August 15,
1970
Westwood
To Father Robert F. Drinan
Several weeks ago my husband and I attended a hospital benefit with family and friends. Afterward, as I was helping my daughter push her wheelchair through the crowded lobby, we encountered a friendly gentleman in clerical garb, who stopped to chat with us and ask our names.
Very proud of our Kathie (paralyzed in an automobile accident in December, 1965), I told him she had just received her doctorate at Boston University, and was now Doctor White.
Meanwhile, one of our guests was seeking out his brother, who had attended a political dinner in another area of the Sheraton Hotel. He returned later with a new book, Vietnam Armageddon by Robert Drinan. I looked at the photograph on the back and put two and two together: the kindly priest with whom we had talked in the lobby and the author of the book were one and the same.
Borrowing your book from my friend, I was spellbound from beginning to end. I ordered a copy of my own, and if I'm able to catch up with you at some future public appearance, would appreciate your autograph.
I thought you might be interested in the enclosed letters, which I wrote to the Women's page of the Patriot Ledger several years ago. You can imagine the coals that were heaped on my head by patriots who loved the bomb.
I have become more of a pacifist than I was a decade ago, convinced by articles and history books (such as I never saw in high school), that most wars are engineered and fostered when they might be avoided, that "incidents" are deliberately allowed to happen in order to arouse the ire and fighting spirit of American citizens, who then patriotically donate their sons to the carnage on distant shores. As our involvement with Vietnam escalated, I longed to go up in a private plane and shower copies of Zinn's Vietnam: the Logic of Withdrawal on the White House. But I guess that's illegal.
Your book clinches it. Your courage and common sense in questioning the so‑called "justifiable" wars of the past and recommending unilateral disarmament make beautiful reading. I wholeheartedly agree with the morality expressed in the quotation by Professor Zinn: "It is better to perish as the victim of the inhumanity of others than to save oneself (or one's nation) by making others the victims of our inhuman acts."
I wish you were running for President instead of for Congressman.
August 26, 1970
Waltham, Massachusetts
From Robert F. Drinan, S.J.
I certainly appreciate your very encouraging letter.
Seldom have I received such an enthusiastic endorsement of any one of my volumes. It is particularly encouraging to have your enthusiasm about, and your endorsement of, the sentiments which I try to incorporate in my book.
I remember meeting you at the hotel and send to you and to your daughter, Kathie my very best wishes.
Westwood
To Father Robert F. Drinan
Several weeks ago my husband and I attended a hospital benefit with family and friends. Afterward, as I was helping my daughter push her wheelchair through the crowded lobby, we encountered a friendly gentleman in clerical garb, who stopped to chat with us and ask our names.
Very proud of our Kathie (paralyzed in an automobile accident in December, 1965), I told him she had just received her doctorate at Boston University, and was now Doctor White.
Meanwhile, one of our guests was seeking out his brother, who had attended a political dinner in another area of the Sheraton Hotel. He returned later with a new book, Vietnam Armageddon by Robert Drinan. I looked at the photograph on the back and put two and two together: the kindly priest with whom we had talked in the lobby and the author of the book were one and the same.
Borrowing your book from my friend, I was spellbound from beginning to end. I ordered a copy of my own, and if I'm able to catch up with you at some future public appearance, would appreciate your autograph.
I thought you might be interested in the enclosed letters, which I wrote to the Women's page of the Patriot Ledger several years ago. You can imagine the coals that were heaped on my head by patriots who loved the bomb.
I have become more of a pacifist than I was a decade ago, convinced by articles and history books (such as I never saw in high school), that most wars are engineered and fostered when they might be avoided, that "incidents" are deliberately allowed to happen in order to arouse the ire and fighting spirit of American citizens, who then patriotically donate their sons to the carnage on distant shores. As our involvement with Vietnam escalated, I longed to go up in a private plane and shower copies of Zinn's Vietnam: the Logic of Withdrawal on the White House. But I guess that's illegal.
Your book clinches it. Your courage and common sense in questioning the so‑called "justifiable" wars of the past and recommending unilateral disarmament make beautiful reading. I wholeheartedly agree with the morality expressed in the quotation by Professor Zinn: "It is better to perish as the victim of the inhumanity of others than to save oneself (or one's nation) by making others the victims of our inhuman acts."
I wish you were running for President instead of for Congressman.
August 26, 1970
Waltham, Massachusetts
From Robert F. Drinan, S.J.
I certainly appreciate your very encouraging letter.
Seldom have I received such an enthusiastic endorsement of any one of my volumes. It is particularly encouraging to have your enthusiasm about, and your endorsement of, the sentiments which I try to incorporate in my book.
I remember meeting you at the hotel and send to you and to your daughter, Kathie my very best wishes.
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