L.A. Salutes the Peace Marchers
Mayor Tom Bradley and the Los Angeles City Council Wednesday honored the members of the Great Peace March who walked from California to Washington, D.C., in a symbolic trek calling for global nuclear disarmament.
“It was an exciting day in Los Angeles when the Great Peace March was launched here from the steps of City Hall,” Bradley said during a ceremony in the council chambers.
Nearly 50 of the 500 people who took part in the nine-month march that ended in the nation’s capital Nov. 15 were on hand to accept a proclamation presented by Bradley and council President Pat Russell.
“I am confident that the purpose of the march is going to be fulfilled and I believe that those who were a part of the march deserve our applause and our admiration,” Bradley said.
Bradley praised the group for its “remarkable demonstration of will and commitment” in the face of the near-collapse of the march in the Mojave Desert just two weeks into the trek, when organizer David Mixner and his parent organization pulled out because of a lack of money.
After Mixner left the group and several days of harsh winter weather hit the marchers’ desert camp, participation plummeted to 500 from the original 1,200 marchers who left Los Angeles March 2.
But observers who predicted that the 3,235-mile cross-country march would never be completed were proved wrong.
The marchers reached Washington on schedule, their ranks beefed up to 1,000 marchers with last-minute supporters during the last days of the walk.
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