Peace Marchers Return to Where It All Began, Receive L.A. Salute

With 3,701 miles behind them, the Great Peace Marchers returned to Los Angeles City Hall on Wednesday, to the place where they formally began their across-the-nation trek last March.

Back then, about 1,400 marchers and almost 5,000 spectators gathered on the steps of City Hall for the official send-off. This time, there were only 50 marchers, representing the 400 who straggled to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Nov. 15 after walking across America.

What they lacked in numbers, they tried to make up for with pride and glee. They squealed in delight when they spotted a fellow marcher in the City Council chamber. They reminisced, hugging each other. And they sat in silent, proud acceptance when city officials lauded their gumption.

“The interest and enthusiasm of those involved literally overcame any obstacle that man or woman can imagine--inclement weather, a shortage of money, doubts about the ability of the march to go 3,000-plus miles across this country,” said Mayor Tom Bradley, who with council President Pat Russell presented the marchers with a city resolution.

“This remarkable demonstration of will and commitment by so many lifted our spirits,” Bradley added. “It is a signal to the world that in this country we have that kind of determination.”

The Great Peace March started life in late 1984 as the brainchild of activist David Mixner. His PROPeace (People Reaching Out for Peace) organization envisioned 5,000 Americans walking across the country, bringing with them corporate sponsors and drawing thousands of spectators along their lengthy path.

Quite Different

Reality proved quite different. Fourteen hundred started the walk in Los Angeles March 1. Only 340 remained when Mixner’s organization foundered south of Barstow less than a month later. PROPeace declared bankruptcy, and the stubborn leftovers, minus Mixner, reorganized under the mantle “Great Peace March for Nuclear Disarmament Inc.”

Bucking the odds, they made it across America, and in council chambers Wednesday most sported the worn-out running shoes to prove it.

Now, the marchers said, comes the tough part: figuring out what to do for an encore.

“I’m very changed. I can’t go back to my old job,” said Daiva Edrehi, 39, a secretary for the City of Long Beach until she was drawn to the march earlier this year.

She hasn’t figured where she will end up--only that it will have something to do with the anti-nuclear movement. For the time being, Edrehi is living with friends in San Pedro.

“There’s so many peace organizations that are very, very important. I’m following my heart and my head,” she said.

Former insurance executive Jerry Eisner, 69, was similarly ambivalent about his plans after completing the trek.

“I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but one of the things is to spend a great deal of time in the peace movement,” he said. “This is a relationship that will build on.”

Many of the marchers had only one definitive plan after Wednesday morning’s ceremony--lunch. The casual spirit of cooperation that defined the march and the marchers remained intact. One marcher had made it to downtown Los Angeles with, apparently, little concern as to how she would get back home. So she invoked a lesson learned on the trail.

“Hey,” she shouted down a City Hall corridor, “anybody going to Hollywood?”