Blood on the Tracks The Life and Times of S. Brian Willson

by Willson, S. Brian; Ellsberg, Daniel

• ISBN13: 9781604864212
• ISBN10: 1604864214
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-08-01
• Publisher: PM Press

Summary

After serving in the Vietnam War, S. Brian Willson became a radical, nonviolent peace protester and pacifist, and this memoir details the drastic governmental and social change he has spent his life fighting for. Chronicling his personal struggle with a government he believes to be unjust, Willson sheds light on the various incarnations of his protests of the U.S. government, including the refusal to pay taxes, public fasting, and, most famously, public obstruction. On September 1, 1987, Willson was run over by a U.S. government munitions train during a nonviolent blocking action in which he expected to be removed from the tracks. Providing a full look into the tragic event, Willson, who lost his legs in the incident, discusses how the subsequent publicity propelled his cause toward the national consciousness. Now, 23 years later, Willson tells his story of social injustice, nonviolent struggle, and the so-called American way of life.

Author Biography

S. Brian Willson is a Vietnam veteran and nonviolent pacifist. He lives in Portland, Oregon. Daniel Ellsberg is a former U.S. military analyst who released the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times and other newspapers. He lives in San Francisco.

Table of Contents

Special Author's Acknowledgment	p. xii
Authors Conventions	p. xvi
Introduction	p. xvii
Foreword	p. xxi
All-American
July 4,1941	p. 3
At Bat	p. 12
Seeking a Calling	p. 18
Enlisted	p. 26
Us and Them	p. 36
Pax Americana
In Country: Viet Nam	p. 55
Letters Home	p. 62
Conduct Unbecoming	p. 70
Sent Home	p. 76
The Criminal Injustice System
No, Justice	p. 91
A Caged Society	p. 102
Back to the Land	p. 110
Flashback	p. 124
The United States in America
Without Leave	p. 135
Becoming a Vet	p. 144
Dignity Trumps Longevity	p. 153
Fasting for Life	p. 166
In Country: Nicaragua	p. 183
She Is Me
Blood on the Tracks	p. 205
"Here Comes the Train"	p. 213
What Really Happened	p. 218
S. Brian Willson, "Terrorist"	p. 233
Third World Legs
Becoming a Hero	p. 253
Fighting Empire in El Salvador	p. 258
Coca-Cola Colombia	p. 270
Assimilation or Elimination	p. 283
Steady State
CubaùA Special Case	p. 305
Horizontalism	p. 316
Arrowheads	p. 333
Zapatistas! An Archetype	p. 345
Conclusion	p. 359
Notes	p. 374
Recommended Reading List	p. 411
Acknowledgments	p. 419
Index	p. 421
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