Applause for MEND

Those of us who have been active for years in the peace movement in San Diego, opposing the still-escalating nuclear arms race and supporting a bilateral and verifiable nuclear freeze, feel very grateful for the superb organizing efforts of Linda Smith and her co-workers in MEND (Mothers Against Nuclear Disarmament).

Their hard work and dedication, plus the generous financial support provided by Linda and her family, culminated Aug. 6 in the immensely successful “Walk for Peace” in Balboa Park, which drew an estimated 10,000 San Diegans to this moving commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

Longtime peace activists in this city and elsewhere around the country have had to face malicious charges of being unpatriotic agitators of “naive dupes for the Soviet Union.”

MEND is helping to legitimize this maligned peace movement, give the lie to these unfounded charges, and show that people of all ages, of all walks of life, of all social and ethnic backgrounds and of all political persuasions sincerely and earnestly want peace and an end to the very real threat that nuclear war could annihilate all that we hold dear.

We wish to thank everyone in MEND for their splendid efforts in this most important humanitarian cause.

BILL BOTHAMLEY

LINDA NEWSUM

San Diego