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Community Corner

Anti-War Demonstrator Still Protesting

Brian Willson speaks in Walnut Creek about the incident 24 years ago on the railroad tracks at the Concord Naval Weapons Station that cost him the lower half of both his legs

Many people remember the protests in the 1980s at the Concord Naval Weapons Station and anyone who lived around here then remembers the incident when Brian Willson was run over by a military train and lost his legs.

In a speech at the Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center on Wednesday evening it was clear that, despite a serious head injury from the accident, Willson has neither lost his ability to think, nor his energy to protest.

Indeed, the 50 or so people who were there heard the thoughts of an articulate, highly educated, albeit controversial man. 

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Many people will disagree with his views, but what is interesting is how his views wrap around the spectrum, and mesh, in some way, with the sentiments of many Tea Party members.

The common bond was best summed up by Thomas Paine, one of the Founding Fathers, “It is the duty of every citizen to protect his country from its government.”

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Willson was a self-described all-American boy: National Honor Society, All-conference athlete, Boy Scout.  In law school he was a “chicken-hawk," someone who supported the Vietnam war – as long as he wasn’t going himself. Until, that is, he was drafted.

An early experience in Vietnam changed everything for him. He was tasked with assessing the results of bombing a small village. Upon arrival he saw women and children burned over their entire bodies, yet still alive. Nowhere was there any evidence of a military presence.

Thinking this was surely a mistake, he consulted with the senior officer accompanying him who considered it a job well done. This was a moment of what Brian called “irreversible knowledge.”

And thus began a career of attempting to stop the United States government from killing people around the world, in support of what Willson calls the “plundering American empire and its greediness for the world’s resources in support of an unsustainable way of life.”

It was this view that lead to the events in Concord on Sep. 1, 1987.

In those protests, Willson and his group were attempting to stop shipments of munitions to Central America. These shipments included phosphor-based weapons designed to attach and stick burning powder directly to human skin.

The position that Willson took was that these shipments constituted a violation of the Nuremberg Principles as crimes against humanity. There were also Congressional actions aimed at stopping the shipments.

At the time, Willson and his fellow protesters had been categorized as domestic terrorists by the Reagan administration. On the day of the accident, the train crew had been ordered not to stop the train out of fear of a hijacking attempt by the protesters.

The subsequent trial revealed the protesters had given ample warning to the military about their intention to block the tracks as a means of peaceful protest.

Willson and others sat on the tracks near the weapons station entrance. When the train slowly rolled through, other protesters got off the tracks. Willson wasn't able to get out of the way.

The end result was that Willson lost both of his legs below the knee and suffered a severe skull fracture with the loss of his right frontal lobe.

After a long recovery, Willson continued his advocacy for peace by writing books, organizing protest actions and traveling around the world.

In his speech, Willson did not speak about having regrets about sitting on the tracks on that fateful day.

Today, Willson lives in Portland and is traveling the country by bicycle, propelled with his hands, on a tour promoting his new book, Blood On the Tracks.

Willson feels the U.S. lifestyle is not sustainable. That's the reason for traveling by bicycle and living what he calls a sustainable lifestyle.

The Peace Center hosts many talks and welcomes participation by people of all views in the interest of promoting openness and dialog.

Steve Kilner is a board member at the Mt. Diablo Peace Center.

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