FootPrints For Peace Y12 Nuclear Complex, Oak Ridge Tennessee To The United Nations Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Talks New York, New York - 2005

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Chapter 2 - The Gathering    All the initial planning we could do was finished. What was in front of FootPrints For Peace was to get to Knoxville and get things down there started. Jim Toren and Billie Ledger were first on the scene. The basic plan was that they would be on the entire walk. The rest of the FootPrints crew would alternate trips back and forth to the walk as their time permitted. Three of the members were also Stewards for Peacehq which hosted the web site at the request of Jim and Marcus Atkinson. We decided as a team that all of us who could possible make it would be at the beginning and the end. So we all ended up at Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance headquarters on "opening day".    We knew better that to plan anything formal. First of all the group from Atlanta wasn't due in until Sunday. Secondly it was difficult to tell exactly when all the other troops would arrive since most had a fair distance to travel. So what we did was just relax, do some more organizing, catch up with each other, meet new faces, and eat! It was good to see so many Peacemakers gathering in one spot. Most all of us were friends from past actions so it was a lot of fun seeing our buddies again.

Chapter 1

I had a hard time sleeping when we got into Oak Ridge. I was anxious to get to OREPA headquarters and hook up with all my old friends and my son. Jon and Larry were with me on the trip down and Jon had brought along Gordon and Berta because they needed a ride. Jon had called Jim earlier and Jim told us to go to the Peace House in Oak Ridge to sleep because there were too many people where he was and we would wake everybody up if we came there. So we ended up at the Peace house in Oak Ridge and slept a few hours.    When we got up we packed up and left for Knoxville and we were very happy to finally get there. It was a great reunion. Marcus, Jeff, Ralph along with Lissa and the kids, Tyler, Shelley , Billie, and son Jim of course, were already there. I finally got to meet Bilbo and "K A" who I knew from hearing their names from the International Peace Pilgrimage - Roxby Downs, Australia to Hiroshima Japan - 2003-2004. I met a lot of other new friends but I'll save that for later.    I had a GOOD time. I spent the day just talking to everybody, catching up on how their lives were going, it was great fun. I spent some time with Tyler and he was explaining to me what he was trying to do in the way of music as well as his Advanced Scouting plans. The highlight of a day filled with highlights was when Jun San and Jason arrived. It was toward evening when the car from New York pulled in and I just couldn't give the enough hugs. I bad seen Jun San a few times since the Flamewalk. My wife and I had traveled to her Peace Pagoda for Marcus and Atsuko's wedding but it had been several years since I had seen my good buddy Jason! What a way to end a marvelous day. Blessed are the Peacemakers Hugs and love John

Day 1 Echoes

Chapter 3 - Ceremony