#035 Like “Tank Man” on Water: Lessons Learned from a Day Aboard the Golden Rule
I’m sure you’ve seen the famous photo of “Tank Man”, a symbol of the voice of reason during the Tiananmen Square protests and eventual massacre that occurred in April-June 1989. Here’s the photo in case you haven’t. (This is the full-scale photo, much more impressive than the BBC-approved version 😉
It turns out that there was something of a foreshadowing of “Tank Man” right here in the U.S. about 3 decades prior to Tiananmen Square. Recently retired U.S. Navy Captain Albert Bigelow and a crew of 3 men set sail from Los Angeles for the Marshall Islands – with a planned resupply stop in Honolulu along the way.
Now Honolulu is around 2000 miles from Los Angeles; the Marshall Islands are another 2000 miles from Hawai’i.
They set out to do this in 1958, when a lot of the standard navigational equipment on modern vessels weren’t even thought of at the time. They relied on the stars and decades of experience to make their way.
Plus the Golden Rule is around 35′ long. Some of the waves in the middle of the Pacific Ocean are twice that in height.
No easy task.
They had to have had a really good reason for doing something that many would consider outright foolish for doing.
Well in 1958, there was an existential threat of the annihilation of humanity via nuclear weapons. A couple well-documented nuclear weapons had been used in Japan in 1945, so the potency of such weapons was no secret. In spite of this obvious threat to humanity, the United States engaged in extensive testing of nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands, at no small expense and amount of harm done to the native peoples of the islands.
Why would the U.S. government do such a thing?
Fear. Another nation like the Soviet Union has the ability drop a bomb on New York City, or Washington, DC. We must be able to counter their supposed aggression.
Why would otherwise rational people with families and concerned mothers engage in such testing?
Probably the same reason those tank crew members opened fire on their fellow Chinese in June 1989. They were ordered to do so, and the fear of being ostracized from the pack is perhaps the greatest motivator of human action there is.
There’s that word again: FEAR
Golden Rule set sail for the Marshall Islands to be a voice of reason amid this culture of fear. It was the rallying point for millions of Americans and others around the world who were horrified that such testing was taking place at the expense of the health and wellbeing of people that would be felt for decades if not centuries.
The crew was arrested in Honolulu. They were guilty of violating a recently passed law forbidding civilian vessels within the nuclear testing area.
They never made it to the Marshall Islands.
But the message was heard, and a few years later a treaty banning the testing of nuclear weapons was passed by the U.S. Senate and made official by President Kennedy.
Here in 2023, the threat of nuclear warfare is paltry compared to that era. Thank God for that. But the irrational fear of human beings of another skin color, another nation, another religion, from another part of the world remains.
So Golden Rule sails on as a symbol of peace, and a reminder of that era of our history.
What you’ll hear in this podcast is the story of the Golden Rule voyage of 1959 told by Helen Jaccard, project manager of the Golden Rule; as well as interviews from crew members of the modern version of the boat and concerned local citizens who are sounding the clarion call agains the threat of nuclear weapons.
Here are the speakers you’ll hear, along with the times you can hear their interviews:
-James Newcomb with son Gabriel and wife Sana…03:04
-Helen Jaccard opening remarks…11:42
–Golden Rule crewman Steve Easley…17:53
-Helen Jaccard describes the initial voyage of Golden Rule…27:17
-Norfolk-based peace activists Steve Baggarly and Ann Williams…38:00
-Helen Jaccard on the aftermath of the arrest in Honolulu…52:35
–Golden Rule crew members MaryAnn Van Cura and Steve Buck…01:04:32
-“What is the rationale?”…01:32:27
-Closing remarks and a call to action from James Newcomb…01:50:54
Resources mentioned:
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