john heuer's blog

Sam Winstead—Veteran For Peace

The newest member of the Eisenhower Chapter of Veterans For Peace, Sam Winstead, a WWII marine vet, led a 7 day, 350 mile bicycle Ride for Peace from Raleigh, NC to Washington DC Apr. 29 through May 5.

The journey began 4/29/12 at 8:00 am departing from the Capitol Building in Raleigh, NC, with overnight stops in Henderson, NC, Blackstone, VA, The Grayhaven Winery in Gum Spring, VA, Culpeper, Middleburg and Leesburg.

Mr. Winstead, an 86 year old retired farmer from Person County, NC, pedaled the entire route for 7 days, including some daunting hills in northern Virginia, with his cousin Joe Winstead, 68, and 64 year old Fred Mauney. Fourteen other bicyclists joined the ride for parts of the route, including Sam’s 15 year old great grandson Aidan Janke, and 30 year old grandson Billy Janke. Support drivers Bert Gurganus, Wally Ewalt and Ted Zeller also accompanied the Ride for Peace for the entire week.

Sam’s Ride for Peace Ready for Sunday Launch

Sam Winstead, an 86 year old retired farmer and WW II veteran from Person County is trained and ready to lead the 7 day, 360 mile bicycle Ride for Peace from the NC Capital in Raleigh this Sunday morning, bound for Washington DC. Riders and supporters will gather on the south side of the old capital at 7:30am to hear words, songs and prayers for a safe and successful journey before the 8:00am launch.

Earlier this week, Sam received the Torch Bearer Award from the World Harmony Runners, celebrating their 25th Anniversary, with local coordinator Sarbaga Falk, Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton, and NC Senator Ellie Kinnaird.

Get on the bus!

This is my second spring on Meadow Branch in Chatham County, NC. My wife Sue built this house in 1978. Our porch is perched on the edge of a ravine overlooking the stream. Last winter we had our first aesthetic disagreement. Sue loved the way the beech trees clung to their leaves through the winter. To me, the pale brown leaves were drab, like the faded yellows and reds, ready to fall.

But they didn’t fall. Not the beech leaves.

Last winter’s impatience became this winter’s appreciation. It’s funny to find beauty in the drab.

Last spring I was so disinterested in the beeches that I never bothered to notice when the old brown leaves finally fell, pushed out by the new green buds and sprouting leaves.

This spring I’m paying attention. When the breeze rustles up, the beech leaves take flight, feather light ornaments of winter.

The Eisenhower Chapter of Veterans for Peace (NC Triangle) meets Sunday, 3/18 at Mr. Wok Restaurant, 4831 Hwy 55 (just south of Hwy 54) at 12:30pm.

Our website is www.ncveteransforpeace.org. Check us out.

Former Marine Pedalling for Peace

Sam Winstead is tired of war. The 86 year old retired Person County farmer and WW II Marine veteran was “awakened” as he says, when he received a registered letter from his grandson, serving in the US Army in Iraq. “They don’t want us here,” young Sam wrote to his granddaddy, and Sam senior was stirred out of a slumber that would “…make Rip Van Winkle’s record sleep look like an afternoon nap!” Vivid memories of his own horrific experiences as a young marine fighting in the Pacific islands came flooding back.
Sam launched Americans for Peace in a Durham Herald-Sun op-ed, and began reaching out to Veterans for Peace and NC Peace Action. He recruited North Carolina’s sixth Mayor for Peace, Creedmoor’s Darryl Moss, to join the honor roll mayors of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Durham, Louisburg, Waynesville and over 5,000 mayors in over 150 nations to declare for peace.
But Sam was just getting started.

SPORTS & WAR
Full disclosure: I played and coached basketball and soccer, played football, hockey, and baseball. Not very well, particularly, but I made up for my failings by watching my heroes perform magnificent feats in the ballpark and on TV. But sports have taken a hit, with the recent allegations that a child rapist was protected from criminal charges by a university where he was employed as an assistant football coach. Heads have rolled, as the legendary head football coach was sacked, along with the university president and other top officials. The effect on campus has been riotous. Students demonstrated against what they saw as the desecration of their icons. Many had chosen this school because of a veneer of honor and integrity, not just in the institution’s propaganda, but also generations who held proudly to the masthead of their alma mater.

Disaster Politics

During his January 1985 State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress, and an international television audience, US President Ronald Reagan announced a new educational initiative: He would appoint a school teacher to join a shuttle crew on a flight into space.

Someone in the Reagan White House had the bright idea that the president’s 1986 State of the Union Address coincide with the successful return landing of the Challenger, with teacher Christa McAuliffe on board.
That’s when a tragic series of mistakes began to unfold.

The first glitch was when NASA scuttled the original launch date of the Challenger. The launch pad conditions did not meet the minimum safety conditions required for launch.

The premier of Raleigh playwright Wally Myers' "Saving the Soul of America" will be performed at the Haven in Charlottesville, VA Friday at 6:30pm. Here's the line-up, that will launch the weekend conference on MIC at 50 (www.mic50.org)

Dwight D. Eisenhower John Heuer
Thomas Jefferson Wally Myers
Martin Luther King Jr. Benjamin Davis
Madame Host Clare Hanrahan

Speaking of North Carolina contributions to the MIC50 conference in Charlottesville, UNC grad George Friday, national field coordinator for the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, will discuss the Military-Industrial Complex, civil liberties, and corporate personhood. Our conference graphics designer, Shalotte’s Barbara Stanley (Skipper Graphics) will travel to Cville with friends from down east, and carpools are getting organized from the Triangle.

There is still some free lodging available in Cville. Contact Ruth Zalph at 919-918-3424, or email to ruthcz@bellsouth.net. Check out the conference schedule at www.mic50.org.

For those who have yet to visit Thomas Jefferson’s hometown, it is much closer to the Triangle than is Asheville.

www.mic50.org

In January, the longest continuously operating GI rights coffee house in the US sponsored a 3 day conference at Guilford College in Greensboro on the 50th anniversary of President Eisenhower’s farewell speech and dire warning about the Military-Industrial Complex. The conference was conceived by Quaker House director Chuck Fager, and was co-sponsored by NC Peace Action and Veterans for Peace. “Ike Was Right” buttons were sported by many of the 150 attendees who gathered to begin an examination of a tragic prophecy fulfilled.