S. Brian Willson – Blood on the Tracks

After serving in the Vietnam War, S. Brian Willson became a radical, nonviolent peace protester and pacifist, and this memoir details the drastic governmental and social change he has spent his life fighting for.

He talks to Ed Opperman about his personal struggle with a government he believes to be unjust, shedding light on the various incarnations of his protests of the U.S. government, including the refusal to pay taxes, public fasting, and, most famously, public obstruction.

On September 1, 1987, Willson was run over by a munitions train during a nonviolent blocking action in which he expected to be removed from the tracks. Providing a full look into the tragic event, Willson, who lost his legs in the incident, discusses how the subsequent publicity propelled his cause toward the national consciousness. Now, 23 years later, Willson tells his story of social injustice, nonviolent struggle, and the so-called American way of life.

Background: S. Brian Willson

Book: Blood on the tracks, Don't Thank Me For My Service: My Vietnam Awakening to the Long History of Us Lies