Today it was evident that personal antagonisms were developing among the walkers. Cliques were forming. Neils, Carster, and Julia stayed to themselves most of the time. Carole and Mercury were already a couple when they arrived. I tried to moderate the antagonisms by calling a meeting and getting the feelings out into the open. It was not surprising that some antagonisms would develop. After all, we were people from different cultures, had been put together for the first time less than two weeks before, had walked over 150 miles, were tired and even physically sick.

The only thing that we really knew we had in common was that we were all pacifists. Even then, we approached pacifism from different perspectives. Some thought that peace would be obtained on the political level, others concentrated mainly on the spiritual level, while still others thought that the individual level was the most important. However, we did realize that all three approaches were necessary. The meeting lasted for three hours, with some bitter personal attacks. People were accused of being power-hungry, of being lazy, of not smiling enough. But at about l:00 a.m. it seemed that tensions had been eased somewhat. We formally welcomed Shima to our group.I wondered what went on in his mind this first day with us.

   January 13, Kiln to Gulfport
This was a very good day, especially in contrast to yesterday's chaos. Breakfast was at the cafeteria of Annunciation School (elementary), where a nurse took our blood pressures and found them all normal -- a happy surprise. Two city policemen sat in a corner and did not talk or eat with us. They said they were our protection. At 8:30 we were taken to the auditorium via a hallway lined with students, who applauded and reached out to shake our hands. One of the sisters introduced us, the monks chanted their prayer, and then I asked the students to write the United Nations requesting support for the Second Special Session on Disarmament. Sister Jean Harvey, who was also our Mississippi coordinator, gave us $10 which the students had raised in a "peace" bake sale. She told us that they would hold another bake sale soon to raise money to buy us shoes.

We left town escorted by a police car with lights flashing and sirens blasting, though there was absolutely no traffic on that country road in the early morning.

Soon a middle-aged black woman came up to give us $2.00 in change. She had been waiting by the side of the road for over an hour. Words fail. But to keep a proper balance of light and dark, it was raining, the temperature was just above freezing, and I was hit in the leg by an orange thrown from a passing car.

Two people from Kiln joined us for the day, Jim (a seminary student) and Earl (a veteran). Earl wanted to carry our banner in front, but could manage only a short distance because of a shoulder wound received in Vietnam. He explained his presence like this: "I tried the government's plan for peace once. It doesn't work."

Supper was at the upper-middle class home of one of the church members. We arrived late in the afternoon, cold and wet, and were made welcome. Our wet rainwear was hung in the garage and wet clothes were washed and dried. Neighbors brought over hot dishes and a tremendous feast was laid before us. Although only a few of them joined us in supper, all the food was eaten. (Our hosts throughout the walk were amazed at the amount of food we ate.) Only one of the expected reporters arrived, but she stayed for two hours, interviewing almost everyone.

   January 14, Gulfport to Biloxi
It was still cold today. There was a light snowfall last night. At the end of the day, we had walked 186 miles, but we were less than 100 from New Orleans thanks to our backtrack to Baton Rouge. Not all of us could get into our support car for the morning break and lunch. The friendly Biloxi city policeman let the rest sit inside his car to get out of the wind and rain.

Seeing Nagase in the police car reminded Morishita of the time he (Morishita) had been arrested for disturbing the peace by praying outside a NATO meeting in Madrid. In jail he promptly began a prayer fast ("We do not take food from our captors"). He continued beating his drum and chanting until the police took his drum. Then he simply chanted. The Nipponzan Myohoji are well respected in Europe and Asia for their peace work. Soon the Spanish government was receiving a lot of telegrams demanding, "Why do you have these monks in jail?" The monks were eventually released and driven to the Portuguese border under the watchful eye of Spanish soldiers with machine guns. All this as a result of praying for peace outside a meeting where Western European military leaders sharpened their ability to make war.

Our coordinators in Biloxi, people from the World Community House, drove us to the beach across from the hotel where Senators Stennis and Thurmond were speaking about preparedness. It was windy and we had to shield our candles with our gloved hands to keep them lit. The only other "local" person to join us was a forty-year-old, self-described "railroad bum". A few of us listened to his complaints while the monks continued praying. He asked us to try to do something about the terrible food that is being served in Salvation Army kitchens. (Later we were to have a meal there ourselves.) Tonight, however, we were more concerned with whether Thurmond and Stennis even knew we had been there. We could not get close to the hotel, which was on private property.

A few of us stayed up to see what kind of coverage we got on the local TV news. At the end of the half minute film clip, the anchor smiled and said, "Hare Krishna." We were shocked. What did he say? Did he say `Merry Christmas'?" "No. He said `Hare Krishna.'" We called the newsroom to find out why . The literature we gave them and our interviews clearly stated our purpose and identified the leaders as Buddhist monks. They wouldn't correct the error, saying the report itself was correct. It was only that the anchor had departed from it at the end.

   January 15, Rest Day in Biloxi
I spent the entire day writing letters.

   January l6, Rest day in Biloxi
The second rest day in Biloxi was a little different from the first. We found out that yesterday some of the local radio newscasts had picked up on the TV news. So now the radio stations were telling the Biloxi area that the Hare Krishnas were marching through the city.

The only event we had planned was a two-hour photo display in one of the shopping centers. The twenty photo-panels showing the effects of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki stood out among the other booths, which featured arts and crafts. There were many people there this Saturday afternoon, but with several military bases in the area it seemed that most of them were military and their families. Immediately we were identified as Hare Krishnas. We sent two people ahead of the display explain that we were not Hare Krishnas and we were not asking for money. Behind those two we sent two more people to hand out leaflets and explain that we were walking to the UN. We got 50 signatures on our petition for disarmament. Several people wanted to sign but feared to because they thought they would get into trouble if their superior officers found out. Some enlisted men signed anyway. One young enlisted man walked around the mall for almost an hour before getting up the courage. We were extra-grateful for every signature we got in Stennis's area. This was territory sacred to the military.go to page 10