Book Review: Ending US Wars

Ending US Wars by Honoring Americans Who Work for Peace by Michael D. Knox (2021 PAX) 

I'm on the email list for the US Peace Memorial Foundation, and I got into an online discussion with Michael D. Knox, the organization's founder and chair, about the organization's membership, and how the recipients of the organization's US Peace Prize are selected. Each year the group's members make nominations of persons or organizations who've taken antiwar actions in the last 16 months, and who the members have direct contact with--so the awards go to people already in the members' network, essentially. 

Knox is also the author of the book Ending US Wars by Honoring Americans Who Work for Peace which was published in 2021, and has been updated online through at least 2025. At present more than 180 individuals and more than 80 organizations have been awarded the foundation's US Peace Prize, and all are listed in a "peace registry" in the book, in the print version up to 2021, and in the online version up to the present. The book's other purpose is to help raise funds to create a "peace memorial" honoring all these US Peace Prize recipients in Washington, DC. That would add one more "memorial" to a city already crowded with memorials.

According to Knox, "The US Peace Memorial Foundation is an ongoing project as we continue to celebrate antiwar models." Pages 280-281 of the book explain the foundation's purpose, "This tax-exempt 501(c)(3) Foundation established in 2005 directs a nationwide effort to honor Americans who stand for peace by publishing the US Peace Registry, awarding the annual US Peace Prize, and planning for the US Peace Memorial as a national monument in Washington, DC. These educational projects help move the United States toward a culture of peace by recognizing and honoring the thoughtful and courageous Americans and US organizations that have taken a public stand against one or more US wars or who have devoted their time, energy, and other resources to finding peaceful solutions to international conflicts. The foundation celebrates these role models to inspire other Americans to speak out against war and to work for peace." A one-time donation of $100, or several smaller donations totalling $100, gets you a founding membership and the priviledge of nominating candidates for the US Peace Prize.

During my online exchange with Knox he asked if I could publish anything about the foundation, stating, "The US Peace Memorial Foundation is now in its 21st year, and this is our 18th year of awarding the US Peace Prize. Unfortunately, mainstream America is unaware of our existence." I said I could at least blog about it, if nothing else, so I'm reviewing his book here.

If Knox and his foundation are serious about this campaign for a "peace memorial," then let us examine some other attempts to create monuments or "memorials" to peace. Already there have been several attempts across the USA, some successful, some not, but most have been gardens or parks:  

• The Peace Memorial Park in Portland, Oregon, is a giant floral peace sign dedicated to the memory of all victims of all wars. 
• Peace Garden at Fresno State University in Fresno, California, is a statue garden that honors Ghandi, MLK, Jane Addams, Nelson Mandela. Other features are added from time to time.
• The Lyndale Peace Park Garden in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Peace Garden in Riverfront Park in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, both honor victims of the atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
• The Peace Plaza in Salem, Oregon is simply an abstract sculpture garden, with little to link it to peace beyond its name and the fact that it is a peaceful public space.
• Prairie Peace Park was located on Highway 80 near Lincoln, Nebraska, and opened in 1994 but closed in 2005--a measure, perhaps, of how much America values its monuments to peace.
• The Pacifist Memorial at the Peace Abbey in Sherborn, Massachussetts, contains a statue of Ghandi along with plaques and stones honoring thirty or more men--and also thirty or more women--who practiced pacifism, along with plaques and stones honoring war victims and war correspondents.  

I personally find building a "peace memorial" far less of a priority than practicing peace. You may make a memorial to victims of war, or to practioners of peace, but "peace" isn't an event to remember, the way a war is. You don't achieve peace by putting up a "memorial," you do it by changing America's miltaristic culture. 

Then there is the question of who and what any such memorial honors. Even people who spend some part of their lives working for peace are, well, only human, so any decision to honor them with any permanent memorial must be considered very seriously. The Peace Garden at Fresno removed its tribute to the late Cesar Chavez following revelations about his conduct towards certain women. The US Peace Memorial Foundation includes Tulsi Gabbard on its list of "Individuals Honored" because for a time the former congressmember did speak out for peace and against US militarism--only to turn around and become just another tool in the militaristic and authoritarian Trump administration.

To me a far more useful goal for Knox and his foundation would be a cultural institution modeled after the only major brick-and-mortar museum dedicated to peace in the United States, the International Peace Museum in Dayton, Ohio. A museum does far more than create a "memorial" to peace, or war victims, or pacifists--through ongoing educational exhibits and programs, it encourages peace.

For more information about the book and the foundation:

The updated chapter 7 that lists individuals honored by the foundation can be read at:  www.uspeacememorial.org/Individuals.pdf

The updated chapter 8 that lists organizations honored by the foundation can be read at: www.USPeaceMemorial.org/Organizations.pdf

Foundation website: www.USPeaceMemorial.org

Remember, the foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity and its mission is to celebrate and share the work of those opposing US war and militarism. If you've got $100 to spend, you may want to join and work for peace.