Atomic Pilgrim
How Walking Thousands of Miles for Peace Led to Uncovering Some of America's Darkest Nuclear Secrets
James Patrick Thomas’s incisive memoir Atomic Pilgrim recalls his 6,700-mile pilgrimage to witness, reveal, and protest the true human costs of nuclear weapons.
A child during the Cold War, Thomas recalls sirens calling students to rehearse sheltering from nuclear blasts by diving under their desks. Fear of communism reigned, and patriotism involved the acceptance of nuclear weapons development, a mindset that conflicted with Thomas’s growing Christian faith. On Good Friday in 1982, he and a small group of peace pilgrims gathered near Seattle to begin a twenty-month-long pilgrimage to Bethlehem in protest. The oldest among them was the priest who had blessed the men who dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Thomas’s account of that transformational trek is candid and emotive, recalling daily walks of eight to ten hours in all types of weather; sometimes sleeping rough and hungry; and dealing with intense soul-searching and conflicts between group members. Still, Thomas emerged hopeful, having found that ordinary people everywhere longed for peace.
The second part of the book details Thomas’s deepening faith and his exhaustive investigations of a plutonium factory near Spokane, Washington, that exposed government cover-ups of the deliberate release of toxic radiation into the air and the Columbia River. He also learned about the nationwide contamination of pastureland with radioactive fallout from nuclear tests, which left 1950s-era parents unaware that their children were drinking poisoned milk.
Atomic Pilgrim is an inspiring memoir about courageous actions taken for peace and a world free of nuclear weapons. While Thomas’s intense internal battles rocket from hope to despair, both parts of the book reflect his faith in God and belief in the basic goodness of human beings.
Reviewed by
Kristine Morris
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