Who? That will be the reaction from the society we have today…..a voice from a turbulent time……
As an aging “hippie” there are a few people that stand out in my past…..Abby Hoffman, Daniel Ellsberg, Joan Baez (not one of my faves) and Daniel Berrigan……..as an staunch anti-war protesters these people are in the Hall of Heroes…..voices from the “Movement”……
Over the weekend a “Hero” has passed away…..Daniel Berrigan….
His defiant protests helped shape Americans’ opposition to the Vietnam War—and they landed the Rev. Daniel Berrigan behind bars. The Roman Catholic priest, writer, and poet, who became a household name in the US in the 1960s after being imprisoned for burning draft files in a protest against the war, died Saturday. He was 94. Berrigan died “peacefully” after a “long illness” at Murray-Weigel Hall, a Jesuit health care community in New York City, according to a spokesman for the Jesuits USA Northeast Province. Berrigan and his younger brother, the Rev. Philip Berrigan, entered a draft board in Catonsville, Maryland, on May 17, 1968, with seven other activists and removed records of young men about to be shipped off to Vietnam. The group took the files outside and burned them in garbage cans.
The “Catonsville Nine” were convicted on federal charges accusing them of destroying US property and interfering with the Selective Service Act of 1967. All were sentenced on Nov. 9, 1968, to prison terms ranging from two to 3.5 years. After the case had been unsuccessfully appealed, the Berrigan brothers and three of their co-defendants went underground. Philip Berrigan turned himself in to authorities in April 1969 at a Manhattan church. Four months later, the FBI arrested Daniel Berrigan at the Rhode Island home of theologian William Stringfellow. Berrigan said in an interview that he became a fugitive to draw more attention to the anti-war movement. He served about two years at the federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut. When asked in 2009 whether he had any regrets, Berrigan replied: “I could have done sooner the things I did, like Catonsville.”
Source: Father Daniel Berrigan, S.J. May 9, 1921 to April 30, 2016 – LA Progressive
To realize his importance you had to be there……some of us will never forget his contribution…..or his voice…….a person that will stand by their convictions is an odd thing these days…..
He was a friend and his voice will be missed…..
Rest In Peace…..my friend.
” Let Men See, Let Them Know, A Real Man, Who Lives As He Was Meant To Live”
Marcus Aurelius
Excellent ….thanx…chuq
I was born too soon. I say that quite often. During those turbulent times, I was busy raising my two children and trying to make ends meet – robbing one envelope to add to another. (Just recently, I found out this was a common practice among my peers during a difficult time in their young lives.) The only two things that stay in my mind from that time are the daily evening reports of how many died and the self-immolation of the Buddhist priests in protest. Indeed, it was one of the worst times in our history. I do have a vague recollection about the Jesuit priests. They were true heroes as far as I’m concerned.
When I returned from VN I became an anti-war protester and I am proud of my life in those days….I still feel that war is not in anyone’s best interests…..I knew the Berrigans…we were not close friends but we were in the same places doing the same things……I doubt that we will see that type of commitment ever again….chuq
I just finished reading the article by John Dear. An amazing life did Daniel Berrigan have. An amazing man. A great lifetime experience to know him, I’m sure, even if just colleagues sharing same beliefs.
War is in some people’s interests: the war-mongers who reap a fortune (Halliburton and Cheney and his cohorts, for example).
I didn’t realize I was holding my breath as I was reading about Daniel’s life. Touched to the core.
Both were amazing men…glad you liked it….chuq
The arms race is worse than it ever was, the dumping of creation down a military rat hole is worse than it ever was, the wars across the earth are worse than they ever were….Daniel Berrigan
Reblogged this on saywhatumean2say.
Thanx for the re-blog…I am glad to see that some are still interested in the people that made history back in the 60 and 70’s……chuq
But of course, that was when I came of age and dropped my family’s political preferences for my own. I haven’t thought of the Cantonville 9 in far too long. I forget my roots in bouts of depression and drunken funks but sometimes a little speck of light will remind me I once had a conscience and acted on it. dru
I miss those days….when the country had a conscience….chuq
America had a conscious??? I’ve heard rumours to that effect, but I didn’t realize there were actually people still alive from those long departed days. Wasn’t that about the same time they used wax cylinders to play recorded music?
Well done, my friend. I remember him well, heard him speak in Berkeley. I wish him a fond farewell on the next adventure, after a live, well lived. Lady P definitely hit the right note in one…
gigoid
“Friend”? Big Brother is watching, try not to out yourself!
But are you sure that wasn’t TV’s Baretta on that Time Magazine cover? Or did William Blake play him in an American International Pictures movie, Rebel Priests and this article was covering the movie & the story behind it?
“The Berrigan brothers were so committed to stopping the war, they were…packing heat for peace. And they didn’t care who had to get hurt to make it happen.”
Sorry, been watching a few to many Drive-in movie trailers lately.
No need to worry…they have had my number for 40 years…Hahahaha