KEN MAYERS, affectionately known as "the Major," who always represented the very best of a Marine officer and a gentleman, and was a dedicated and active member of Veterans For Peace for several decades, died on January 27, 2025.
Ken’s activism for peace included participation in the 2009 Gaza Freedom March; December 2010 mass arrests at the White House and subsequent March 2011 mass arrests at the Capitol (VFP and IVAW), and at the Free Bradley Manning protest at Quantico. He was arrested in Athens, Greece while hunger striking at the U.S. Embassy to protest the arrest of the captain of the U.S. Boat to Gaza. Ken participated in two solidarity delegations to Palestine, two solidarity delegations to Okinawa, and one to Jeju Island, and he was present at Standing Rock.
Ken spent nine months in Ireland after being arrested for entering Shannon Airport and attempting to search U.S. military planes for weapons. He was held 13 days in Limerick Prison with his passport taken for the next 8-1/2 months. During that period he spoke at many venues about the dangers of U.S. wars and militarism, dropped multiple large banners from bridges demanding Respect Irish Neutrality: U.S. War Machine Out of Shannon. Ken is a member of the VFP Nuclear Abolition Working Group and was the co-author of the excellent VFP Nuclear Posture Review. In 2023 he was arrested protesting drone warfare at Holloman AFB in New Mexico. He has been a dedicated editor of and contributor to Peace & Planet News since the paper was launched. He participated for several years with VFP's Be the Change book club.
When asked why, after all these years, he kept so very active (he was 88 when he passed away), Ken replied, "I get asked this question a lot, and I have several answers. I do it in part simply because I can. I do it in hope of helping create a better world for my children and grandchildren to inhabit. I do it because, as a former instrument of terrible national policies, I need to make amends. But when asked how I can keep doing it after 58 years of frustrating inability to make much of a difference, I fall back on two factors: (1) I love the work and I love the people I’m working with; and (2) the world is a little less depressing when you are trying to make things a little better.”
What has always been outstanding about Ken Mayers is the example he has set for many in VFP of dedication to our mission, his dedication to nonviolence, and the kindness and respect with which he treats everyone. His efforts and his attitude have attracted admiration, love and mutual respect from many people in VFP and in the greater peace movement.
