Radical Peace: People Refusing War, Ch. 15: Coming Home by William T. Hathaway

No War Collage

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Warning: for mature readers only

by William T. Hathaway
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Germany
August 21, 2015

Coming Home
From the book
Radical Peace: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

RADICAL PEACE is a collection of reports from antiwar activists, the true stories of their efforts to change our warrior culture. In this chapter a mother tells of her son’s return from combat. She wishes to remain anonymous.

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Ch. 14: The Transformer: Sabotage for Peace by William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Germany
March 1, 2015

Sabotage

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The Transformer: Sabotage for Peace
From the book
Radical Peace: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

A former student of mine works as a janitor. After graduating from college he worked as a market researcher and an advertising salesperson, but both jobs soured him on the corporate world. He hated being a junior suit, and the thought of becoming a senior suit was even worse.

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Ch. 13: Saboteur, An Interview with a Domestic Insurgent by William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
December 13, 2012

Anarchism

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Saboteur
An interview with a domestic insurgent
From the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

I first met the man we’ll call Trucker in 1970 at a rally against the Vietnam War. Our demo was going to start on the Berkeley campus and continue with a march down Telegraph Avenue. This was shortly after the National Guard and police had murdered six demonstrators at Kent State and Jackson State, so the mood was extremely tense. The Berkeley city government had denied us a permit to march and called in police reinforcements from Oakland. Continue reading

Ch. 12: The Split: Differences over Israel tear apart a Jewish marriage by William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
October 29, 2012

Jews Against The War

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The Split: Differences over Israel tear apart a Jewish marriage
From the Book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

Stan and Hannah Cooper are friends of mine from college days. Both are Jewish, but they have diametrically opposed views about Israel, and their differences have become so bitter that they’ve decided to divorce. As the three of us talked about this, it became clear that their dispute is a microcosm of the conflict that is tearing the Jewish community apart and also destroying lives in an increasingly large part of the world.

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Ch 11: Exit Free (A collective in the USA that helps women leave the military by discharge or desertion) by William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
October 6, 2012

Venus makes a wrong turn

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Exit Free
From the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

The following report was contributed by Naomi Golner, one of the founders of Exit Free, a collective in the USA that helps women leave the military by discharge or desertion.

I’ve become a criminal for peace. How I got there is a complicated story, beginning when the community college where I teach reduced most of its humanities faculty to adjunct status. Continue reading

Ch. 10: Comrades in Arms — Rape in the U.S. Military by William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
August 12, 2012

Comrades in Arms
From the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

I received this letter from an ex-soldier.

Hi Mr. Hathaway,

I got your letter (forwarded) asking for information for your book. To answer your first question, Yes, I’m enjoying living in Holland. I’m becoming the little Dutch girl — the little Black Dutch girl, but that doesn’t bother people here. They’re very tolerant and internationally minded.

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Ch. 9: Comparing Evils by William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
February 22, 2012

Stop the Wars!

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Comparing Evils

From the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

Jamal Khan is an Afghan journalist who fled his country because of Taliban persecution and now lives in Germany. We met in the apartment of a mutual friend from the Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft, the German Peace Society. Jamal is mid-forties, thin, with curly brown hair, tan skin, and clear green eyes that take everything in. We spoke in German, then later reworked the interview from my English translation.

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Ch. 8: From Cheerleader to Enemy of the State by William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
January 23, 2012

Resist or don't

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From Cheerleader to Enemy of the State

From the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

The long, flouncy curls from Judy Davis’ cheerleader days are gone. Her straight blonde hair is now cut short. Large blue eyes stand out in a face pale without makeup. Her soft Southern drawl has an undertone of determination. “It’s taken me awhile, but now I’m glad to be considered an ‘unsuitable influence.’ That was how the school board justified my firing. That and ‘deviating from the curriculum.’ It’s like they were implying I was a deviant. And according to their norms, I am.”

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Ch. 7: SAMs for Uncle Sam by William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
November 4, 2011

War Crime

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SAMs for Uncle Sam

From the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

Merna al-Marjan is a young Iraqi who is currently in Germany studying European history. We talked in her dormitory room, a spartan but functional cubicle in a building that embodies a hopeful change in European history: it was constructed in the nineteenth century as an army barracks but now houses university students. That’s progress.

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Ch. 6: Keep On Rockin’ By William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
November 4, 2011

Keep On Rockin’

From the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

RADICAL PEACE is a collection of reports from peace activists in the USA, Europe, Iraq, and Afghanistan. An American exchange student in one of my courses here in Germany contributed the following essay.

Jason was my boy-friend for a while in high school. It wasn’t a match made in heaven. Continue reading

Ch. 5: Escaping the Military: Healing the Virus of Violence By William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
September 24, 2011

Walking monk

Escaping the Military: Healing the Virus of Violence

From the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

A young Buddhist novice contributed this account, which we then revised together. To protect the people who have protected him, he wishes to be nameless.

Back in high school I’d been good at languages but couldn’t afford to go to college, so I joined the navy for the language training. Continue reading

Ch. 4: Peace Chaplain By William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
August 29, 2011

Peace Chaplain

RADICAL PEACE is a collection of reports from peace activists in the USA, Europe, Iraq, and Afghanistan. A seminarian contributed this chapter about learning to love her enemies. Because of her activism, she prefers to remain anonymous.

To celebrate Armed Forces Day the military base near my seminary held an open house, a public relations extravaganza to improve their image and boost recruiting. They invited the public in for a marching band parade, a precision flying show, and a sky diving demonstration. They even offered free lemonade and cookies.

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Ch. 3: Conscious Peace: World Peace Depends upon Our Collective Consciousness by William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
August 15, 2011

Peace to All

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Conscious Peace:
World Peace Depends upon Our Collective Consciousness

From the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

I was sitting in full lotus, body wrapped in a blanket, mind rapt in deep stillness, breathing lightly, wisps of air curling into the infinite space behind my closed eyes. My mantra had gone beyond sound to become a pulse of light in an emptiness that contained everything.

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Ch. 2: Generations of Resistance to War By William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
August 2, 2011

21st Century Hippies!

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Generations of Resistance to War

From the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

A Granny for Peace told of finding young allies in the struggle against military recruiting. Due to the Patriot Act, she wishes to remain nameless.

It’s never easy being a parent or a child. The generations always have friction between them, a conflict between the elders’ need to give guidance and youths’ need to find their own way. Continue reading

Ch. 1: The Real War Heroes By William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
July 13, 2011

Resist or don't

Image by pverdicchio via Flickr

The Real War Heroes

From the book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway
Published by Trine Day

“That must be them.” Petra took one hand off the steering wheel and pointed to a group of soldiers about two hundred meters away, standing along our road next to a high chainlink fence topped with barbed wire.

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