Striving for Peace : Symbolic Doves at Hiroshima Strengthen Kroc’s Resolve

On a steaming hot day here Tuesday, San Diego philanthropist Joan Kroc found herself at a symbolic high point in her 3-month-old campaign against nuclear weapons.

Kroc said she was deeply moved and her resolve was strengthened by the solemn ceremony commemorating the 40th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bombing at Hiroshima.

Kroc sat with actor Jack Lemmon, author Norman Cousins and other American dignitaries in a multinational crowd estimated at 55,000 people, almost all of whom wore buttons or shirts decrying the arms race.

“Who could not be touched at 1,500 doves being released,” marveled Kroc, who arrived here on her private jet, on the wings of which are painted doves--the symbol of peace.

“I’m even more committed now; I’m not going to give up when I see the hope for peace that was expressed here.”

Kroc, owner of the San Diego Padres and a rabid baseball fan, even lost interest temporarily in news of an impending strike by American ballplayers.

“I was asked about it by San Diego radio station KFMB in a telephone interview,” Kroc said. “I had to tell them that it was the farthest thing from my mind, after this profound experience.

“I just couldn’t talk about baseball today.”

Instead, Kroc spent a whirlwind day and a half in Hiroshima promoting her cause of ending the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. She ranged from a private dinner with bomb survivors to local television interviews to a visit to the Atomic Bomb Research hospital.

Despite the unusually sticky weather, Kroc remained at ease on her first visit to Japan, smiling at the proper moments while listening to introductions of her in a language she does not understand.

Kroc flew into Hiroshima with a new song entitled “Dear World . . . I Really Love You” that she commissioned through her La Jolla-based foundation as a gift to Hiroshima marking the 40th anniversary.

The lyrics are in the form of a child writing a letter to the adults of the world, suggesting that there must be a better way to live than to continue building nuclear bombs.

The song begins:

Daddy, can I talk to you? Will you hold me in the chair?

I heard about some things in school that kind of got me scared.

A place called Hiroshima, Daddy, a lot of people died.

I saw the pictures all in school, and it made me want to cry.

The song was translated into Japanese several weeks ago and was sung for the first time this week.

Steve Vaus, who has written novelty songs for the Padres, wrote the lyrics and music.

Vaus led 29 Japanese schoolchildren outfitted in red and white uniforms and red berets in a Japanese-language rendition on Hiroshima television Tuesday as Kroc beamed, tears welling in her eyes.

“Music is a universal language,” Kroc later explained to Masaaki Hashimoto, host of a morning television program.

“Children are the best communicators of truth, hope and love, and I wanted to give a gift to the children of Hiroshima so they in turn could give it to the children of the world.”

Kroc dismissed criticism of her efforts, which have been called naive and emotional.

“It’s a fact that nuclear war will destroy us all if it is allowed to happen,” she said. “You have to get passionate about this. I am very outspoken because I want my grandchildren to have the same chances that I have had.”

Kroc said that Hiroshima has given her several ideas to pursue in her campaign. One possibility is the funding of a traveling exhibition of photos and artifacts from the peace museum here.

In the last several months, Kroc has spent $1.5 million on advertisements in newspapers across America, decrying the arms race. Kroc has a personal fortune estimated at more than half a billion dollars. She is the widow of McDonald’s restaurant founder Ray Kroc and a major stockholder in the fast-food chain.

Kroc has said she is blessed with the means to put her convictions to work.

Through the Kroc Foundation, she has also purchased 500,000 specially edited versions of the book “Missile Envy: The Arms Race and Nuclear War” by Dr. Helen Caldicott. Caldicott is a founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility and a longtime advocate of bilateral nuclear disarmament.

Kroc is mailing copies of the book to influential people throughout the United States, including elected officials, educators, librarians and others.

Her daughter, Linda Smith, founded MEND, Mothers Embracing Nuclear Disarmament, and led thousands of San Diegans in a peace walk Tuesday through Balboa Park.