Peace March Stalls Amid Debt; Some Will Hike On

The agency sponsoring The Great Peace March collapsed under a fast-growing mountain of debt Friday, but some of the marchers vowed to continue their 3,235-mile hike for nuclear disarmament.

“It is going to be necessary for PROPeace to fold, so that the debts not be an unbearable burden for those of you who wish to continue,” David Mixner, founder of the sponsoring People Reaching Out for Peace organization, told about 900 marchers at their campsite on a dirt road eight miles from Barstow.

But that need not mean the end of the march, he said.

New Group Being Formed

Mixner and Tim Carpenter, a PROPeace staff member who has been with the marchers since they left Los Angeles on March 1, said a new group called The Great Peace March for Nuclear Disarmament Inc. is being formed--and is already receiving offers of free office space and equipment.

Carpenter suggested that the marchers spend their weekend deciding who will continue and who will turn back while he and members of the new organization try to line up “at least enough food, water, supplies and money to see 200 people through as far as Las Vegas.”

Las Vegas--because of its proximity to the nuclear test site--would be a good place to “reorganize and decide whether or not to continue,” he said.

But for the moment, the news was mostly bad.

“I am deeply, deeply sorry if anything that I have done has caused you pain or inconvenience,” Mixner told the marchers, his voice breaking. “I am deeply, deeply proud to be standing among such courageous people.”

He said he will devote the next few months to raising money to pay off PROPeace debts, unofficially estimated at $300,000.

“I accept responsibility for this, and I want you to know that,” he said. “My name is on all the papers, so no one else needs to worry.

Before Mixner’s arrival Friday, the mood at the wintry Mojave camp--just 120 miles from the march’s starting point--had been more than a little hostile. Marchers clustered in little discussion groups out under the wide, blue sky, and there were various expressions of anger and bitterness.

“We feel let down--not just by PROPeace, but by almost everyone,” marcher Joyce Andelle declared. “Everyone who didn’t send money or offer to help--by doing nothing that way, they failed us, and we had a right to their aid and support.”

Actor Robert Blake, who has been on the march since it began, said he was angry, too--but not regretful.

“I truly love the marchers,” he said. “This has been the most wonderful, glorious experience of my life. The fact that I’m bitter and hurt is because I am a marcher. I suppose I should be grateful to PROPeace. They got us this far--for better or worse. One thing for sure, I wouldn’t have missed it . . . not for anything.”

Original plans for the Great Peace March called for at least 5,000 people to make the trek from Los Angeles to Washington in a little more than eight months. About 1,200 had assembled when the march began--but only 1,000 or so were still in the ranks when the demonstration finally stalled four days ago at the Stoddard Wells Road not far from Barstow. About 100 others have since departed.

Heavy rains, high winds and cold plagued the marchers from the first. The marchers suffered from colds, flu, sleeplessness, and the frustration of damaged equipment for most of the second week. Last Monday’s storm brought a dozen cases of hypothermia, although march officials said no one had to be hospitalized.

Can Stay Until Monday

Mixner and Carpenter said the marchers can stay on at the campground until Monday.

But by then, all decisions must be made. Food was expected to be gone by Sunday, and on Monday most of the support equipment--portable toilets and washing facilities, the kitchen truck, communication vehicles, transportation vehicles and perhaps even the tents--are scheduled for removal.

The new organization may be able to take over some of these, and there were reports of new offers of equipment at the camp, but nothing was really decided and the marchers were somewhat dubious.

“I don’t know who is in this new organization, and I’d really like to see a representative or two from the marchers on the board--like to see some way of getting feedback to the sponsors, if that’s what they are going to be,” marcher Steve Downs said.

‘Who Are the New People?’

“Who are the new people, anyhow?” marcher Sandra Deane demanded. “Does anyone know?”

No one seemed to, and neither Mixner nor Carpenter offered information.

Nonetheless, the mood of anger that had been evident during the morning seemed to melt during Mixner’s speech, and there were cheers and bear hugs as he stepped down.

“Save me a place at the end of the line,” he said. “Maybe I can catch up with you in Chicago. I should have cleared up the debt by then.”