Editor’s Note: Members of No More Bombs, a small grass-roots anti-nukes organization based in Anacortes, Washington joined us at Ground Zero Center for our recent Hiroshima/Nagasaki weekend of remembrance and action. They are a wonderful example of the adage – “Think Global, Act Local!” The following is a report (originally published in the No More Bombs newsletter, Summer 2021) on their experience during the Saturday events and presentations at Ground Zero.
Special Report by Kathleen Flanagan, photos by Julia Hurd.
COMMEMORATING 76 YEARS
Four of us from No More Bombs were graciously greeted August 7th at the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, a peace site bordering the Trident nuclear submarine Naval Base at Kitsap-Bangor, home to the largest concentration of nuclear weapons in the US. We were attending one day of an event titled A Call to Action, Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki from Testing to Trident to Treaty, commemorating the first atomic bombs dropped 76 years ago. With COVID numbers on the rise, major changes were made in scheduling, but the flexibility and commitment of an amazing team of volunteers kept key parts of the program intact via Zoom as well as in-person.
Following a tour of the grounds, we greeted two monks from the Bainbridge Island Nippozan Miyohoji Buddhist Temple along with fellow walkers traveling by foot from Poulsbo as part of their annual Pacific NW Peace Walk, originating in Salem, OR. Representatives from the Marshall Islands joined the gathering. In a documentary, The Coming War on China, horrifying details of nuclear weapons testing and the results on Marshall Islanders were shown. Rachel Hoffman, secretary of The Marshallese Women’s Association, presented some of the challenges facing her people from the 67 tests exploded there between 1946-1958: destruction of their homelands; deadly health effects, including severe birth defects; poverty. Washington State is home to the third largest population of Marshallese in the US.
Dr. David Hall, a Board Member of Physicians for Social Responsibility, updated us on the current status of nuclear weaponry, another frightening topic inspiring calls to actions. Tara Villalba, with Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility as well as coordinator for Washington Against Nuclear Weapons, spoke of her work, as well as her personal story growing up under a dictator in the Philippines, prompting action around demilitarization and dismantling nuclear weapons. 
It was a long day, but well worth the effort in the time we spent together, in seeing what we’d heard about for years, in the opportunity to tie origami peace doves to the cyclone fence between the Center and the Base, in witnessing the power of volunteerism, and for re-invigorating a commitment to activism. The event is held annually every August, and we encourage attendance for part of a day, or any of the usual three days. Check out Ground Zero’s website: www.gzcenter.org.
See this letter asking President Biden to defund nuclear weapons, signed by our own Dave Paul, WA State 10th Legislative District Representative: preventnuclearwar.org/us-officials-letter. Or sign this No First Use (Kos) petition sponsored by Ground Zero and others: Congress must pass No First Use policy.
End Note: If you live in the area in or surrounding Anacortes and are interested in getting involved with No More Bombs, you can contact any of the members of their steering committee: Bud Anderson: budathome2012@hotmail.com, Julia Hurd: hurdjulia@gmail.com, Kathleen Flanagan: tomflanagan1@comcast.net, Wim Houppermans: wh5314b@gmail.com, and Tracy Powell: tracy@nomorebombs.org. You can also either call or text Tracy at 360-840-3826. No More Bombs welcomes new ideas and new connections.
