The 2016 commemoration of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by Gila Friends Meeting (Quakers), held in Gough Park, Silver City, New Mexico with participants from Grant County, Las Cruces, and El Paso.The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will be commemorated at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 4, 2024 in the pavilion at Gough Park in Silver City, New Mexico, at the corner of 12th and North Pope Streets, according to an announcement by the Gila Friends Meeting (Quakers). This ceremony of remembrance will begin with a period of silent worship, followed by an opportunity to share reflections in an atmosphere of reverence and respect. All are welcome. Participants are asked to bring their own chairs. Before and after the ceremony, participants may view historical posters on the development, decision making, and effects of the atomic bombings.

The Gila Friends Meeting has observed the anniversary of the atomic bombings of Japan annually since 1986. The United States exploded the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and the second over Nagasaki on August 9. Well over 100,000 people died instantly. Many more died in the months and years that followed from radiation exposure, and many pregnancies ended in stillbirths or in children born severely impaired. Gila Friends invite the community to remember and grieve for the victims of the bombings, as well as for those who have suffered illness and death from uranium mining, bomb testing, and all aspects of weapons construction and management. The event offers participants an opportunity to renew their dedication to work toward a world free of nuclear weapons.

Disastrous and widening wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have greatly heightened the risk that nuclear weapons will be used in conflict for the first time since 1945. Any such use of nuclear weapons would result in an extreme threat of escalation to all-out nuclear war. Quakers and other faith communities are responding to the specter of nuclear war with concern and action.