On September 1, 1987, some of the most dedicated peace activists in the nation – including our two guests – were protesting outside the Concord Naval Weapons Station trying to block a Navy munitions train loaded with weapons bound for Nicaragua and El Salvador. Instead of stopping the train and arresting the protestors, authorities ordered the train to speed up. While some barely made it off the tracks, S. Brian Willson was run over. He suffered horrific injuries, but survived. He lost both legs and now walks via prostheses.
Join us for a half-century reflection on the “American War” in Vietnam from two of our heroic peace activists, who were instrumental then fighting for peace and continue today as national and international leaders. We invite others attending the Marxist Forum, who were also active against Vietnam War, to share in the Q&A. An overarching theme is how the US war on Vietnam changed us and our nation.
S. Brian Willson once commanded an Air Force combat security unit in Vietnam. He has since helped create a host of veterans’ organizations and has been a critic of the US criminal justice system and its foreign policies. Brian received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award at the Kennedy Library and Museum in 1992 and, in addition to his JD, holds two honorary degrees (LL.D. and Ph.D.). Author of On Third World Legs and Blood on the Tracks, he is the subject of a 2016 documentary, Paying the Price For Peace. Brian will be speaking from Nicaragua, where he currently lives and where he is rightly considered a national hero.
Gerry Condon, a Green Beret medic, deserted the US Army in 1969 after refusing orders to deploy to the war in Vietnam. He found sanctuary in Sweden and Canada for six years before returning to the US as part of a campaign for amnesty for all war resisters. He is a former president and current national board member of Veterans For Peace (VFP – https://www.veteransforpeace.org/), president of the Golden Rule Committee (https://vfpgoldenruleproject.org/), and a member of the crew that sailed the Golden Rule to Cuba. In the picture above, Gerry was violently arrested outside the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, D.C., on May 8, 2019, after he attempted to throw a cucumber into the embassy to deliver food to activists inside. Gerry recently returned from leading a VFP delegation to Nicaragua (see: https://www.workers.org/2025/04/84764/).
