By Kristin Scheer
This Memorial Day was the first time I was able to join PeaceWorks-KC at the massive National Security Campus, where non-nuclear parts are made for nuclear weapons. It was the 10th annual event and I was moved by the experience.
Jim Hannah urged all to reframe the way we look at the plant by considering its current name “National Security Campus” which conjures notions of a peaceful setting with trees and natural beauty, devoted to our nation’s security. Instead renaming it, the “Global Insecurity Factory” to reflect its actual work producing 85% of non-nuclear parts for the U.S. nuclear arsenal with the potential for planetary omnicide, that leaves none of us feeling safe. Truly, they are manufacturing terror.
Henry Stoever said this is where the “guns” are made that are needed to deliver and deploy the nuclear bullet. In other words, nuclear weapons could not be launched or detonated if not for the work that happens here in KC, and it is a dirty, dangerous business.
PeaceWorks holds this event every Memorial Day to remember the lives lost at the old nuclear parts plant, the Bannister Federal Complex, in Kansas City. The current plant, where we protest today, has been in use since 2014.
In a die-in, we took turns reading the names of some of those sickened and deceased from exposure to toxins at the old nuclear power plant. I read the name of William Van Compernolle, a General Services Administration employee diagnosed with brain tumors and seizures at age 42. As I read aloud his name and diagnosis, I was overcome with an unexpected sense of grief for the loss of Mr. Van Compernolle and all the others named and unnamed. I lowered myself onto the tarp-covered ground and shed soft tears as the light rain gently misted down upon us. Ann Suellentrop led us in five minutes of silence and meditation, giving me room for my unexpected grief, and I welcomed the gentle rain.
Maurice Copeland, a 32-year employee at the former nuke-parts plant at the Bannister Federal Complex, delivered a passionate message. He spoke of the woman administrator who reported that safety measures were skirted cavalierly. After he spoke, he was asked whether, from the 1960s to 1980s, action was taken. Maurice replied, “No! The bosses said, ‘She’s just a girl,’ and laughed it off.” At the rally, Maurice spoke of family members who were sickened, in addition to employees at Bannister Federal Complex. Workers carried contaminants home on their clothes. Retiring or fired workers were told to take their tools home. So, they took them home and gave them to their boys to work with on their cars. Years later, some family members, and many workers, succumbed to strange leukemias, cancers, and tumors.
At the end of the rally, five men—Jim Hannah, Tom Mountenay, Brother Louis Rodemann, Henry Stoever, and Brian Terrell—spoke of why they were making the choice to cross the purple property line. They each had poignant, powerful purposes driving their action. I was inspired by their courage and their sacrifice, as they were cuffed by the officers there. We broke bread and shared it among ourselves. During their crossing, bread was offered to the officers, who respectfully declined. They led our brothers aside to be processed.
Seventy-two activists and concerned citizens were counted there. PeaceWorks was joined by Cherith Brook Catholic Worker House, the Green Party, Veterans for Peace, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and the Community of Christ Justice and Peace Task Force. We shared outrage at the massive waste of resources—all the tax dollars that could be spent on our mutual wellbeing. Education, support for the impoverished, and the creation of life-affirming green jobs for badly needed environmental revitalization were among the things we called for. In spite of the wet, gray weather, we gathered, we walked, we spoke truth, we reflected on our losses, we cried, we witnessed, and we rejoiced.
Below is a link to the 8-minute video of the event, and several more articles or visit PeaceWorks KC website for even more.
Short video https://youtu.be/WukgyzVayos
https://peaceworkskc.org/economic-justice/cosponsors-assail-war-nuclear-weapons
Kristin Scheer is a member of the PeaceWorks-KC Board of Directors, and Greenpeace activist.
