By George Haeseler; based on remarks made at Roland Austin’s memorial service
Roland Austin’s involvement with the local [Binghamton, NY] peace movement can be summarized with one phrase…he was there. When the
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Binghamton (UUCB) had an Anti-Vietnam War Committee, he was on it. When several withheld payment of their telephone tax in protest of that war and donated that money to a local fund, he was among them. He was an active member of
Broome County Peace Action (BCPA) since its beginning 25 years ago when it was called the Broome County Nuclear Weapons Reduction Campaign, Inc. He saw that morph into a local chapter of The Freeze Campaign, then into a chapter of SANE/Freeze when the two national organization’s merged, and finally into a chapter of national
Peace Action. He was a Board member for 14 years, three of which he served as president.
Update, the BCPA newsletter, has been published 3-4 times a year for 25 years. Roland and his wife, June, participated in almost all of the mail preparations held in the Fireside Room of the UUCB. Roland was a double whammy against war. When you got Roland, you got June, and visa versa.
When the BCPA Board met last week, it unanimously voted to make Roland the 8th person to be honored by the
Southern Tier Peacemakers Memorial Fund (STPMF). The fund was established a year ago at my 80th birthday celebration. Maybe someday I will make the list, but not too soon as you have to die first to get on it. A 5-member committee administers the STPMF and one of its responsibilities is to have the names of those honored placed on a permanent plaque in our community. There are certainly enough plaques and statues honoring the warmakers! Its time to have one honoring the local peacemakers! Roland’s name will be on it.
During the period of the Freeze Campaign, Bill Battin, a member of the UUCB, spent a year with other church members educating the congregation to the danger of nuclear weapons. Roland helped. At the end of the year, the congregation voted, either unanimously or perhaps with one abstention, to place a sign on the church’s front lawn that read, “Nuclear Free Zone.” Roland was always one of the most respected members of the congregation and I am sure his support was a major factor in the overwhelming passage of the resolution.
For many years, members of this community protested outside the gates of the Seneca Army Depot. Roland and June were there. Once, Charlie Schultze climbed over the fence with either a hammer or a screw driver in hand (I forget which) to dismantle the nuclear missiles inside. Jack Gilroy climbed over dressed in a Santa Claus suit to bring peace and some good cheer to the troops inside. No one from here witnessed it, but an aging Benjamin Spock once scaled that fence and was helped down by a few soldiers as he descended.
Roland (and June) attended almost every major peace demonstration in Washington, New York City, and locally here in Binghamton. Ten years ago, Jim and Ann Clune organized a demonstration on the Court Street Bridge to protest the US bombing of the bridges of Belgrade. The gathering evolved into a weekly peace vigil and moved to the front of the Federal Building on Henry Street, where it has been held for an hour each Monday ever since. Roland attended faithfully until his health failed him. Towards the end, his knees buckled as he clutched his sign and we barely caught him in time. Once he wandered off and almost reached North Street before we discovered he was missing.
Roland was a conscientious objector during WWII. That must have been hard as that was a popular war, the so-called “good war.” For Roland, there were no good wars. For Roland, war was the enemy.
A group of aging liberal men have been meeting for several years at the Park Diner for lunch to discuss politics. Roland was always there, though at the end, not quite all there. However, he never completely lost his quick wit or keen sense of humor and would surprise us with it just as we thought he wasn’t listening.
I will miss Roland. But, he will always be with me in my heart and my thoughts, as I am sure he will be with those of you here today who have come to celebrate his life and mourn your loss.
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