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By Kristina Paris, Peace Action of Wisconsin
Each August, Peace Action of Wisconsin gathers to remember the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to renew our commitment to work for a world free from nuclear weapons, militarism, and war.
This year, our annual Lanterns for Peace event will take place on Saturday, August 8, 2026, 7:30-9 p.m. across from the Colectivo Coffee Lakefront at Lincoln Memorial Dr. and Lafeyette Hill Rd. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We will gather for music, speakers and a community commemoration, followed by a display of our lighted lanterns in a vigil along Lincoln Memorial Drive. Lanterns will be provided. People are encouraged to bring a lawn chair. (If it rains, the event will be cancelled.)
On Hiroshima Day, Thursday, August 6, 2:30 to 4:30p.m., people of all ages will gather at our office at Kingo Lutheran Church, 1225 E. Olive St., Shorewood, to make the traditional Japanese lanterns for the August 8th Vigil. Lanterns materials and refreshments will be provided.
On August 6th, 1945, at 8:15 in the morning, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, August 9th, a second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. Over 100,000 people died instantly. Tens of thousands more perished by the end of the year. Today there are nine nations with nuclear weapons and over 12,000 nuclear weapons in the world. International treaties to limit the number and proliferation of these weapons of mass destruction are being abandoned. The work of Peace and Nuclear Disarmament groups like Peace Action Wisconsin is needed more than ever.
Lanterns for Peace is one of our most visible annual events. It offers a space for mourning, memory, education, and public witness at a time when nuclear danger is again rising, and public pressure is urgently needed.
Co-sponsored by: Kingo Lutheran Church, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom-Milwaukee, Milwaukee End the Wars Coalition, United Nations Association of Milwaukee, Veterans for Peace Milwaukee, Friends Committee on National Legislation Milwaukee, Building Unity Wisconsin, the WI Cuba Coalition and more.
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