A true American hero and one of the great figures of the 60’s, peace activist Philip Berrigan died yesterday at the age of 79. Along with his brother Daniel, Berrigan led the “Catonsville 9,” a group that staged one of the most dramatic protests of the 1960s when they doused homemade napalm on a small bonfire of draft records in a Catonsville parking lot on May 17, 1968.
Via a statement given to his wofe over the Thanksgiving weekend, Berrgian said:
“I die with the conviction, held since 1968 and Catonsville, that nuclear weapons are the scourge of the earth; to mine for them, manufacture them, deploy them, use them, is a curse against God, the human family, and the earth itself.”
Fans of Dar Williams might know of the lovely song she wrote about the Berrigan brothers, “I Had no Right”.