Ignatians West Highlights Frank C. Bognar’s Nuclear Disarmament Work and A Great Flash of Light
Frank C. Bognar joined a February meeting of Ignatians West, where he presented his work on nuclear disarmament in what participants described as a thoughtful and challenging presentation.
The group’s Lent 2026 newsletter features Bognar’s book, A Great Flash of Light: One American’s Journey Across the Nuclear Age, described as “a memoir illuminating a path to world peace.” The book begins on July 16, 1945, the day the United States detonated the first atomic bomb, and reflects on how the Nuclear Age began, how the race to acquire nuclear weapons evolved, and what can be done to change the notion that they keep us safe.
Ignatians West highlights Bognar’s reflections on the Cuban Missile Crisis and the extreme danger the world faced during those thirteen days, describing the book as a uniquely written call to action grounded in history and personal experience. A Great Flash of Light is available HERE.
From Ignatians West, Lent Newsletter
A Great Flash of Light is a new book by Frank C. Bognar, subtitled “One American’s Journey Across the Nuclear Age.“ But this book is much more than a historical reflection. As also noted on the cover, it’s “A Memoir illuminating a Path to World Peace.”
The book begins on July 16, 1945, the day the United States detonated the first atomic bomb, six months before the author was born. Bognar’sdescription is stark, detailed, and haunting. It definitely sets a tone—until you turn the page.
The early chapters are filled with a young boy’s awakening view of a dangerous world within the one he cherishes. Heartwarming moments and laugh-out-loud antics are sprinkled throughout— from working on the farm, to book reports, to band practice. But Bognar also notes the “drop and cover” bomb drills, brothers going off to war, and his admiration for a war hero named John Kennedy. He later devotes three chapters to Kennedy’s emotional struggle during the Cuban Missile Crisis with details unknown at the time—a reminder of how dangerously close we came to nuclear destruction.
A Great Flash of Light is an insightful read on how the nuclear age began, how the race to acquire nuclear weapons evolved, and what we can do to change the notion that they keep us safe. A heavy topic made easier by Bognar’s style of alternating between the lessons of historical events, and the heart and humor of a lifetime he treasures.
Ultimately, A Great Flash of Light is a uniquely written call to action. We have the power to stop the violence and the mindset that leads to war. Bognar affirms that “with faith in one another and in our common humanity,” world peace will be achieved if we choose to make it so.
Frank C. Bognar is the author of a memoir entitled A Great Flash of Light: One American’s Journey Across the Nuclear Age. He has written the book to help sound the alarm on the closeness of nuclear danger, and to help set a direction to reach a nuclear weapons’ free world.
As a teen, he lived through the thirteen days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and along with the public, felt a sense of total powerlessness as the world began to drift towards a war no one
wanted, and no one seemed able to stop. From that surreal experience, as an adult he researched the background to the crisis, which helped him to understand the extreme danger the world faces today.
He served as an Army Infantry Officer and General Staff Officer, V Corps, Frankfurt, Germany, and was trained as a Psychological Operations Officer at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. When leaving the service, he earned a masters’ and doctorate in public administration, which introduced him to the deeper international drama of the Cuban crisis, and provided a chilling vantage point of how close we came to the end of civilization.
He currently serves as Board Chair of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, whose mission is to help create a just and peaceful world, free of nuclear weapons.
It is the author’s belief that our world is at an existential crossroad, the moment of choice, when we must make the decision of placing our faith and our future in the possession and advancement of nuclear weapons, or in renouncing them. Our collective decision will impact everything we treasure, and everyone we love.
