SDI No. 4 - PEACEMAKERS MONUMENT PROJECT

"Winchester, VA - Home of the Peacemakers" 

Commemorating the Handshake Between President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev

                                           December 7, 1987

By Ed Winchester

On December 7, 1987, General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan began a summit that signaled a thaw in the Cold War.  To celebrate the hope generated from this meeting, American sculptor Frank Hendler created two identical eight ton monuments called The Peacemakers.  These monuments are found at Shenandoah University, Winchester, Virginia and at the Federation of Peace and Conciliation, 36 Prospect Mira, Moscow, Russia.  The 1987 Summit meeting in Washington, D.C. between President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev moved Frank Hendler to produce the two identical Peacemakers Monuments as a fitting symbol to memorialize that historic meeting. He wanted to donate the sculptures to the leaders of the two world superpowers. His dream was only partly realized. 

This is the inscription on descriptive plaques mounted on each end of the pedestal for the Peacemakers Monument located on the campus of Shenandoah University at Winchester, Virginia.  The plaques are to remind the casual observer about the history of the Monuments. The 1987 Summit meeting in Washington, D.C. between President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev moved Frank Hendler to produce the two identical Peacemakers Monuments as a fitting symbol to memorialize that historic meeting.

HENDLER THE ARTIST AND SCULPTURE OF THE MONUMENTS AND HIS DREAM

It had been Hendlers dream to see East and West come together.  Frank Hendler the artist and sculpture wanted to donate the sculptures to the leaders of the two world superpowers.  He died before seeing his dream realized.  Henlder was an architect and engineer from California.  He went to Pietra Santa, Italy and fashioned and sculpted the two identical 8 tons marble monuments.  Hindler used the local marble from Pietra Santa which "holy marble", Italy.  At his own expense he fashioned and sculpted the two marble monuments (including the two 25 pound miniature monuments)a nd cast the bronze hands with assistance with the local Pietra Santa citizens. He then he shipped one monument over land to Moscow and the other he sent to the United States with the intention of giving it to the White House. 

Originally Frank Hendler wanted the Soviet and American governments to have an exchange of gifts, each country presenting a Peacemakers Monument to the government of the other country.  The idea proved to be impractical, as government officials on both sides were reluctant to make such a gesture or become involved.  When Frank Hendler completed the sculptures, he shipped one to Russia from Pietrasanta, Italy.  The gift was presented to Mikhail Gorbachev by Rama Vernon, Executive Director of the Center for Soviet American Dialogue.  He shipped the other monument to the United States, but the White House declined to accept the Monument, when he offered the gift. The Cold War had not yet ended.   

How then did the Peacemakers Monument that was shipped to the United States come to be located in Winchester, Virginia? Why did Frank Hendler entrust his project to a staff member of the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon and involve the Pentagon Meditation Club (PMC)?

When Frank Hendler became completely incapacitated and hospitalized with a brain tumor, he turned to Ed Winchester for assistance and asked him to be project manager.  Frank Hendler was also aware of the "Spiritual Defense" work of the PMC at the Pentagon. The task seemed rather simple, to find a suitable home for the American Peacemakers Monument.

Many individuals and groups came forward to help in the search for a home for the Peacemakers.  From 1988 to October 1991 serious obstacles and challenges surfaced for the project team, not the least of which was to convince authorities in Moscow to set up the Monument that was there.  From the very outset the task of simultaneously putting a monument in Washington, D.C. and completing the project in Russia was not so simple as at first thought.  It proved to be more like an impossible mission.

An important feature of the Peacemakers Monument project as it unfolded over several years was that more and more people began using the peace shield technology. Most people believe that obstacles were overcome because the prayers and meditations brought a much needed spiritual ingredient.  Meditation groups were organized in a number of government departments.  Private organizations in Washington, D.C., helped spread the peace shield idea.  People in the Soviet Union were introduced to the peace shield meditation and learned about the Peacemakers Monuments.  Magazines, newspapers and other publications spread the word about the PMC and the Peace Shield.  All the publicity caused a steady flow of mail to the PMC, and from people in other countries. The small City of Winchester, Virginia caught the vision of the Peacemakers project too, and scores of people committed themselves to prayer and meditation for peace, and worked as volunteers in hopes of having the monument located in that city.

Winchester, Virginia Home for the American Peacemakers Monument       The first task was to find both Peacemakers Monuments, as the twin monuments were either “lost” or “misplaced.”   Their precise location was unknown at the time to even Frank Hendler The American Peacemakers Monument was located rather quickly.  At the time it was being held hostage by U.S. Customs in Baltimore, Maryland, awaiting payment of customs charges. Since Mr. Hendler had exhausted his means for financing this project any further, a means had to be found to liquidate rather large debts incurred for shipping, storage, and customs taxes, and to pay future expenses to transport the monument and for construction work. There was no budget, no funding, and no donations available to finance continuation of the project.  A series of miracles occurred, because step-by-step debts were canceled.  The District of Columbia Army National Guard came to rescue because the monument was to be given to the Department of Defense. The Army Guard provided transportation equipment and personnel to move the large crates containing sections of the Monument from U.S. Customs in Baltimore, Maryland to Washington, D.C.,  The monument was uncrated and set up for one week-end for public viewing during the annual Washington D.C. Heart to Heart Festival.  Later it was moved to temporary storage at Bolling Air Force Base.

                                      Celebrity Dennis Weaver and Edward Winchester 1988 Heart to Heart Festival           

The next task involved extensive correspondence and negotiations with Pentagon officials to place the monument on government property adjacent to the Pentagon’s military parade grounds.  The idea of placing a Peacemakers Monument at the Pentagon was  abandoned, when the United States went to war with Iraq in the Persian Gulf.  A letter from the Office of the Secretary of Defense to Ed Winchester directed that a private property be found for the monument.

A number of alternative locations were subsequently identified, investigated, and considered until finally in1992 the task was completed.  Shenandoah University was selected as the most likely location for the Monument,  because of interest shown by students and faculty, and because the University had a long-term education program with Russia that complemented Frank Hendler’s vision. The Dean of the Graduate School of Business at Shenandoah University was highly enthusiastic about the prospects of having the monument donated to Shenandoah University, and authorized Ed Winchester as an Adjunct Professor at  the University to offer classroom instruction on OT (Organizational Transformation Theory) based on the SDI technology, and to include the material in one post-graduate course. Students who took the course voluntarily participated in the Peacemakers project by agreeing to do the Peace Shield Meditation, and documenting the results they noticed in their jobs and private lives.

The monument was finally transported from Bolling Air Force Base to Winchester, Virginia, gratis by a local trucking firm at Winchester, Virginia.  Construction work was also completed thanks to the generosity of a local businessman. A special task force of volunteers, all committed to using the technology of the "Spiritual Defense" initiative, was organized to plan an elaborate dedication ceremony.  The task force reached out to invite the entire community of Winchester, Virginia to the dedication ceremonies.  Committees were organized and led by local citizens to invite educators, school children, medical professionals, local ministers, and representatives of local and state governments. 

On October 22, 1992, Shenandoah University officially dedicated the Peacemakers Monument during the University’s International Day celebrations.  The University hosted dignitaries from the White House, the Russian Embassy, State and local governments, students from more than 20 countries, and citizens from the local community. When the long awaited dedication ceremonies finally took place at Winchester, Virginia the U.S. Presidential Honor Guard marched onto the campus of Shenandoah University to open the ceremonies with a salute to the Colors.  That day the University also hosted a series of lectures on peace by nationally recognized speakers, and the local Chamber of Commerce had a breakfast meeting with the Executive Director of the Center for Soviet-American Dialogue, Rama Vernon as guest speaker. In the evening the University concluded festivities with a candle light prayer vigil. 

A Home for the Russian Peacemakers Monument                                   

Early efforts with the Peacemakers Monument project focused on discovering what the Russians had done with the Peacemakers Monument after it was offered to Mikhail Gorbachev.  The search started with a 1989 trip to Moscow.  There Ed Winchester met with Igor Felin, new chairman of the Central Peace Committee, and his staff.  The search finally ended several years later, when Rama Vernon finally located the Monument.

Church bells began ringing in Russia on Easter morning April, 1989, after years of silence.  At that time citizens in Moscow were also hearing about the Pentagon Spiritual Defense Initiative.  Later on people in Kiev and Leningrad also heard the message. The objective was to plant the seed of the Spiritual Defense Initiative far and wide and to cause people to experience structural changes in consciousness through the Peace Shield Meditation that could bring about an end to the Cold War. 

The seed was planted at the Healthy Family Club with about 150 people, at a high school in Kiev with a class of honor students, and at the headquarters of the Soviet Peace Committee in Moscow, Kiev and Leningrad.  Ed Winchester meditated in the Kremlin a few feet from the chair of Ivan the Terrible and distributed meditation kits to government officials in each city visited. He also led a public meditation in front of Kazan Cathedral, which was televised on the Soviet version of 60 Minutes and viewed by 150 million people.  This transformational journey included stops at Danilov Monastery, the Lavra Monastery, at Cathedrals, and at Babi Yar.

The Spiritual Defense Initiative chipped away and made cracks in mental barriers which made the Berlin wall a reality.  Diplomats and politicians achieved breakthroughs as the prayers and meditations of masses of people around the world brought about subtle transformations in the minds and hearts of world leaders.  A new sense of security emerged.  Government leaders were empowered to make peace instead of war.

Several times at the Russian Embassy and again when the June 1990 Presidential Summit of President Bush and Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev took place in Washington, D.C.,  Ed Winchester corresponded and spoke with a number of Russian and U.S. State Department officials to brief them on the Peacemakers Monument project and to encourage  them to set up the Peacemakers Monument in Moscow without further delay.  Within a matter of months after the Summit the first monument to find a home was placed in Moscow at 36 Prospect Mira, the grounds of what was then the Soviet Peace Committee.  Today the Monument is positioned near the entrance to the building now occupied by the Federation for Peace and Conciliation.

*      *      *      *      *

Formula for Successful Peacemaking

The Peacemakers Monument commemorates not only the extraordinary achievements of President Ronald Reagan in engineering the demise of the Soviet Union, but it is a tribute also to the vast numbers of people who supported transformation of relationships between the two superpowers with their prayers and thoughts and peace making activities. It was the unseen power of prayer that provided spiritual resources needed to cause a "Change Perspectives on Global Security By Changing Consciousness" that empowered President Reagan and Secretary General Gorbachev to achieve unprecedented breakthroughs to make the seemingly impossible possible.  This is what we call "Spiritual Defense" of the United States. (See also First Strike Capability.)

Edward Winchester, Founder and President, Pentagon Meditation Club

Final placement of two Peacemaker monuments had to be more than the result of persistence and creativity of a few individuals in overcoming obstacles that at times threatened to stall or completely stop this SDI including the meditation work associated with it. What formula was used to change so many minds and hearts to be able to successfully complete this project? Did the Spiritual Defense actually contribute anything significant and meaningful to strengthening national and international security?  Did the technology for peace bring a light that shone in the darkness for those who struggled to fulfill Frank Hendler's vision? You be the judge.

FOR MORE ON OTHER "Spiritual Defense Initiatives" - SEE:  

SDI - TRANSFORMATION PROJECTS  - SDI'S:  No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7              

Peacemakers Award and Nuclear Tests in the Pacific Ocean and Peacemakers Award

OTHER ARTICLES:

The Winchester Star - Reagan’s Local Legacy

By Andrew Martel

http://www.winchesterstar.com/TheWinchesterStar/040610/Area_legacy.asp 

http://www.winchesterstar.com/TheWinchesterStar/040610/Default.asp 

http://www.winchesterstar.com/   

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