By CHRIS LARABEE
GREENFIELD — With drums and a march to the Greenfield Public Library, more than 40 community members advocated for nuclear disarmament on the 79th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on Tuesday.
Organized by the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice and the New England Peace Pagoda, folks stood on the Greenfield Common holding signs advocating for countries around the world to dispose of their nuclear weapons before marching to the library to listen to several speakers, as well as to honor Randy Kehler, the well-known war-tax resister who died in late July at the age of 80.
“Every year this just hits me really hard, that we’re still collecting nuclear weapons,” said Shutesbury resident Katie Tolles. “It’s just a very scary world and we shouldn’t be leaving this for our children and grandchildren.”
The atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroyed the city, killing 140,000 people. A second bomb dropped three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II.
For Greenfield resident Liz Kelner, the standout and anniversary of the atomic bombing resurfaces memories of a trip she took to Hiroshima many years ago.
“The pain for the people that were there is indescribable,” she said, adding that she takes “any chance” she can to advocate for the disarmament of nuclear weapons around the world.
To mark the anniversary, Greenfield Mayor Ginny Desorgher proclaimed Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, the day Nagasaki was bombed, to be “World Free of Nuclear Weapons Day.” The proclamation was delivered by Desorgher’s Chief of Staff Keith Barnicle.
“Whereas the people of Greenfield join the people of Hiroshima in their call to all cities and citizens of the world to unite together, expanding the circle of solidarity transcending national boundaries, partisan politics and religious creeds to strengthen the bond of human friendship and solidarity,” Barnicle read, with the proclamation advocating for everyone “to promote justice and harmony.”
The goal of marking the anniversary of the atomic bombings, Traprock board member Pat Hynes said, is to create a growing chorus of voices in cities in the U.S. and around the world in an effort to put pressure on government leaders to dispose of nuclear weapons.
Following the vigil, folks marched to the Greenfield Public Library where activists Paki Wieland and Aaron Falbel spoke alongside New England Peace Pagoda Senior Monk Kato Shonin.
“For decades the United States has been spending over half of all taxes on the military. … This country has come under the power of the military industry,” Shonin said, adding that the path to peace is the same as it was during the Cold War: converting the U.S. into a “peace-loving country.” “It seems the task is difficult, but it is up to us, the people.”
Alongside discussing peace and nuclear disarmament, the gathering also served as an opportunity to honor and remember the work of Kehler, who opposed the Vietnam War and refused to pay federal income tax as a protest against U.S. military expenditures. The money was instead donated to charities.
“He was, I would say, a virtuoso performer of the art of nonviolent direct action,” Falbel said, adding that Kehler and his wife, Betsy Corner, placed “their own personal wealth where their hearts were. “Redirecting it to where it needs to go without killing people, but helping people. What could be more simple?”