veterans' groups and members of Congress went on the attack, the Smithsonian retreated. The script was rewritten, then rewritten again and again. ABC News spoke with two people at the center of the debate. Anchor: Aaron Brown Correspondent: Deborah Amos Airdate: October 25, 1994
