by Lynne Greenwald
As I prepare to enter a “not guilty” plea on January 6, 2010 for charges from the November 2, 2009 Disarm Now Plowshares, I remain strongly committed to the need to disarm the Trident subs, and all nuclear weapons. I also stand ready to face the court in an attempt to declare the illegality and immorality of these weapons. And I stand here today as a mother, daughter and sister fully aware of a variety of needs, hopes and dreams that I may not be available to share with my family.
My daughter, Alissa, is pregnant and she and her husband, Brad, are happily expecting their first baby this coming June. My other daughter, Christy, lives in San Francisco, searching for meaningful work and a good life. Noah is about to take off on a quest to understand who he is and how to live peacefully. I’m fortunate to have wonderful adult children who continue to support their mother’s actions.
My parents and sister, Karen, live in Erie, Pennsylvania – my birthplace and 3000 miles away. I traveled West to “find myself” and to live and work for peace in a nonviolent community in 1980. I have a small family and my parents are in their 80’s now. My sister just found out she has cancer. Testing continues to determine a better diagnosis and necessary treatment. She has lived with my parents for several years and has no other family.
These words are being shared now as I face the experiences of life and death for loved ones, and as I anticipate probable jail time. What were abstract thoughts for the past year have become reality today. Of course the court could deliver a not guilty verdict and recognize that this action of entering the storage area (SWFPAC) for the highest concentration of nuclear weapons in the U.S., was a necessary step in exposing the Trident threats to destroy lives, and all life.
I will be in court January 6 and face the consequences along with my 4 partners in upholding peace, truth and love – Bix, Susan, Anne and Steve. I will ache and cry for my family in whatever joy and suffering they encounter. I pray for a healthy future for all children, for cures for cancer and all that brings about pain and suffering, for nuclear disarmament and the end of war.
And because we are a community seeking a better world, I am asking for your gifts of prayer and thoughts, for my family and all those who are victims of horrible wars throughout this world, and for military men and women who lose their lives or are severely injured and traumatized. My life, as a “peace activist” is no different than these others, except I chose to cut through the fences at the Trident Base in Kitsap County to expose a hidden truth. I chose to celebrate life by entering the base with my hammer, pruning shears and sunflower seeds to begin disarmament.
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Filed under: DNP reflections | Tagged: abolish nuclear weapons, active nonviolence, Anne Montgomery, Bill Bichsel, court arraignment, Disarm Now Plowshares, illegal nuclear weapons, Lynne Greenwald, nuclear weapons unsafe, Steve Kelly, Susan Crane, SWFPAC, Trident nuclear weapons, Trident Submarines | 3 Comments »
Vigiling at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor
People in Cars, Newspaper Articles and the Curious
Susan Crane
A couple of times a week we’ve been standing in front of Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, holding signs, as people come and go at shift-change time. We’ve been joined by local activists as well as Malcolm, a member of Veterans for Peace.
Some coming off the base wave to us or return peace signs while others yell at us to “go home,” and some give a thumbs down or half a peace sign, which I figure is better than none. Some from the base have stopped to talk with us. “We need our firearms.” “Where would we be without war?” “We don’t want to be taken over by Nazis, or communists, or El Qaida.” “These nuclear weapons keep us safe” Some have simply asked us why we are there.
And then there have been the responses to articles in the newpapers–most recently there have been 90 responses, most quite hostile, to an article that my son, Chet Collins, wrote for the Ukiah Daily Journal.
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Filed under: DNP reflections | Tagged: abolish nuclear weapons, comments from cars, Mayors for Peace, Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, nuclear disarmament, nuclear sub base, nuclear weapons illegal, Susan Crane, trident sub base, Trident Subs Illegal, whacko protesters | 1 Comment »