September, 1985
THE PRICE OF PEACE
It is rapidly becoming an accepted fact that, unless the
major nations of the earth can find a way to enduring peace, civilization and
probably the human race itself, will soon cease to exist. It would seem
therefore, that peace would be the thing most eagerly sought after by all of
humanity, since it is the one thing upon which its continued existence depends.
The fact remains however, that, even among the relatively few who are
actively working or seeking for peace, few have any clear concept of the full
meaning of the term! What, exactly, is peace? A somewhat disillusioned
philosopher once defined peace as, "The hectic interval between two wars,
during which the nations involved are striving to recover from the wounds of
the last, and at the same time are preparing feverishly to make the next one
even more deadly and destructive!" We quote it only because
it is such a perfect description of the 'peace' that has existed between the U.S.
and the Soviet Union for the past several decades. Both have been involved in
minor conflicts with other nations during this period and both have taken
losses, but neither has permitted these losses to deter or even to slow down,
their constantly accelerating preparations for the supreme cataclysm toward which
both are feverishly working.
Such a massive scale 'race to doom' inevitably consumes a
large portion of the gross national product of any nation, and one might
suppose that any race of truly intelligent beings would object
quite strongly to the confiscation of a major part of their earned income for
the sole purpose of creating a deadly monstrosity whose only conceivable
function would be the funeral pyre of humanity, but strangely enough, we
humans, who have long claimed to be members of an intelligent race, seem always
ready and even eager to pay the price of war, however great that price
may be. "Billions for defense but not one cent for tribute." (Or for
peace?) We seem always ready to devote, "Our lives, our fortunes and our
sacred honor," to the War Department, but are rather reluctant to
contribute anything to the 'Peace' Department. Perhaps that feeling may stem,
in part from the fact that, although the U.S. Government has had a War
Department from the beginning of its organization, it has never had a
'Peace' Department, and even if such a department was created today, and
officials were appointed to staff it, it would be doubtful that these officials
would have any clear idea of the nature of their duties, or of how to go about
them.
War is a well known technical, strategic and political
process which has been written about and studied in depth for centuries, while
Peace is a subject that has been given but little consideration, except perhaps
by a gentleman named Leo Tolstoy, because it is usually thought to be only a
vague ideal that is impossible of accomplishment.
If, during the last century alone, one percent of the
time, the effort, the material and the money that has been spent in the waging
of war, the creation of the implements therefore, and the rebuilding of the
destruction caused thereby, had been devoted to a study of the benefits of
peace and the means of attaining it without any kind of sacrifice on the
part of anyone, the infinite superiority of peace over any benefits
that war could possibly offer, would long since have so clearly been
established in the minds and consciousness of all of the peoples of earth that any
act of war would automatically be classed as the act of insanity which it
actually is, and implements of war would now be found only in those portions of
museums devoted to the darker periods of human ignorance and stupidity!
(signed) Daniel W. Fry
For the benefit of some NEW members of World
Understanding, Inc., it is time for clarification and perhaps renewed facts
for our members of many, many years. These are the correct facts. It was
on July 4, 1950 that Alan (pronounced Ah-la’hn), the E.T., made his first
contact with my husband, Dr. Daniel W. Fry, at the White Sands Proving Ground.
For four years, Dr. Fry worked with Alan, making it possible for him to
walk and work on earth among us unnoticed! He had to perfect his
knowledge of our language , our slang, our. Bible, our ways and countless
other things!
In 1954 Dr. Fry wrote 'The White Sands Incident, which, in
1974 was enlarged with further new facts, and called 'To Men of Earth'!
With Dr. Fry's own publishing, plus the fact that it was also published in
Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Icelandic, German, Japanese, etc.,
and even in BRAILLE!, - there are surely no less than a million in circulation,
yet the well meaning newcomers tell us it should be made known!! IT IS
KNOWN, WORLD WIDE!
Alamogordo, New Mexico is just 46 miles from the entrance
to the White Sands Missile Range. Dr. Fry was working there on July 4, 1950 when Alan made the contact. Therefore, he is truly a Pioneer of White
Sands Proving Ground, and has lifetime membership.
On July 8th. in El Paso, the 40th Anniversary reunion of
the White Sands Pioneers festivities began with an afternoon of hospitality
– buffet and beverages. That evening was the 'Mixer' where White Sands Pioneers
from all over the country, could meet and greet and hug, and they did - 750 of
them! July 10th was the Official Banquet. There were speeches by Commander,
Major General Niles J. Fulwyler and Dr. Wm. H. Pickering -- also a rocket and
space pioneer and scientist, as is Dr. Fry. The speeches were excellent; humor
great; jokes sharp and laughter abundant. Even the food was good!
White Sands Missile Range covers hundreds of square
miles and much of the testing and development is done there, that
makes possible the successful launching of the space vehicles at the Cape Facility.
From Apollo to the present day, none of the space missiles have been built, nor
have the preliminary tests been made at Cape Canaveral (or Cape Kennedy, as it
is properly, but not always, called.) W.S.M.R. is our countries oldest and most
vitally important missile Base!
Once a month, from now on, the Pioneers meet at the
Officer's Club on W.S.M.R. for luncheon and to hear fine speakers in this
field. On August 30th. we saw huge slides of the mechanical INSIDE
of the missiles not shown publicly, and each one fully described by the
speaker. It was staggering to look about the room and realize the billions
of dollars worth of brains in the heads of these men! At the table next
to us was Dr. Clyde W. Tombaugh who discovered the Planet Pluto. He is a short
square built little man and, yes, he too lives in Almogordo with his wife, as
do many scientists.
The International Space Hall of Fame is here
in Alamogordo, and has been visited by hundreds of thousands of people from
almost every country in the world. Perhaps you too, will visit it someday?
On August 6th., a special meeting of the Board of
Directors of World Understanding, Inc., was held because we had lost one
director who had died in April, and Dr. Harvey Robertson, also a director, was
terminally ill with cancer. Mrs. Virginia Robertson was nominated, as was
Christine Dominques of Arizona. All present agreed on these nominations and
they are our two new Directors.
On Sunday evening, Sept 1st. Dr. Robertson made it home to
be with his Creator. He was a good friend and we will feel his loss deeply .
Cleona Q. Fry Nat'l Treas.
World Understanding, Inc.
P.O. box 614
Alamogordo, NM 88310
