THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 8, 1994 TAG: 9408080055
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
On the 49th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, activists gathered outside the Norfolk Naval Air Station to protest what they called the expense and danger of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
Eight members of a charitable organization called the Norfolk Catholic Worker waved banners Saturday at a base gate to remind passers-by that the United States is the only nation to have used an atomic bomb in war.
The United States dropped an atomic bomb Aug. 6, 1945, on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II. It dropped a second bomb three days later on Nagasaki, Japan, that resulted in the Japanese surrender.
``Inside these gates are some three dozen submarines, destroyers and cruisers, and each of those three dozen vessels can unleash more explosive power than has been unleashed in all of history,'' said Steve Baggarly, who with his wife, Kim Williams, led the protest.
``I look at nuclear weapons as taking food away from the poor,'' Williams said. ``Every year, 40 million people starve to death on the planet, and we spend $3 billion each year building new weapons.''
The group conducted a vigil and sang songs but attracted little more than an occasional shout from passing cars.
``They have a right to be here, but I think it's pointless,'' said Gary Barrett, 19, a Navy technician walking by during the protest. ``I don't think anybody cares around here.''
Baggarly said the Norfolk Catholic Worker offers breakfast to the poor five days a week and runs a hospitality house for the homeless. The group has protested against nuclear weapons, military action and the death penalty, he said.
KEYWORDS: PROTEST
by CNB