The aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, is going on display at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum.
The Enola Gayunleashed an atomic bomb, nicknamed "Little Boy", on the Japanese port city, killing more than 140,000 people and leaving tens of thousands disfigured and suffering from lingering radiation illness.
However, the current text for the Enola Gayexhibit does not include casualty figures from Hiroshima or show any photographs of the devastation the bomb caused.
The reassembled B-29 Superfortress was unveiled to the media on Monday in a hangar near Dulles International Airport at the museum's new annex. which opens on December 15th.
"This airplane is a part of our history and it is a part of who we are," said Mr Dik Daso, curator of the aeronautics division of the museum.
Mr Daso told journalists that death toll estimates varied widely and the exhibition space did not lend itself to a complicated display including details of the human cost.
"Our role is to provide, artefact and restore it [the aircraft] as best we can and allow people to come to see it and let it speak to them. They can come up with what it means to them. I don't need to tell them," said Mr Daso.
But Japanese-American researcher Ms Aiko Herzig said she had hoped scenes of the human impact could have been included.
"I have no objections to the Enola Gaybeing reassembled but to see an aircraft without the story behind it is a waste of time. We need to remind ourselves about how terrible nuclear weapons are," said Ms Herzig.