More than 100 people came from around the country to help the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo, Washington, celebrate its 21st anniversary of resistance to Trident at sub base Bangor. Featured speakers for the August 6-9 events in Poulsbo included Jim and Shelley Douglass, Ground Zero co-founders who now live in Birmingham, Alabama; and plowshares activists Joe and Jean Gump of Bloomingdale, Michigan.

Proclaiming opposition to the planned upgrading at Bangor of four Trident submarines to carry the D-5 (Trident II) missile in place of the C-4 (Trident I) missile, over 100 persons marched to the main gate of the base on Sunday August 9, Nagasaki Day.

The Rev. Anne Hall of Seattle addressed the group, answering the question Why are We Here? and the Seattle chapter of Raging Grannies songsters offered food for thought in their satirical musical renditions. At the conclusion of the program, six people entered the main gate of the Bangor base to deliver a message calling for nuclear abolition and citing the base for violations of International law. Cameron Chapman, Amanda Jarman, Pamela Meidell, Adrianne Moore, Roberta Moore, and Ty Moore were arrested by the security guards.

The second wave of arrests resulted from closing the swinging/rolling gate across eight lanes of traffic in and out of the base. Once the gates were closed and final connections were made with yarn, signs were hung announcing "BASE CLOSED FOR VIOLATING INTERNATIONAL LAW." Arrested at this time were Liza Burke, Jackie Hudson, Jean Gump, Erica Kay, John Reese, and Len Schreiner.

Eric Dee then sat in the only traffic lane that remained open. The first vehicle approached very close with horn blaring before stopping. Shortly afterward, Dee was arrested and taken onto the base with the others arrested.

All thirteen were released a few hours later with letters barring them from base.

At that point, a full sized (44' long x 21' circumference) mock D-5 - Trident II missile then was carried across the highway, blocking traffic on the Kitsap County side of the property line. Inside the missile were Ground Zero supporters Marie Bernard, Joseph Gump, Mary Gleysteen, Rev. Anne S. Hall, Mack Johnson, Bernard E. Meyer, Glen Milner, Brian Watson, and George Rodkey.

The Ground Zero version of the D-5 missile then collapsed and the persons carrying it sat in the roadway holding sunflowers, symbol of the Abolition 2000 nuclear disarmament campaign, until Kitsap County Sheriff Deputies closed in and arrested them for disorderly conduct.

All, with the exception of Joe Gump, were released on their own recognizance after promising to return for arraignment in Kitsap County Court on September 8, 1998. Gump fasted until the following Friday when a brief trial was held. He was convicted and sentenced to the maximum of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, and ordered "to have no contact with the Subbase." The judge then suspended 85 days of the sentence and the entire fine, Gump having already refused to pay. With credit for time served, Gump was free to go.

For more information, contact the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, 16159 Clear Creek Rd., Poulsbo, WA 98370, (360)377-2586; e-mail: jackisue@ix.netcom.com