Speak Peace to the People
Peace

On Being a Veteran of World War II and a Veteran of the Peace Movement

I have been lucky in love and lucky in the parents I had.  My dear wife of fifty-seven years has supported me, pushed me and inspired me to attempt to do justice, to work for peace and to walk humbly with others.  My father was a Quaker, and he and my mother epitomized the slogan, “If you want peace, work for justice,” long before it became a bumper-sticker favorite.  Those who know me know that I have never been a great leader in the peace movement, but I have had the wisdom or good luck to fall under the influence of some wonderful leaders in the peace and justice movements.  In my ‘growing-up’ years, thanks to my father, I heard folks like Kirby Page, Sherwood Eddy, Buck Kester, and others.  In my college years there was Charlie Jones and Scotty Cowan, among others who spoke at YMCA and Student Christian Movement conferences.

Then came WWII and the struggle of conscience: conscientious objector or go to war.  Whether it was cowardice or conviction I’m not sure, but I allowed myself to be drafted and eventually ended up in Europe in the 26th Infantry Division, part of General Patton’s Third Army.  A person who served in the military, who experienced some of the horrors of war, should have something to say about peace.  We all know that being a veteran does not translate into being a peacenik – and it certainly does not guarantee wisdom – but I think it pushes me in what I hope to be the right direction.  And that direction is a belief that “War Is Not the Answer,” that there has to be a better way to solve problems.  In a sense I returned to my roots.  I became active in a church that was a leader in the civil rights movement and that had some wonderful Quaker folks as members.  I tried to follow their lead and joined them; I continue to support groups such as the American Friends Service Committee, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Veterans for Peace, etc.

Then came Vietnam and protests of that tragic war became entwined with the civil rights movement and various student causes.  I was working on the North Carolina State University campus at that time, so in addition to church and family support I had support from the like-minded faculty and students – which was very important to me.  In went to Washington with colleagues to march and protest the war, and to call for “jobs, peace, and freedom.”

In the 1980s there was the Nuclear Freeze Movement; my church, Community United Church of Christ, became a leader in working for a freeze on the development, testing, and deployment of nuclear weapons.  Out of that movement came a local and a State chapter of SANE, later to become SANE/FREEZE, and still later Peace Action.  Then came the Gulf Wars and the “Coalition for Peace in the Middle East,” a new understanding of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and of course there was (and is) Central America and CITCA (Carolina Interfaith Task Force on Central America).

What does it all mean?  I think it means that we have to “keep on keepin’ on.”  We need to vote; we need to write and visit our Congresspersons; we need to march and vigil, picket and pray, sign petitions; we need to write checks to the many wonderful organizations involved in the peace movement.  We will get tired doing this, but we cannot stay tired.  We must “keep hope alive!”

By Cyrus King