It seemed as if the region's economic future was assured. The highly controversial mascot has always caused a buzz amongst not only the Richland community, but statewide. Yet the effects of the Cold War on the region lingered on, both in the mind and on the land and waters. Happy finals week! Hanford's economy kept going during the mid-1980s, spurred by President Reagan's defense build-up and by proposals to make storage of nuclear wastes from other sites an important part of the future. The overall Hanford story is also contained in a rather triumphalist account by Michele Gerber, Legend and Legacy: Fifty Years of Defense Production at the Hanford Site (Richland, WA: U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, 1992)], Hanford construction camp (left). It had failed to become a major center for nuclear power plants, nuclear research, or the importation of nuclear wastes. Richland Bombers Limitless 1/4 Zip Hoodie $68.00. In 1988 a handful of teachers and students tried again to change the logo. The paradoxical result was that the presence of the plutonium plantwhich dispensed a considerable amount of radioactivity to the cold, clear water prevented the damming of more than 50 miles of the river. I would like to preface this article by saying that I dont think Ive ever been known for my style, so take that as you will. Yet the economy of Hanford and the Tri-Cities (if not the environmental quality) again seemed secure, fifty years after the atomic age, and forty-five years after the Cold War, had arrived in Washington. In April 1963, R. W. Beck and Asc. Much more than Seattle, Richland and Hanford, products of the atom, were creatures of World War Two and the Cold War. Somewhere it got lost in translation that we can be proud we won the war and be proud of the horrors we caused. Here's a link about where the nickname came from and the efforts to . Samantha Frost, an alumna of Richland High, called for the school to adopt a less radioactive mascot in a post on Western Washington University's Odyssey community. I am proud of Richland High School and I am proud that the allies were able to win WWII. I hear the last words of the song and I lift my head cautiously. The lyrics seem to parade in one ear and out the other. Lets Not Talk About the Bad Things, Once again, I am reminded of Stanley Kubricks great film, Dr. Strangelove, and especially its subtitle, Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. The good doctor would feel quite at home in Richland. It is a bitter pill to swallow and maybe that is why we have been avoiding it for so long. Perhaps the Cold War would endure at Hanford in the form of productive reactors. We really used our best and brightest to unlock the secrets of the atom that, in a way, still hold the world hostage to this incredible terror., But for Pierard, a 1959 local graduate with cloudy blue eyes and a long gray ponytail, the Bombers R-Cloud is an inspiring reminder of a time when Richland, in his mind, saved the world. '73 - Richland, WA Class of 73 Bombers - (AKA Col-hi, RHS) That name doesn't work. When we chant that we are proud of the cloud or use the hashtag, we are taking pride in the death of a schoolgirl or schoolboy. They called it the R-Cloud. I wonder what its like to be free. Hungary Calls For Ukraine CeasefireWashington FURIOUS! For years, alumni have fought off R-Cloud detractors in newspaper letters and on the vibrant Alumni Sandstorm website. Dressing for you and not for others is easier said than done. That was history. Qualheim, an alumnus of the school who has taught there since 1979, said he prefers to stay quiet about the Richland High mascot these days. What matters is that the US dropped an atomic bomb, the only time a nuclear bomb has been used in the history of the world, killing innocent people in order to save others. Class of '92 in '22 ~ 30 Year Reunion ~ August 5, 6, & 7, 2022, Class of '66 in '22 ~ 56 Year Reunion ~ August 26 and 27, 2022, Class of '67 in '22 ~ 55 Year Reunion ~ September 9-10, 2022, Class of '62 in '22 ~ 60 Year Reunion ~ September 9, 10, 11, 2022, Class of '72 in '22 ~ 50 Year Reunion ~ September 16-17, 2022, Class of '65 in '22 ~ 76th Birthday Party ~ September 16, 17, 18, 2022, 50 Year (postponed twice) Reunion and 70th Birthday Bash, Spudnuts in Richland, ~ better than donuts ~ click to see it on YouTube. That fall, the students of Columbia High voted to change their mascot from the Beavers to the Bombers, and the yearbook for that school year was dedicated to the atomic bomb. Looking for a way to spend your summer doing something creative and fulfilling? Throughout my time in college, especially studying abroad, I found that I loved jeans, baggy sweaters, my Air Force 1s that I have worn down to the point its crazy, small rings, and dresses. 10 Richland bombers Logos ranked in order of popularity and relevancy. Pacific Northwest Quarterly 86:4 [Fall 1995], p.178. [The Japanese government was] ready to sacrifice every man woman and child in the invasion.. There I grew up among my friends and their parents, workers at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, the birthplace of the . 85, No. In this second burst of growth, which lasted through 1955 or so, the site acquired five new plutonium-producing reactors and a host of new processing facilities. The Electric Woman by (new pen name) James Scott ~ on Amazon. [12] In the 1960s, they won the third place game four times in five years. However, we don't celebrate the American lives lost but we do celebrate the Japanese deaths. Is that how most Bomber fans see the R-Cloud? Not only will you gain valuable writing experience, but youll get to choose your own topics and write one response a week to one of our top trending articles. Johnson. 2023 Sportswear Inc. All Rights Reserved. I think back to the day I met him; the day I started loving someone more than I have ever loved myself. The residents of Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland generally supported construction of dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers. Tears fall from my face the same way petals fall from wilted flowers. According to one estimate from the early 1960s, 80% of the 28,500 jobs in the Tri-Cities were "indirectly or directly dependent on Hanford activities." Head Coach: earl streufert. People with hopes, dreams and aspirations were lost in mere moments. Former coach Ben Jacobs is the winningest coach in school history with over 400 wins. You may even be procrastinating right now while you read this article! I forget what is and only know what used to be. (By the 1990s, the idea of "free-flowing" had to be relative. And I realize thats all I have left. Forget about political correctness, forget about the snowflakes who cry that we are horrible people. The shift in topic was near-automatic, like a switch shunting a train onto a different track. We should never forget the past. Richland is a town whose prosperity rests on an atom bomb factory, a plant for creating plutonium.2 A quote from the Richland Chamber of Commerce Web site: Farming remained the prime industry until World War II when government surveyors arrived and announced that the federal government was assuming ownership of the area. Windshield stickers on cars in the area boast theres a Bomber inside. After the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, the people of Richland decided to show their pride in what they had helped to create. "The West is the last economic frontier. The Space Needle and Pacific Science Center attest to the future-minded, high-tech, aerospace-oriented thinking around Puget Sound. Through the 1940s and 1950s, decisions by the federal government, made primarily in Washington, D.C., determined the fate of Hanford. In high school, I worked in a casual restaurant that served soup so I wasnt dressing to impress there either. One Army Corps spokesperson explained, "We are in the business of building projects. I think it is impossible to really know. Were excited to hear from you! and seniors slopping on sweatpants that may or may not have been washed in a month. Anonymous callers left threats. You need the energy to get through the next few hours. The school was founded as Columbia High School in 1910 to serve the educational needs of the small town of Richland. 12 Phrases EVERY New York Rangers Fan Knows. If you answered 'yes' to every single one of those presidents, then you are lying to yourself. Teachers questioned their patriotism. Richland Basketball Schedule 2022-23 OVERALL 21-6 0.78 Win % DISTRICT 17-0 1st 3A/4A Mid-Columbia HOME12-1 AWAY7-3 NEUTRAL2-2 PF1,947 PA1,441 STREAK2L Ways you can help Make an impact on this team, and help keep MaxPreps up-to-date. Senator Henry M. Jackson (D, WA) introduced a bill to this effect in 1956, and ten years later the dual-purpose N Reactor was completed at Hanford. She confesses her profuse love for this song, but she doesnt even understand it. In 1985, one newspaper said the logo gave the impression that Washingtonians viewed the atomic industry with chilling flippancy. In 1988, Tom Brokaw brought television cameras and a Japanese delegation to watch students vote in favor of keeping the cloud as their mascot. Richland city seal in 1958 (left). Petersen also wrote River of Life, Channel of Death: Fish and Dams on the Lower Snake (Lewiston, ID: Confluence Press, 1995).] Over 200,000 men, women and children. This vision had remained compelling in the mid-Columbia region after 1945, even though the construction and operation of the Hanford site compromised parts of it. Jennifer Kustanovich, SUNY Stony Brook5. Connor went on to become an investigative journalist and activist, working to shut down plutonium production at Hanford, which is now considered the most contaminated nuclear site in the country. A World. Improving, advancing, encouraging and promoting the interests of athletics, activities and academics Richland Bombers Brief w/Logo $35.00. The nation needed "to develop every natural resource at its command," the Columbia Basin News opined. The Manhattan Project brought scientists, engineers and those to support them to the Tri-Cities. But she continues to sway from one direction to the next, while I cannot seem to remember how to move. One night, at a bridge club, I asked the women what their husbands did and did not tell them about workplace accidents. 558 Followers, 44 Following, 56 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Richland Bomber Basketball (@rhsbomberbb) In 1944, the first reactor began operation at the Hanford Project. Most departed by August of 1945, yet the population in the vicinity was substantially higher than it had been before the war. Hanford was home to the Manhattan Project's B Reactor, the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world. Seattle, 1963, following title page. Forget about all that crap and think about the average Joe who died because their government chose to not surrender. No doubt encouraged by the presence of Hanford, Tri-City interests argued for dams on the grounds of military preparedness. At LogoLynx.com find thousands of logos categorized into thousands of categories. See more petitions: Education Sign Petition First Name Last Name Email Country Afghanistan Aland Islands Albania Algeria Richland High School is a public secondary school in the northwest United States, located in Richland, Washington. (Special Collections, University of Washington, neg. 5 talking about this. Washington's "Hottest Market" in 1958. Volunteer Help the coach manage this team. They worried in particular about the local economy, not the health risks presented by Hanford wastes. UW Site Map Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest, University of Washington. As the region has diversified since its past as a federally owned Atomic City where 90% of the population was either employed by or a dependent of Hanford, the school has since received criticism for its depiction of a mushroom cloud as an unofficial logo for the school, believing that the logo and the mascot to be a shameful reminder of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[5]. For some, Richland Highs mascot embodies political incorrectness: a symbol that glorifies destruction and the deaths of innocents, a mark of hatred and fear. The Hanford Reach thus became the last "free-flowing" stretch of the Columbia in Washington state upstream from Bonneville Dam. Step inside any 'ole High School. In the past, he had expressed his personal distaste for the R-Cloud after visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. Camp Hanford's population peaked at 51,000, and spanned not quite two years until its abandonment in February 1945. However, I will not celebrate the deaths of the innocent. Confident that nuclear power plants were the wave of the future, they lobbied the federal government to authorize construction of a ninth reactor at Hanford, one that could produce both plutonium for nuclear weapons and kilowatts for the BPA power grid. We should never forget the past. The Commodores announced Tuesday they'll be replacing their iconic "Star V" logo in favor of something ripped from a failing company's NFT announcement: We've launched a refreshed visual identity. Richland High School is a public secondary school in the northwest United States, . Richland found pride in the victory and this pride leaked into Richland culture just like the toxic sludge leaked. Photo courtesy of Walla Walla District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.). This page is not available in other languages. Americans turned against nuclear power during the later 1970s and early 1980s. Hagley Museum and Library.). The Bombers were state champions in 1981, 1999, and 2017, and played in the title game in 1975, 1996, and 2016. (Reproduced in Grossman, "Hanford," PNQ 85:1, p.8. The Bombers have 115 players on their Basketball all-time roster. It is time to change the bomber mascot to one that doesn't glorify violence and hatred. Think about how many times you scoffed at a decision a president made. People who may not have agreed with their government. Light On A Distant Hill - Winner, 2011 WILLA Literary Award - on Amazon. Setting aside other peoples opinions and dressing for you? It indicates a joy for destruction and death, she said. Prep Sportswear is not affiliated with the Richland High School Bookstore or the RHS Bookstore. While building Hanford the Army and DuPont had also laid out the town of Richland to house the families of Hanford's operations employees during and after the war; the planned community had a population of around 15,000 at war's end. WWII was horrific and terrifying and one of the darkest experiences that has ever happened on this earth. This became particularly important between 1964 and 1971, when the AEC shut down the first eight reactors built and operated at Hanford. The town of Richland has stubbornly stuck to their pride in this symbol. A symbol representing that kind of destruction is not a proper mascot for a public high school; also, it is insensitive and demaning towards the civilians that died in Japan from the nuclear bombs that were dropped. At times I tried to keep up with the trends but most of the time I found that I was always late to them. [3], Richland's mascot is the "Bomber", officially named for the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress built in Seattle, but also in recognition of the city's contributions as an "Atomic City" in World War Two. Those two exams just stripped you of your pride. CLUB 40, aka ALL Bomber alumni - for 21 years of age and older. Why do we celebrate this? Map of the Hanford Engineer Works, 1943-1945 (left). So long as nuclear wastes were stored in tanks and soils beneath the Hanford reservation, the dam could not be built because it would disturb the water table and the underground wastes, and flood sensitive portions of the Hanford reserve. 64 were here. Hanford Real Estate. Richland Bombers Competitor Backpack $77.00. Outside the. You will not see all the features of some websites. Photo courtesy of We have got to stop kidding ourselves and pretending that the "bombers" are not representing the bombs dropped on the Japanese. Angel's Daughter - on Amazon, Legacy of Angels - on Amazon. This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator. Pacific Northwest Quarterly, Vol. Your friends are all done with their finals and you still have one more to go. Road-tripping with your friends? These chains still hold me to someone who left a long time ago. (Special Collections, University of Washington, Nell Lewis MacGregor papers, box 1. Jeanie Walsh Williamson ('63) ~ aka Barbra Williamson, "Desert Fathers, Uranium Daughters" available at Amazon.com, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Fullmer, A Michael Peterson 2014 Promotional Viceo, "Drink, Swear, Steal, and Lie" on YouTube, http://www.eurekalert.org/features/doe/2002-07/dnnl-bnt073102.php, http://www.whitworth.edu/Academic/Department/Physics/DepartmentSpotlight/MillerBatelle.htm, Sally O'Neal ('79) ~ Travel & Outdoor Writer, Weekly Column at Sportsman's Guide magazine, "Hiking in the Central Cascades" available at Amazon.com, "Hiking in the North Cascades" available at Amazon.com, "Bicycling Eastern WA & OR" available at Amazon.com, Roger Jaime ('82), aka MR 80s CC Poison "The Bomber", Tari Free ('83) - Disc Jockey in Seattle, http://tman.kube93.com/pages/jock_tarifree.html, The Tragic Clowns - An Analysis of the Short Lives of John Belushi, Lenny Bruce, and Chris Farley, Stories of Hope and Courage - My Experiences with Alzheimer's Disease, http://www.misstricities.org/pastmisstc.htm, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_New_York, makes the cover of TIME magazine (9/24/94), in the December, 1989, issue of National Geographic, Miss Tri-Cities and Miss Washington, 2002. Under his direction, the soccer program built the first dedicated high school soccer stadium in the state. Today is not OK. The town of Richland, WA, is where this worship takes place. The title of an article previously cited here refers to the following quote: When workers did have qualms, they deferred to those they called The Men Who Know Best, the people in Congress and the Pentagon who gave the directives to make the weapons they fueled. (Courtesy Tri-Cities Herald). Fish and Wildlife Service, and that an 86,000-acre national wildlife refuge be created abutting the northern and eastern banks of the Hanford Reach. Richland Chamber of Commerce WELCOME TO RICHLAND. We wouldn't even be talking about if they didn't bomb Pearl Harbor first. We cannot change the past and we cannot celebrate it, either. Since the mid-1960s, Hanford had been seeking a mission that would replace plutonium production as its reason for existence. In 2019, "Archie" a B-17 Ball Turret Gunner was named the first-ever character mascot at Richland High School. Contamination from Hanford may at times have created the most radioactive stream in North America, but the Hanford Reach also became one of the last great spawning beds for salmon in the United States. Jensen went on to be a successful coach at Spokane Community College. Yet in late 1945 and 1946 the outlook for Hanford remained uncertain as the United States debated the future of atomic weapons and its own role in world affairs. Some hoped to return to the vision, laid out most fully during the 1930s and early 1940s, of a stream harnessed to serve the economic needs of the region and the national-security needs of the nation. The fam bam is here, and you sadly wave good bye to your dorm room. Radhi, SUNY Stony Brook3. We [built] this bomb that ends the war, she said. [On Richland's past see John M. Findlay, "Atomic Frontier Days: Richland, Washington, and the Modern American West," Journal of the West 34 (July 1995): 32-41. Hes not willing to see this symbol dismissed without a fight. As a civilian, would you accept being obliterated for a decision that President Trump made? The nuclear facilities at Hanford were built up in separate phases between 1942 and 1982. [2].mw-parser-output .locmap .od{position:absolute}.mw-parser-output .locmap .id{position:absolute;line-height:0}.mw-parser-output .locmap .l0{font-size:0;position:absolute}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pv{line-height:110%;position:absolute;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pl{line-height:110%;position:absolute;top:-0.75em;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pr{line-height:110%;position:absolute;top:-0.75em;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pv>div{display:inline;padding:1px}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pl>div{display:inline;padding:1px;float:right}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pr>div{display:inline;padding:1px;float:left}. One of Jacobs' notable alumni is Travis Buck of the Cleveland Indians, formerly of the Oakland Athletics. Why do we pretend that when our kids wear the mushroom cloud on their chest with pride, we aren't teaching them to celebrate death? The economic future once more appeared bleak, with problems compounded by the fact that Senator Magnuson had failed to win re-election in 1980 and Senator Jackson died in 1983. View career profiles, stats, photos and video highlights. By 1992 employment at the Hanford reservation reached an all-time high. Indeed, the troubles associated with the development of nuclear power had helped to spur the rethinking of those attitudes in the years after 1970. While Washington, D.C., still called the truly important shots at Hanford, the people of Washington state began to feel that their voice could be heard, too, in planning Hanford's future. This photograph is the artist's conception of what it would look like. I dont know how well we ended up fitting in, especially when we were speaking English most of the time, but nonetheless. Until bombs were dropped on Japan, virtually nobody knew what Hanford was for, and many Washingtonians grew quite suspicious of the secret site. The time has come for Richland High School to change the Bomber name. The video then features a statement by a Japanese exchange student attending Richland. With many college semesters coming to a close, students find themselves procrastinating. I am deeply embarrassed that I ever sported bomber gear, and I am guilty of using hashtags that turn a blind eye to destruction. The plutonium built is a huge part of Richland history. Please update your browser. To Trisha Pritikin, who grew up in Richland but moved away years ago,the R-Cloud has only negative connotations. And around the state, and the nation, there is a growing sentiment for schools with Native American mascots (Chiefs, Braves, Indians) to change their mascots. Mushroom cloud logos are proudly displayed throughout the school and the student body used to shout "nuke 'em" at sporting events. Ill note that the sentiment, which is what I think matters, is neatly summed up in the article: Plane or Bomb? Studying for seven hours straight, slightly brain dead and disoriented. Richland found pride in the victory and this pride leaked into Richland culture just like the. But he no longer has the energy to fight it. A list of the most popular browsers can be found below. Many people claim that 'the bombers' is referable to the Day's Pay plane. The Tri-City economy managed to keep afloat until the 1970s, when construction of three nuclear power plants, under the auspices of the Washington Public Power Supply System (or WPPSS), got under way at Hanford (two others were started in western Washington). We killed them. The mascot is named after Archie Purcell, a WWII veteran who was a ball turret gunner on the famous B-17 "A Days Pay". (Logo courtesy Richland High School). The Tri-Cities had to face Hanford's future, and the end of the Cold War, without the cushion provided by Washington's powerful Democratic politicians. There I grew up among my friends and their parents, workers at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, the birthplace of the plutonium bomb later dropped upon the city of Nagasaki, Japan, an incendiary device which killed 70,000 human beings. When the Tri-Cities of the 1990s spoke about the technology of the future, they focused not on the atom but on the development of new methods for managing the wastes created during World War Two and the Cold War in the course of plutonium production. Most notoriously of all, the Richland High Bombers, after 1970 or so, adopted an atomic-blast mushroom cloud as the school logo. . Clare Regelbrugge, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Sign in to comment to your favorite stories, participate in your community and interact with your friends. The new symbol of the football team, the Richland Bombers, became the mushroom cloud. Thus during the 1980s and 1990s there appeared a forceful opposition to proposals for dredging or damming more of the Columbia. Volunteer Schedule last updated on Mar 23, 2023 @ 7:26am (GMT) Some Tri-City boosters, along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, urged that the Hanford Reach be dredged in order to permit barge traffic all the way upstream to Wenatchee, and promoted the building of Ben Franklin Dam in order to facilitate more irrigation, more generation of hydroelectricity, and more slack-water recreation. No way. It is estimated that 200,000 Japanese people died when the atomic bombs exploded, and thousands more died later from radiation exposure. So, it should not surprise anyone that people somewhere worship this thing, which gibbers madly in the collective unconscious like H.P. I wonder how strong a feeling can actually get before it is too much to bear. The bombs the mascot are referring to are Fat Boy and Little Man, which were dropped on Japan in the beginning of August in 1945. EIN: 91-1267667; Classification Single Organization Support (Recreation, Sports, Leisure, Athletics) Nonprofit Tax Code . If we truly wanted to celebrate our contributions, we would focus on celebrating scientific and engineering accomplishments that have occurred at Handford that didn't directly cost thousands of people their lives.
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