Tag Archives: nuclear

Ban Nuclear Weapons ~ Madison Alder Contact ~ #BackFromTheBrink

Contact city alders and be sure they have all of the following information and links.

Dear Alder:

We/I write to ask you to support a City of Madison Back from the Brink (BftB) Resolution. It calls on the federal government to honor the Nonproliferation Treaty of 1970 (NPT), embrace the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) of 2021 and take the following steps to reduce the risk of nuclear war:

Actively pursue a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.
Renounce the option of using nuclear weapons first
End the president’s sole, unchecked authority to launch a nuclear attack.
Take U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger (high) alert.
Cancel the plan to replace the entire U.S. arsenal with enhanced weapons.

Madison, Wisconsin declared itself a nuclear free zone in a 1983 ordinance and passed a proclamation in 2019 commemorating August 6^th as Hiroshima Day and August 9^th as Nagasaki Day. The 2019 proclamation also called on the US to live up to its obligations under the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty and cancel the nuclear weapons modernization program.

We are asking for the City to make a financial commitment that aligns with its history of advocacy for nuclear disarmament. The Madison Back from the Brink Resolution includes a pledge by the City to end investments in and contracts with companies involved in nuclear weapons production such as those listed in the 2022 Don’t Bank on the Bomb “Hall of Shame”. We look forward to developing a workable plan with City of Madison staff.

Over sixty-five US cities have passed the Back from the Brink Resolution.

Fifteen US cities have so far passed resolutions committing themselves to nuclear weapon free investments and/or contracts.

For additional information, see links below:

-12/2022 Background on Back from the Brink.

– Summary of Divestment Information

– PSR Wisconsin Back from the Brink web page

We are eagerly awaiting your support of this Resolution.

Sincerely,

Back from the Brink resolution Co-sponsors:

350 Madison,
Dane County Chapter of United Nations Association,
First Unitarian Society Social Justice Ministry,
Four Lakes Green Party,
Friends Meeting of Madison,
Interfaith Peace Working Group
Madison Mennonite Church,
Physicians for Social Responsibility – Wisconsin,
Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society Social Action Committee,
Progressive Dane,
Raging Grannies of Madison/Dane County,
Reverend Franz Rigert, Conference Minister of General Synod of United Church of Christ (UCC passed the resolution at the General Synod in June 2019),
Veterans for Peace – Chapter 25,
Wisconsin Network for Peace & Justice
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and
World BEYOND War

Back from the Brink Updates for 2023

We are working together to abolish nuclear weapons and advocating for common sense nuclear weapons policies to secure a safer, more just future. (PSR) Talk to people. Write a letter. Ask your local organizations and friends to endorse the campaign.

thank you for your concern and involvement

share, print, hand out

Action Alert PSR

updates and current efforts

Nuclear Weapons Disarmament and Divestment in Madison [PSR Wisconsin]

“The threat of nuclear war is real and growing, yet many people are unaware of the danger, or the harmful here-and-now impacts of developing and maintaining our nuclear arsenal. Others may be concerned but don’t feel as if they have any say on the issue or a meaningful way to get involved and make a difference. As a result, policymakers don’t hear concerns about nuclear weapons from their constituents and feel no pressure to act.”

learn more about Back from the Brink
About | Back from the Brink (preventnuclearwar.org)

Art on post Keith Haring

Brian Barnes

contact elected officials:

100 Years Young, Congratulations F. Lincoln Grahlfs

Happy birthday, Lincoln! Behind him, Madison VFP members Larry, Phil, Steve, Daryl, John, and Tom. Photo credit, Sandy Franzen.

A copy of Lincoln’s book can be found here at the following link or Amazon or where Veterans for Peace Madison might be tabling.

Undaunted: The Story of a United States Navy Tug and Her Crew…by Grahlfs, F. Lincoln

Picture credits to Larry, Phil and Tom

Members of Madison Veterans for Peace joined a large crowd today to celebrate the 100th birthday of Lincoln Grahlfs, our oldest member currently. Lincoln served in the US Navy during and after World War II.

After the war, he was at the infamous US nuclear weapons tests on Bikini and Eniwetok Atolls in the Pacific, receiving much radiation. Many of his buddies died too young, but he has survived and fought for better health care for veterans suffering from nuclear exposure. During the Summer of 2022, US President Joe Biden called him to Washington DC, to witness the signing of a bill mandating that care.

– Larry

It was a wonderful party for Lincoln

Who celebrated his 100th birthday

With so many friends and family.

Lincoln was recently honored with
A personal meeting with President
Biden at the White House for his work
With the veterans who survived the
Atomic testing programs held after
WWll.

Members of Madison’s Clarence
Kailin chapter 25 Veterans For Peace
Were on hand to honor their most
Distinguished member.

– Tom Glassel

A War Veteran Recounts His Journey to Becoming a Sociologist (asanet.org)

Lincoln during the war. We were all so young during our wars. Some are forever young.

National World War II Museum oral historian Hannah Dailey talks about “atomic veterans” and interviews four veterans including Lincoln Grahlfs

Veterans and Nuclear Radiation Exposure | C-SPAN.org

Joan and Lincoln Grahlfs

“F. Lincoln Grahlfs, a World War II Navy veteran, is a sociologist who has studied the effects of radiation exposure on United States military veterans. He has served as president of the National Association of Radiation Survivors.”

Veterans of US Atomic Age Deserve Compensation (militarytimes.com)

Lincoln and President Joe Biden Summer 2022

The President signed a 2-year extension of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), which provides partial restitution to Downwinders, atomic veterans, and uranium workers exposed to radiation. – Lilly Adams

Lincoln’s ship putting out fires on one of the expendable ships that was anchored near ground zero of an atomic bomb test.

“The United States conducted nearly 200 atmospheric nuclear weapons development tests between 1945 and 1962 spreading radiation across several Western states and the South Pacific. All the while, the Atomic Energy Commission insisted to surrounding residents: “There is no danger.”

‘Downwinders’ ignored despite radiation fallout from US nuke tests – Responsible Statecraft

“Floating on a U.S. Navy tugboat in the Pacific Ocean nearly a year after the end of World War II, Lincoln Grahlfs and his shipmates could hear a countdown over a radio, signaling their mission would soon begin.

The sailors were told to cover their eyes with their hands before the countdown hit zero. Four hours later and wearing no protective gear, Grahlfs and his ship traveled 11 miles through Bikini Atoll to ground zero of where the United Stated military had tested a nuclear weapon.

The crew was tasked with putting out fires on empty ships used as targets and towing those that hadn’t sunk to shallower waters for examination. More than 75 years after cleaning up the aftermath of two atomic tests in the central Pacific, the Madison resident has used his personal experience to advocate for ridding the world of nuclear weapons and on behalf of fellow veterans exposed to dangerous radiation…”

‘You can’t live with them’: Madison WWII vet exposed to atomic testing warns about nuclear weapons

Wisconsin State Journal

Golden Rule Sails Down Mississippi

The Golden Rule is a project of Veterans for Peace that promotes a peaceful world without nuclear weapons.

hat tip to Phil Fransen for many of pictures on this web post.

“The Golden Rule sailboat, the very same boat sailed by four Quaker sailors toward the Marshall Islands in 1958, will arrive at the Riverside Park Levee in La Crosse at 10:30 AM on Wednesday, Oct. 5. Mayor Reynolds will welcome the boat and crew with an official declaration from the City. Representatives from Veterans For Peace, Women in Black, and others will speak… The welcome event will kick off a series of events that day, all with same message as in 1958: Abolish Nuclear Weapons.”
– Wisconsin Public Radio

Newsbreak: ‘Golden Rule’ peace boat makes its way to La Crosse

“Golden Rule schedule in Iowa

● Dubuque: Arrives evening of Sunday, Oct. 9; leaves the morning of Oct. 11

Facebook Video in Dubuque as the boat arrives

● Clinton: Arrives the evening of Oct. 12; leaves the morning of Oct. 14

● Quad Cities: Arrives the evening of Oct. 14; leaves the morning of Oct. 17

● Muscatine: Arrives the afternoon or evening of Oct 17; leaves the morning of Oct. 19

● Burlington: Arrives the morning of Oct. 19; leaves the morning of Oct 21

● Keokuk: Arrives the evening of Oct 21; leaves the morning of Oct. 23.

For more information about the Golden Rule Project and its Great Loop Voyage, visit vfpgoldenrule.org. You can follow the boat’s progress on a map that updates every 10 minutes at http://share.garmin.com/goldenrule

Groups can schedule an educational presentation by Jaccard at [email protected] or (206) 992-6364.