By World BEYOND War, June 26, 2026
We join the Santa Fe Chapter of Veterans For Peace, along with peacemakers from around the world, to honor Ken Mayers’s commitment to abolishing war. The Nazis killed eighteen members of Ken’s German-Jewish family during the Holocaust. Ken believed the lesson learned from that tragedy was that no one should ever face oppression.
A former Marine Corp officer, he resigned his commission in 1966, disillusioned by the Vietnam War. Over the next six decades, Ken relentlessly challenged militarism and injustice. Within the U.S., he blocked entrances to U.S. military bases, protested U.S. wars at the White House, and stood with indigenous activists in the Standing Rock oil pipeline protests. In Santa Fe, he regularly joined the Friday afternoon peace vigils and sang with the city’s Peace Choir. As part of global solidarity efforts, he protested construction of a military base in South Korea’s Jeju Island and joined Okinawans aiming to reclaim land appropriated by the U.S. Air Force. He challenged Israel’s siege of Gaza by joining the Audacity of Hope flotilla. For bannering on a Shannon Airport runway used by U.S. warplanes en route to the Middle East, he and Tarak Kauff spent 12 days in an Irish prison and were barred from leaving the country for an additional eight months. In multiple delegations to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ken stood with Palestinians as they faced tear gas and rubber bullets during protests of Israeli land confiscation and occupation.
We hope Ken’s kind and courageous pursuit of a better world will continue to inspire future generations. Among those who knew Ken, the good fortune of enjoying his friendship kindles ongoing gratitude and deepest respect.
4 Responses
Ken was always, and still is, an inspiration to all of us in VFP. His spirit lives on.
A very courageous and steadfast advocate for peace. The world is a better place because of Ken.
I so appreciated Ken’s wise and warm support for a first draft I did for the Veterans for Peace Nuclear Abolition Working Group’s Nuclear Posture Review. He was a wonderful champion for peace and is sorely missed.
Ken a Chara,
ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dilis.
May you rest in Peace dear one.
Ken stayed with us in Dublin with Tarak for a few weeks,
and read great stories for our grandchildren.
We loved Ken’s presence, with his fearless spiritual love of life and abhorrance of war with all its cruelty and depravity. Ellen like a guiding shepherd while in Ireland, made up the wonderful threesome of upholders of honest intelligent defiance of the corruption of war.