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It was the Lord's Day, 17 May 1998. It was the second and final day of the Andrews Air Force Base Air Show and Open House, billed as the largest such affair in the nation. It was shortly after 9:15 a.m.
It was at the site of the B-52 Bomber on display that day at Andrews. It was a bomber which, according to the soldier acting as guide, had been, busy since being built in 1960; busy in Vietnam and other near-east Countries. Busy in Iraq, in the massacre there at the start of this decade, and in the ongoing terrorizing of that land.
The bomb bay doors were open, and children and adults bent down to walk into the guts of this enormous, dark machine. Once in the bomb bay, one looks around the cold, empty space where a large number of nuclear and/or "conventional" bombs are held at the ready for their business. From this space the bombs are spun and then dropped on their victims below.
It was five of us who gathered in this malignant womb. Five Catholic Christians. Among us: a mother/grand mother, two Dominican sisters, two parish priests.
We carried household hammers, bottles containing our blood, typed statements declaring our purpose. We carried these and we carried, in our hearts and minds, the vision of Jesus: the unity and peace of the Reign of God.
It was about 9:30 a.m. It was the Lord's Day. Rev. Frank Cordaro, seeing the bomb bay was, for the moment, not crowded, announced the task at hand: "Sisters and brothers! Let us disarm these gods of metal!"
Whereupon we took out our hammers and our blood and began the work of disarmament. It was the Lord's Day.
It was the 30th anniversary of the witness of the Catonsville 9 that day. So each of the five hammered six times apiece. Thirty hammer blows for 30 years. Thirty years of ongoing resistance to the war-making which is business as usual. We rejoiced to celebrate in this way the resistance of that watershed witness at Catonsville. Thank God for that fracture of good order, when good order is death as social method.
The hammer blows rang out, metal on metal, heaven against hell.
The blood was poured, a shocking unmasking was accomplished. To wit: the Andrews Air Show, like all military air shows, depends on true purposes remaining hidden. No mention or display here of tangled bodies, mangled limbs, destroyed lives, ruined towns, daily terror. No blood. All this is under wraps. Wraps of awe at sheer power, wraps of delight at high tech wizardry, wraps of pride at the mustering of human ingenuity and resources and the subsequent concoction of sophisticated machines such as these.
So children are put in cockpits, are handed various weapons and are taught how to aim and are taught how to pull triggers and press buttons; planes soar and roar and the only results seen are the picnic baskets brought out.
So the blood is poured and the wraps are unwrapped, the mask off.
Looking at our blood on that hammer of hell, one might hear the cries of the young and the old - our sisters and brothers whose number, whose names and stories God alone knows, who died in the work of this weapon, this B-52. Our blood thus became theirs, in a communion our witness expressed, indeed flowed from. Our blood allowed theirs to be remembered, to be seen and to cry out. Thus our witness.
We gathered together outside the bomb bay, whose doors had been marked by our hammers and blood. We unfurled a banner explaining our presence, and we began reading aloud from our statement of purpose. As hundreds and hundreds of folks were in line to tour Air Force One, and as this line snaked around the B-52 bomber, the number of those who saw and heard our witness was great.
In a matter of seconds military police ordered us to kneel and then lay face down on the tarmac. We continued reading from the statement until the papers were torn from our hands. Then we prayed the Lord's prayer. It was the Lord's day.
Two radio journalists from "Ocean Pacifica" in New York City were covering the event at Andrews. When they saw what we had done, they began interviewing us on the scene. The furious cops arrested them as well as us. We were cuffed and take away, and the journalists too. Together we were taken to military police headquarters.
Mere moments before we had begun our work of disarmament, three young boys, holding hands, entered the bomb bay. With wondering eyes they watched our work, following us outside and staying with us until we were led away. One couldn't but thank God for such witnesses, who provide much of the rationale for our action. One couldn't but thank God they encountered a clear 'no' to weapons of mass destruction amidst so many 'yesses.' It was the Lord's Day.
At police headquarters we were separated, some put in cells, some in rooms with guards posted nearby. We were held strictly incommunicado. We were not offered food, and only grudgingly offered water or allowed use of toilets. No one told us anything except that we were barred and banned from Andrews. A few of the five were able to hear the demanding effort of the radio journalists to team why they were being held, to speak to someone who could explain this, to call lawyers, to protect their tape and film.
Their demands fell largely on deaf ears. Some of their material was destroyed. Tapes were not returned until days later, and they themselves remained held incommunicado for six hours. At this point they have not been charged with any crime.
US Marshals refused to come fetch us and take us to a local jail due to heavy traffic caused by the air show. The FBI had been called in to see what we had done, so we were put into their benevolent custody.
It was about 6:00 p.m. and it was the first time since we had been brought in that we were together. We were herded into a van and driven to Upper Marlboro court. Men into one cell, women into another. Here we were finally able to call loved ones, alert them of the witness and of our whereabouts, ask that a lawyer be contacted. We were given sandwiches and initial charges. Then off to Prince George's County Jail, where we could expect to be hanging out for the near future.
The jailer's maxim: Hurry up and wait. So it is when one is being "processed" into a jail The spirits of the five were high and strong, with much laughter punctuating the day. And so it went. The women were kept together, and the men too. There was tedium and peace and hilarity. The medical aide who "processed" the men had just come from the women and told, to Frank and Larry's disbelieving laughter, of how she had just given the nuns pregnancy tests! "I don't think that's ever happened to them before," this woman admittedly rather sheepishly, though with chuckles at Frank and Larry's laughter. (These two have suggested (he possibility of raising funds with a contest of some sort based on guesses as to the test results.)
The thin plastic jail mattresses were nirvana-like by the time, late, late in the evening when folks ended up where they ended up. It had been a day of gifts, a day of joy. It had been the Lord's Day.
Scene: (Monday morning 18 May) Calls of "Breakfast! Breakfast!" awake Frank and Larry. The latter shuffles over, bleary-eyed, to the former who sits abed, bleary-eyed.
Frank: Larry, look at that clock. What time is it?
Larry: 6:30 a.m. It's early isn't it.
Frank: Larry, look again. Is it 6:30 or 3:15?
Larry: O my God. That sez 3:15. That's why I feel like I do.
(Breakfast is served.)
At 5:00 a.m. or so the men were moved to a holding cell to await transportation to court. The women were moved a bit later. It was nearly 8:30 a.m. when a contingent of FBI folks arrived to move us along to the next thing.
This included a stop at FBI field offices in Calverton, MD where we were "processed" again. We refused cooperation with their interview attempts. After a goodly amount of time had passed in this fashion, we were taken to Greenbelt federal court to be more formally charged and otherwise dealt with.
Before being brought into court, we endured yet one more interview attempt by officials who report to the judge what they've learned. In the midst of these attempts were more sandwiches, which unlike the interview attempts, were quite welcome.
After 1:00 p.m. we were led into the courtroom filled with good friends, a very welcome sight. We were charged with two very similar charges of destruction of government property, both felonies. The sentences combined meant a maximum sentence of 30 years. Then the judge moved to release us on our-own recognizance. We had discussed how to handle this eventuality. So when the judge asked us if we would agree to obey all laws of the land, not to go to Andrews or any military base and to show up for court, we each stated that we would promise only to come to court, but none of the other promises were agreeable to us.
Remarkably, even shockingly, the judge said that she would scratch out the parts we objected to, and could we agree to-that? We could. And so we walked, as they say.
We've spent this unexpected time "out" going to parishes, where we celebrate Eucharist and tell the good news of disarmament. We are going to anybody who will hear us with this news. We are planning to translate our witness in trial.
We were arraigned recently on a different charge than those originally given us. This is a single charge of destruction of government property under $1,000.00 with a $100,000.00 fine. Trial is set for 22 September in the Greenbelt courthouse. A celebration, a "Festival of Hope," is scheduled for the night before. (For more information contact Dorothy Day Catholic Worker at (202) 882-9649.)
The new charge carries a significantly reduced sentence threat - a maximum of one year. Yet none of the five want the focus to be reduced to what sentence we get or don't get, whether that be great or small. We are witnesses to the criminal nature of these weapons of mass destruction, especially the nuclear weapons upon which our government builds our "security." We are witnesses against the violence we subsequently organize our society around. We are witnesses to the-possibility of a different arrangement based on trust put in the God revealed by Jesus. We have acted in obedience to that arrangement, to the way of love enjoined by Jesus. We have acted trusting in the power of nonviolent solutions.
In the prophecy of Isaiah, disarmament is called for "in the days to come" when God's law is made clear. As disciples of Jesus we know that those days have come in the coming of Jesus, who proclaimed God's law, the law of love of friend and foe. So on 17 May we acted in obedience to that law, in imitation of Christ.
It was the Lord's Day.
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God's of Metal Plowhshares Statement
Do not turn to idols and do not cast metal gods for yourself. I am Adonai your God (Leviticus 19:4)
You shall not have other gods besides Me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them. (Exodus 20:3-4)
... they will hammer their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift sword against nation, no longer will they learn how to make war (Isaiah 2:4)
Our apologies, good friends, for the fracture of good order. .
We could not so help us God, do otherwise.
For we are sick at heart, our hearts give us no rest ....
(Opening words of the Statement of The Catonsville
Nine)
The 20th Century is the Bloodiest Century the World Has Ever Known
How to break the cycles of violence generally held up as the only possible alternatives?
We ordinary people - grandmother, parish priests, Catholic sisters - we, people of faith, have come to Andrews Air Force Base, MD to the annual Air Show and Open House '98:
to unmask the idolatry of these gods of metal, celebrated in this nuclear liturgy of the Air Show. We publicly and openly offer disarmament, in a sacred liturgy on behalf of life
to nonviolently and lovingly disarm these weapons of mass murder enfleshing the imperative of Isaiah, to hammer swords into plowshares. We plead for the cause of peace with justice and the abolition of war.
to celebrate God as True Security rather than accept weapons and violence as restorers or maintainers of peace. We pour out our own blood as a sign of our willingness to lay down our lives rather than take life from another.
to announce that weapons and their carriers in space, air, sea and land are in fact idols - gods of metal. Our trust in them amounts to worship. We must not ot applaud, celebrate, or worship them for they defile all of creation.
We are grateful to the Catonsville Nine, who thirty years ago today burned draft files to awaken us to the immorality of the Vietnam War. In this witness we continue the legacy and tradition of the Catonsville witness.
In doing so we hope to offer the next generation an example of love in action - the alternative to violence meeting violence, the alternative to the fate of "an eye for an eye making the whole world blind." (Gandhi).
We encourage all people of good will to explore similar opportunities to put love into action until justice is established and peace prevails in all the earth.
Biographies
Ardeth Platte, OP, a Dominican sister living in community at Baltimore's Jonah House, is originally from Grand Rapids, Mich. A former high school teacher, administrator and City Councilwoman, she has engaged in previous Plowshares actions.
Kathy Shields Boylan, a grandmother, is a mother of five children. She is a member of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in Washington, D.C. and has been involved in previous Plowshares actions.
Rev. Larry Morlan is a Roman Catholic priest in the diocese of Peoria, IL. He is a former member of the Davenport, Iowa Catholic Worker and a struggling resister. He also has previously been involved in a Plowshares action.
Carol Gilbert, OP, is a Dominican sister, formerly from Grand Rapids, Mich., but. currently a member of the Jonah House resistance community. She is a former school teacher, who has been involved in previous Plowshare activities.
Rev. Frank Cordaro is a Roman Catholic priest and pastor at Holy Trinity of southeast Warren County in Iowa. As a co-founder of the Catholic Worker house/community in Des Moines, Iowa in 1976, he has been an active worker for justice and peace for more than twenty years.
Chronology
May 17, 1998
On the 30th anniversary of the Catonsville Nine protest, five peace activists--calling themselves the Gods of Metal Plowshares--hammered and poured blood on a B-52 Bomber during the Department of Defense Open House and Air Show at Andrews Air Force Base, Prince George's County, Maryland. The activists were arrested, barred from the base and jailed.
May 18, 1998
In Greenbelt, Maryland the five activists were brought before U.S. Federal Magistrate Jillyn Schultz who indicated they were facing two federal charges: 1) injury, over $1,000, to government property, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years and a $250,000 fine; and 2) injury or attempted injury to property in a federal jurisdiction, with a possible sentence of 5 to 20 years and a $250,000 fine. Remarkably, the activists were released on personal recognizance. Dave Walsh Little, of Baltimore is serving as the group's attorney advisor.
June 9, 1998
The activists returned to Federal Court; the government dismissed the felony charges, and the five are now facing a single misdemeanor charge of willful injury to government property, less than $1,000 damage, which carries a possible sentence of one year in jail, a $ 100,000 fine and a special assessment fee of $25. The defendants waived their right to a jury trial. A bench trial is set for September 22.
An Invitation to Stand in Solidarity with Gods of Metal Plowshares
Although you have heard much about the five people involved in this witness, many others "behind the scenes" also make up this action. We would like to thank all those people and invite you to join in.
Here are some ways you can offer support:
- Add your name to the list of supporters and receive the Gods of Metal Plowshares Newsletter.
- Send a gift of money to be used for court and jail support and the newsletter.
- With ongoing prayer.
- Attend trial and court proceedings.
- Set up a speaking event.
- Send correspondence of support.
Please make checks payable to: Gods of Metal Plowshares
Mail to:
Gods of Metal Plowshares
C/O Liz Walters, IHM
1664 Church St.
Detroit, MI 48216
For most recent updates call:
Jonah House (410) 233-6238
Reba, Scott or Art at Dorothy Day CW (202) 882-9649
Liz Walters (313) 961-4263
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