Community Guide 2017
down. It was then I realized how very steeled I had kept myself since those war days. This released the fear and grief that I had repressed so long . . . it simply poured out.” SS: You’re anti-war? “I am opposed to war and have been to many rallies, marches and demonstrations. I was outspoken at a time when there were only a handful speaking out. It was embarrassing for my wife . . . social engagements were often awkward . . . it was a difficult time. But the move- ment grew. A great memory was participating in the Peace March in SF in 1970 and looking back from the crest of the hill. There was a sea of thousands of people joined together opposing the Vietnam War. I must say that I am most proud of having spoken to over 50 groups, rang- ing from 5 to 500, as a volunteer speaker for Physicians for Social Responsibility. I went to Nicaragua to prepare a fundraising sound-slide program for an American health project. I traveled in areas where there was danger of Contra ambush. I lucked out and the slide program helped raise $50,000 for the project. I write many letters to politicians and consistently ask friends to do the same. I’m reminded of the adage, ‘What we’ve learned from his- tory is that we’ve learned nothing from history.’” SS: What got you into teaching? “Two things got me into teaching. My idealism and the fact that the free summers gave me time to indulge in my love for wilderness and the mountains. I could have had my famous dad’s medical practice, but I saw that his every hour was taken up with his work (which he loved), but that wasn’t for me. I went into secondary school teach- ing and taught U.S. and World History and International Relations. The teacher’s watchword was to “open young minds.” In the ’80s, it was “to raise the level of conscious- ness.” Looking back at the conservatism in those days I am amazed at the free rein I had in my teaching. I covered the traditional curriculum and moved right into the con- troversial issues of the day: about war per se, its causes and results. There were units with pro and con speakers on the draft, nuclear power and the Vietnam War. I was accused of “selling America short.” My response was that “I’m not selling America or anything else . . . I’m telling the truth.” Once I teamed up with two other teachers, and we did a unit with 150 students where we simulated a model of the UN. The kids learned to politically represent their adopted nation so they could represent that country in the General Assembly. A group called Parents Under God objected, calling the UN “satanic.” I invited them to observe our “General Assembly.” They did and fussed, fumed and blew a lot of smoke, but it never went anywhere.” SS: Why unionism? “In my long teaching career there were many administra-
February 2002 Phil Arnot by Jean Berensmeier
At the time of this article, Phil, a native Californian, was 77 going on 50 and living in a cabin in Lagunitas built by his grandparents. He has been a teacher, union leader, air force pilot, antiwar activist, runner, backpacker, mountaineer, pho- tographer and writer. Stone Soup: Your earliest Valley memories? “My childhood summers in Lagunitas are rich with memories of walks in the neighborhood; on the slopes of Mt. Barnabe, gathering huckleberries on a trail just east of where the bridge on Mountain View crosses Lagunitas Creek and having huckleberry muffins for dinner. A love for adventure and the outdoors was the great inheritance I received from my grandmother. I remember the fire road we loved to walk, deep into the southern reaches of what we then called Lagunitas Canyon before Peters Dam was built and the filling of Kent Lake made Lagunitas Canyon only a memory. That cabin was built in 1926, house and land costing only about $4000. I recall riding the train from Sausalito to Lagunitas a number of times. My mother would put 5-year-old me on the train in Sausalito, and my grandmother would meet me at Lagunitas. The Lagunitas Store was both grocery store and post office in the late ’20s, and as far as I can remember, into the late ’30s or even early ’40s. SS: What are some of your recollections about the years you spent in the military in WWII? “I was 18 years old when I enlisted, 19 when I graduated as pilot and 2 nd Lieutenant from flight school and, at 20, too young to legally drink or vote, but legally qualified to fly bombing missions over Germany. I didn’t think of myself as young then. Today I have a considerably different perspective. I remember devising an escape kit that I kept with me. It was a chest pack that contained maps, food and drugs in the event I ever went down. Somehow, I had the confidence that I’d get through unhurt. I flew bombing raids over Germany aiming at military targets. Some of the bombs we dropped not only “injured” civilians, but killed them. This was not deliberate, but happened inadvertently because Germany’s military targets were almost always located inside large cities. Later I happened to see a film, The Memphis Belle, about a B-17 in WWII. As I relived the content, saw the cabin interiors (startlingly accurate in detail) and kids (like myself) dying so young, I broke
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