Promises More Vigils : Crippled War Protester Gets a New Pair of Legs

An anti-war demonstrator who was run over by a munitions train received a new pair of artificial legs during a Christmas Day celebration at the Naval weapons depot where his limbs were severed.

“Obviously, it’s a very symbolic spot, for this is where the military madness ran over all of us and I happened to lose my legs,” said S. Brian Willson.

Under sunny but chilly skies, the 46-year-old Willson told fellow protesters that vigils and other demonstrations would continue at the Concord Naval Weapons Station, the scene of the incident, until the U.S. government stopped shipping arms to Central America.

Willson was sitting on the tracks that day and was hit and dragged by a slow moving train. His legs were amputated below the knees and he now walks on prosthetic devices.

A new pair of the devices, in gift wrapping, was brought to the group by Wavy Gravy, a longtime peace activist and humorist, dressed in a Santa Claus suit.

Willson, a Vietnam veteran and a lawyer, told the group, “We the people have the duty and the right to protest and we don’t plan to leave until they stop killing people.”

New legs were needed by Willson because his old prosthetic devices no longer fit.

Wayne Koniuk of San Francisco, who made the devices, said Willson’s recovery was “a remarkable thing that gives an indication of his character.”

Opinions differ about who was to blame for the September incident. The district attorney declined to file criminal charges against the train crew, saying there was no evidence that they intentionally rammed Willson.

However, Willson’s wife, Holley Rauen, has said that the protesters had informed the Navy of their plans a week ahead of time and again on the day of the demonstration.