Letter: Mushroom cloud is a symbol of death to many

Thursday, May 2, 2002 | 8:47 a.m.

Nevadans will soon be able to purchase a license plate featuring the symbol of death, deformities and destruction ... and some thought the idea of a mob museum tasteless.

I used to have a dad. He was Charles A. Broudy, a United States Marine pilot, a major who rose through the ranks and fought with distinction in Korea and World War II, earning five air medals and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He told corny jokes, he had a deep dimple in his chin, he was awful at home plumbing jobs and he loved to fly.

He was 56 when he died the agonizing death of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, 20 years after participating in two above-ground tests at the Nevada Test Site. He was in the front-line trenches at Shot Hood, still the largest and most powerful bomb ever detonated in the continental United States.

My father was killed on July 5, 1957, but it took him 20 years to die. Three days before my 1977 wedding, my father entered the hospital for the last time. As my husband and I celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary this summer, we will relive our visit to his hospital room after our ceremony, where, still in our wedding attire, we played him an audiotape of the service and sobbed together.

When I read that the DMV has announced that we Nevadans will be able to purchase a license plate bearing the image of the mushroom cloud, my heart broke once again. The 2001 Legislature approved a plate to honor the history of the Nevada Test Site and its role in the Cold War, proceeds from which will be used to build the Nevada Atomic Testing Institute. Must the design feature the cloud that devastated so many?

The mushroom cloud is a symbol to too many of lives ruined. I dread the times I will see that image on the car in front of me. I'll have to pull over and stop. It is too hard to drive and cry at the same time.

STEFANI EVANS