Seymour
still celebrating Japan’s defeat 59 years later with annual atomic bombing
reenactment and V-J parade
Dan Grimm, THG
Features
August 8, 2004
Every August for 59 years,
citizens of the Jackson County town of Seymour have put together a parade to
celebrate one of the greatest events in American history: the surrender of the
Japanese armed forces to the Allies after the devastation of the industrial
cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the first atomic weapons, officially ending
World War II in 1945.
Sunday the tradition was
kept alive as an estimated 50,000 spectators from all over the state lined the
streets of this normally sleepy municipality to see what in recent years has
become Indiana’s greatest annual spectacle of patriotism.
Eleven years ago, local
businessman and remote-controlled airplane enthusiast Bob Klein took the V-J
parade to the next level when he came up with the idea of making a scale model
of Hiroshima and having a replica of the B-29 bomber Enola Gay fly over
it and drop a bomb. Pyrotechnics are used to create the illusion of an
explosion and mushroom cloud over the city at the start of the parade route.
The
result is quite a show; at the precise time that Klein flies his mini Enola Gay
over the 30 by 30 foot replica of 1945
Hiroshima and drops the bomb, technicians set off the fireworks and the entire
display is set on fire.
The crowd, silent as the
faux Enola Gay approached from the distance, erupted in applause at model city’s
demise.
Once firemen put out the
fire, the parade began.
Civic groups and marching
bands from all over the state came to participate on what turned out to be an
absolutely gorgeous day in downtown Seymour. The procession began at noon and
lasted over four hours.
Tom Symon, who brought his
family all the way from Crawfordsville for the day, was just one of many
impressed with the festivities. “They really put on a great event. The bombing
was fantastic and my kids had a lot of fun at the parade. We will definitely be
back next year.”
Next years V-J events
should be even more impressive; the Blue Angels are scheduled to appear to mark
the 60th anniversary of Japan’s
surrender.
The
result is quite a show; at the precise time that Klein flies his mini Enola Gay
over the 30 by 30 foot replica of 1945
Hiroshima and drops the bomb, technicians set off the fireworks and the entire
display is set on fire. 
