Monthly Archive for March, 2011

by Chrissy Nesbitt

It was a joyful group that gathered today at Ground Zero and processed over to the main gate of Bangor Naval Base. We numbered about fifty, all decked out in rain gear and boots and umbrellas, though by the end of the vigil we had the sun come out to join us.

We read together. Steve Kelly read for us the words from Isaiah, about “setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke.” And the world’s liberation, Isaiah tells us, is ours as well: “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed.”

Veterans at the White House fence, March 19, 2011. Photo copyright Bill Hughes.

Following are reports from Art Laffin of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker community in Washington, D.C., about the veteran-led protest and arrests there on March 19, the eighth anniversary of the U.S. occupation of  Iraq; from Military Families Speak Out about anti-war arrests in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood that same day; and from stopthesewars.org about the following day’s demonstration outside the Marine Corps base at Quantico, Virginia, where alleged whistleblower Pfc. Bradley Manning is being held in solitary confinement.

Pacific Life Community activists enter the Lockheed-Martin missile complex, March 7, 2011. Photo by Jim Haber.

About sixty people came from as far as Albuquerque, New Mexico and Poulsbo, Washington for a two-day retreat of the Pacific Life Community in Menlo Park, California.

The retreat culminated with a two-hour vigil at the gate of Lockheed-Martin’s nearby Sunnyvale missile plant. Twelve people representing the faith-based network of activists who are dedicated to “ending nuclear weapons and war making through nonviolent direct action” walked past the gatehouse to bring their message directly to workers. Their path was soon blocked, and when they did not leave, all were arrested. Most were cited and released a short time later; Fr. Steve Kelly refused the conditional release. He was jailed for two more days before being released on time served. Court dates for the others are set in April.

Larry Purcell, a Catholic Worker from nearby Redwood City wrote about the local contrast in government spending:

Early this month a group of us went to Sunnyvale to protest at Lockheed/Martin Corp – the biggest military contractor in the world.  It’s hard to imagine how big Lockheed/Martin is.  According to William Hartung, “One of every 14 dollars doled out by the Pentagon” goes to Lockheed. Put another way, “that amounts to a ‘Lockheed/Martin tax’ of $260 per tax paying household in the United States.”

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