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Chicago Tribune
15 hours ago
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Column: On an August anniversary, memories of the atomic bomb from a crew member who dropped it on Nagasaki
I was sitting with an old soldier named Ray Gallagher. He held in his hands a small doll. The doll's name was Marianne and it was the doll that he took with him to war. It had been given to him by his niece, Margaret Gillund, and on Aug. 9, 1945, Marianne and Gallagher, an assistant flight engineer, boarded a plane named Bockscar along with 12 other men and a bomb called Fat Man and headed for the skies over the Japanese city of Nagasaki. They dropped the atomic bomb. In an instant, tens of thousands of people were reduced to ash. This was three days after another plane, the Enola Gay, and its crew dropped an atomic bomb named Little Boy on Hiroshima and, in an instant, tens of thousands more were ash. Accounting for those who died from the effects of radiation, it's estimated that as many as 70,000 died in Nagasaki and 140,000 in Hiroshima. T.S. Eliot famously called April the 'cruelest month,' but for me and many others, August grabbed that title in 1945 when the world was changed. Or, as Kurt Vonnegut put it in his 1963 novel 'Cat's Cradle,' 'The day the world ended.' Those who fought in World War II, or who worried for their loved ones who were fighting in WWII, are a diminishing crowd. And soon there will be none. But there were plenty in 1995 when I met Gallagher. He had come to the Union League Club to talk to some kids about the war. They were from local schools, gathered on a frigid Saturday morning to hear Gallagher say, 'War is awful, oh God. There's so much to be lost. When you go to war, you're not a hero. Everybody who goes to war would like to be brave. But you can be a coward. The whole idea of war is to get in and get out. Even now, when I enter a room, I'm looking at the windows and the doors … looking for the way to get out.' He came home from the war late in 1945, married his wife Mary, had two children, and settled into a quiet life in the Gage Park neighborhood and a long career with General Electric. (My father, a Marine, came home from fighting in the Pacific, too). There was a documentary film crew in the library. 'This is living history,' whispered a teacher in the room. It was the 50th anniversary year, memories from white-haired soldiers filled the pages of newspapers and TV screens. But by 1995 it was becoming increasingly controversial to mark the bombings with celebratory flag-waving. The dropping of those atomic bombs ushered in the chilling concept of doomsday, and in the ensuing decades, the dropping of the bombs ceased to be what Winston Churchill called 'a miracle of deliverance.' The film being made was called 'The Men Who Brought the Dawn.' Its director and producer, Jon Felt, said, '(We work to) put the viewer into the context of the times surrounding World War II and its final days, and hope to inform the public about the attitudes and personalities of the men who flew these missions. We do not get involved with ethics or moralities, politics or judgments. It is focused on the deeds of men.' Gallagher is in the film. He died in 1999, but is in my memory every August. He was 73 when I met him. Not a trained public speaker, he told what was essentially a series of anecdotes, random but potent. Eventually, it came time for questions, and a forest of tiny hands rose. 'Did the doll give you any luck?' asked a girl. 'It gave me the feeling of home,' Gallagher said, the doll cradled in his gnarled hands. 'If I wasn't thinking of home at the time all I had to do was look at Marianne. She always told me, 'You still have a home.'' Marianne went with him to an air base in Utah. He carried the doll with him on every training mission and to the island of Tinian in the Marianas, base of operations for the 509th Composite Bomb Group. Marianne was there in the sky over Nagasaki. After the bomb was dropped, after the war was over, Gallagher came home. Marianne came too and when Margaret Gillund grew up and became a school teacher, and when her history classes got around to World War II, Marianne went to school and was used as a powerful show-and-tell. Gillund was there at the Union League Club, along with Gallagher's wife. They heard him answer the question, 'Do you have regrets? Do you feel guilty?' Answer: 'I'd be lyin' if I didn't say I did. My wife Mary and myself have been invited back to Japan many times. I wouldn't go. I think we done a lot of good but we done a lot of bad … But we done what we were supposed to do.' Felt, the filmmaker, whispered to me, 'Ray is the most human gentleman I know.' Another question: 'Fifty years later, is it appropriate to reassess the decision to drop the bombs?' Gallagher answered: 'If someone hit you with a steel pipe would you shoot them with a gun? You had to live those years and walk those miles.' At the program's outset, Felt tried to help the kids' understanding by offering some musty statistics. He told of a Gallup Poll taken in late August 1945, weeks after the bombings. The poll asked people whether they approved or disapproved of the decision to drop the bombs. 'Eighty-five percent approved,' said Felt. He called an end to the question-and-answer session and asked that the kids remain in place so the crew could film a few more shots. Gallagher took a sip of water and received a loving pat on the back from his wife. One boy shouted, not a question but a statement: 'You were a killer.' Gallagher said, 'We had to drop 'em. There was a monster loose and that monster was war and we had to kill the monster.' With that, he removed himself from the wooden chair in which he had been sitting for three hours. He started to walk toward his wife and niece but stopped, turned around and walked back to a table on which the doll Marianne had been lying. He picked up the doll and asked, 'Was it OK? Did I do good?'
Axios
03-07-2025
- Business
- Axios
Chicago transit leaders prepping budget cuts
Illinois' 2026 fiscal year started Tuesday, but more money for public transit is not in the budget, leaving transit leaders and commuters in limbo. The big picture: The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) and Chicago area transit leaders have been sounding the alarm on a $770 million fiscal cliff expected next year as COVID funds are set to expire, and had requested $1.5 billion from the state legislature. But lawmakers passed the 2026 budget without that money. Why it matters: Short of lawmakers calling a special summer session or taking up the issue in October's veto session, RTA has one budget scenario that assumes 40% service cuts and a potential fare increase. Reality check: Although the state's fiscal year started July 1, RTA's doesn't start until Jan. 1. CTA, Metra and Pace must present their budgets by mid-October and with this year's uncertainty, RTA asked each to prepare two versions — one with additional funding and one without. What they're saying: "I don't want to give anyone false hope that there is still any way to avoid some of these negative impacts," RTA executive director Leanne Redden told the RTA board last month. "The negative impacts are here, and now we're going to have to all work together to mitigate the worst of those impacts for as long as possible, while the legislature continues to do their work." Catch up quick: The Illinois Legislature could not agree during the spring session on a package that included reforms and revenue for regional transit. The Illinois Senate passed a bill that included what lawmakers referred to as necessary reforms, including a new governance board called Northeastern Illinois Transit Authority, or NITA, an Office of Public Safety and a transit ambassador program. Some proposed revenue ideas included a transaction fee on tolls, $1.50 ride share tax and increased real estate transfer tax. Yes, but: "Those measures were met with stiff opposition from the collar counties," state Sen. Ram Villivalam said at the Union League Club last month. State of play: Villivalam has maintained that NITA would "promote integration and eliminate the silos" by creating a universal fare system and operating budgets for all agencies rather than separate budgets and leadership. State Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado echoed that it would benefit riders most: "I think Metro is very good at delivering commuter rail service. I would love for them to communicate more with the bus system, so that we make sure that the bus shows up at the same time the train does." The other side: CTA, Metra and Pace argue each agency is needed because of the specific needs of that type of transit — city, suburban bus and commuter rail – and also that they should remain separate to honor each agency's collective bargaining agreements with workers. Follow the money: Without support from the legislature, RTA has predicted $3.6 billion in operating expenses, down from $4.4 billion.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sen. McCormick on Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill'
Senator David McCormick, a Republican from Pennsylvania, speaks about President Donald Trump's tax bill and what it means to his constituents in a fireside chat with Bloomberg's David Westin at the Union League Club for the Economic Club of New York. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Miami Herald
28-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
In Response to the Rise of AI-Assisted Document Fraud, Certidox Offers a Patented, Open-Source, Tamper-Proof Technology - Exclusive Presentation in Chicago on May 29
CHICAGO, IL / ACCESS Newswire / May 28, 2025 / The proliferation of fake documents generated by artificial intelligence has reached a critical level. From diplomas to bank powers of attorney, purchase orders, emails, and press releases, everyone is now exposed to significant legal, financial, and reputational risks. In regulated sectors such as banking and finance, press releases must be authentic, timestamped, and tamper-proof. That is exactly what Certidox provides: ensuring that any content published by an organization - including official communications - remains authentic, traceable, and immune to sophisticated forgery attempts. This technology will be presented by Rémy EISENSTEIN on May 29 at the ULCC Networking Extravaganza held at the Union League Club of Chicago. Certidox enables instant verification of the authenticity of any document - paper or digital - and ensures ongoing monitoring through real-time alerts in case of changes or revocation. Based on patented end-to-end encryption and operating without any third-party trust, Certidox guarantees absolute confidentiality: no data is ever stored in plain text on its servers. Thanks to its open-source code, Certidox also provides total transparency: it can be freely audited, verified, and integrated into any IT system. The applications of Certidox technology are numerous: For everyone: email contentFor banks: account holder attestations, payment instructions, credit documentsFor law firms and notaries: powers of attorney, contracts, court rulingsFor businesses: purchase orders, quotes, regulated press releasesFor education: diplomas, transcripts, certificates (as demonstrated with the TrustDiplomas application) "In a world where everything can be copied, altered, or forged in seconds by artificial intelligence, we offer a sovereign, transparent, and tamper-proof solution. Certidox restores value to documentary proof," says Rémy EISENSTEIN, Founder. Press Contact:Rémy A. EISENSTEIN - remy@ (630) 895-4089https:// SOURCE: Certidox
Associated Press
28-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
In Response to the Rise of AI-Assisted Document Fraud, Certidox Offers a Patented, Open-Source, Tamper-Proof Technology - Exclusive Presentation in Chicago on May 29
CHICAGO, IL / ACCESS Newswire / May 28, 2025 / The proliferation of fake documents generated by artificial intelligence has reached a critical level. From diplomas to bank powers of attorney, purchase orders, emails, and press releases, everyone is now exposed to significant legal, financial, and reputational risks. In regulated sectors such as banking and finance, press releases must be authentic, timestamped, and tamper-proof. That is exactly what Certidox provides: ensuring that any content published by an organization - including official communications - remains authentic, traceable, and immune to sophisticated forgery attempts. This technology will be presented by Rémy EISENSTEIN on May 29 at the ULCC Networking Extravaganza held at the Union League Club of Chicago. Certidox enables instant verification of the authenticity of any document - paper or digital - and ensures ongoing monitoring through real-time alerts in case of changes or revocation. Based on patented end-to-end encryption and operating without any third-party trust, Certidox guarantees absolute confidentiality: no data is ever stored in plain text on its servers. Thanks to its open-source code, Certidox also provides total transparency: it can be freely audited, verified, and integrated into any IT system. The applications of Certidox technology are numerous: 'In a world where everything can be copied, altered, or forged in seconds by artificial intelligence, we offer a sovereign, transparent, and tamper-proof solution. Certidox restores value to documentary proof,' says Rémy EISENSTEIN, Founder. Press Contact: Rémy A. EISENSTEIN - [email protected] +1 (630) 895-4089 SOURCE: Certidox press release
