Thousands Join Protest Where Train Hit Man

In a growing protest over the maiming of an anti-war protester, the wife of Nicaragua’s president, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and a crowd of thousands converged Saturday on the dusty spot where Brian Willson’s legs were severed when he knelt in front of a military munitions train.

Nicaraguan First Lady Rosario Murillo, who met with the 45-year-old veteran peace activist in his hospital room, said Willson’s “blood must not have been spent in vain,” while Jackson, an unannounced presidential candidate, called Willson a “martyr.”

“In a real sense, he has lost his legs, but it challenges us to walk, and to walk tall for peace,” Jackson said.

Led by Jackson, folk singer Joan Baez, Willson’s wife and his 14-year-old stepson, the crowd jammed into a dusty field called Clyde Park across from the Concord Naval Weapons Stations to rally against U.S. military involvement in Central America. Rally organizers estimated the crowd at 7,000; police put it at 5,000.

Dozens of white crosses bearing the names of Nicaraguans killed in the war were placed on the grassy area just outside the base, once the main depot for weapons being shipped to Vietnam.

At least two former servicemen, Art Guerrero and his 73-year-old father, Fernando, one a veteran of Vietnam and the other of World War II, left their medals at the main gate. A handful of about a dozen young protesters pried pieces of railroad ties from the tracks.

The Navy decided against arresting the people breaking up the railroad tracks, a spokesman said, because “we didn’t want anyone to get hurt.” Sgt. Scott Parsons, of the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s department, said several people who climbed over a fence were detained but not arrested.

Kneeled on Tracks

Bouquets of flowers marked the spot where Willson was hit Tuesday before being dragged 25 feet along the tracks. Willson’s right leg was severed when he was hit by the train as he knelt on the tracks, hoping to block the train, which he believed was carrying munitions to the Nicaraguan contras. His left leg was amputated later by surgeons. The Navy maintains that it was an accident and that the crew did not see the protesters on the track until it was too late.

“We each have to decide what price we’re going to pay together, in affirming life for all people,” a groggy-sounding Willson said in a tape recording played at the rally. “I’m going to be OK, they tell me. I’m going to be walking. I’m looking forward to joining all of you in an unprecedented era of peacemaking.”

The Santa Cruz post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars--Willson is a member, as are several other Vietnam veterans--was at the rally, thus risking the loss of its charter for appearing at a political rally, its members said.

“We’re putting aside politics. The issue is that we’re responding to a member who is in dire straits,” said Steve Brooks, post commander, who was in Vietnam in 1966 and 1967.

Escaped Injury

“Flesh always yields to locomotives,” said Duncan Murphy, 67, who was on the tracks with Willson last Tuesday. He escaped serious injury when he managed to grab hold of the train, but still limped on Saturday.

“I am proud of my father because he was willing to give the ultimate sacrifice,” said Gabriel Rauen, 14, Willson’s stepson who watched his father being hit by the train and dragged.

“I am deeply angered and outraged at what has happened to Brian,” said Holley Rauen, Willson’s wife. “And I am deeply angered and outraged that people are missing the point. The point is that we are killing and maiming, raping innocent children, innocent mothers, women and old people.” She called for a “nonviolent revolution” in the United States.

Rauen, a midwife who married Willson the week before the accident, spoke of holding her husband’s severed leg and pushing against the wound to stop him from bleeding to death.

“This was too brutal not to protest,” said one of the protesters, Jason Jenkins, 34, of Berkeley. “The war has now come to the United States.”

Three Investigations

Investigations of the incident have been opened by the Naval Investigative Service, the Federal Railroad Administration and the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department. The sheriff’s investigation is expected to be completed early this week.

“The right to assembly and peaceful protest is fully recognized,” the Navy said in a statement before the rally. “Precautions taken by the Navy include those preparations necessary to protect the safety and security of the station, assigned naval personnel and Navy employees and dependents.”

James Wright, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1931, which represents the train operators, said three crewmen have received treatment for trauma they suffered at the accident.

“Those employees are law-abiding, church-going citizens just like everyone else,” Wright said.

Given U.S. Secret Service protection, Murillo, traveling here with four of her children, said she had no difficulty obtaining a visa for her brief trip. Murillo, who has been in this country many times before, did not attend the afternoon rally, but took a tour of the train tracks early in the morning.

‘Symbol of Peace’

“This place must be a symbol, a symbol of peace for the North American people as well as for Nicaraguans,” she said.

“I had trouble to speak. What I really wanted to do was cry,” she said later at a press conference in which she took the opportunity to call on the Reagan Administration to “hear the message of peace.” She was careful not to overtly encourage actions similar to Willson’s.

Willson, a decorated Air Force captain during the Vietnam War, had met President Daniel Ortega and his wife during a trip to Nicaragua. Murillo spent about half an hour with Willson at his bedside at John Muir Memorial Hospital.

“He dreams of having a small house in the mountains of Nicaragua where he can work with the peasants,” she said.