ARLINGTON — Despite heavy humidity and a light rain, antiwar activists gathered in the town center Saturday morning to protest nuclear weapons and commemorate the 71st anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
About 10 activists held signs as drivers honked for them on busy Massachusetts Avenue. Homemade posters read: “Never again,’’ “Remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki,’’ and “Abolish all nuclear weapons.’’
The Arlington event was one of many planned across the state by peace and faith groups to remember the bombings on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945, that killed about 200,000 people, mostly civilians. Many died immediately and others perished later from burns, radiation, and other injuries.
A Quaker group in Cambridge planned to float candles on the Charles River on Saturday evening to remember those who died and read an essay by Trappist monk Thomas Merton, “Original Child Bomb,’’ about the bombing.
On Sunday, a group will ride bicycles around Cambridge to mark the outline of the Hiroshima blast, an attempt to simulate the main affected area if the bomb had been dropped on Cambridge City Hall in Central Square.
“The idea is to show how dangerous nuclear weapons are by bringing them to the eye of the public in a way that makes sense,’’ said Ofelia Cohen-Odiaga, 16, an event coordinator and senior at Commonwealth School in Back Bay.
In Arlington, the group was overwhelmingly baby boomers and longtime antiwar activists. Many were members of the organization United for Justice with Peace and have held regular protests against nuclear weapons and violence since 2002, in response to the military escalation post-9/11 and the lead-up to the war in Iraq.
Susan Teshu, 60, of North Cambridge, said she believes the lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still relevant. “It’s important, especially as we’re getting further and further from when it happened, for people to understand that this is a real possibility,’’ she said.
Steve Stodola, 74, of Arlington, said he worries about government spending on nuclear weapons and what might happen if they are in the hands of the next president. “There’s a probability that it could be used again if the wrong people get into office,’’ he said.
The US government is expected to spend $1 trillion over the next 30 years on a creating new nuclear weapons. Russia and China are also building new weapons.
John Bach, an organizer of the Quaker event, said he worries about the use of depleted uranium, a radioactive byproduct of nuclear weapons that is also dangerous and has been used as a weapon.
“We think that Hiroshima Day is a very appropriate time to remember the horrors and insanity of nuclear weapon policy,’’ said Bach, who is also a member of the Massachusetts Peace Action group, which is coordinating the week of remembrance events.
Laura Krantz can be reached at laura.krantz@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @laurakrantz.
