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Dominican Sisters, from left, Jackie Hudson, Carol Gilbert and Ardeth Platte, who served prison sentences for cutting fence at a Minuteman III nuclear silo in Weld County, lead followers in prayer at the site Tuesday. They are in Colorado to meet with their parole officer to discuss an alternative restitution plan. (Post / Helen H. Richardson)
Weld County Road 113 -
Prison time didn't teach the three nuns much of a lesson.
Dominican Sisters Ardeth Platte, Jackie Hudson and Carol Gilbert said Tuesday they will keep protesting the U.S. government's use of nuclear weapons, and they encouraged about 40 followers to do the same.
"Our state of mind and our attitude has strengthened," said Hudson.
They spoke to a crowd from the site where, on Oct. 6, 2002, they cut through a chain-link fence at a Minuteman III silo in far northeast Weld County. They used baby bottles to draw a sign of the cross in their own blood.
The three were convicted in 2003 of obstructing national defense and damaging government property. Hudson and Gilbert served 30 months and 33 months, respectively, while Platte earned a 41-month sentence. She was released in late December after a judge gave her credit for time served.
The nuns are in Colorado to meet with their parole officer to talk about an alternative restitution plan in lieu of paying $3,082 in silo cleanup costs. They say they have logged 148 years of service to the community, counseled inmates and others while $600,000 in charitable contributions were donated in their names to literacy programs, soup kitchens and relief to victims of Hurricane Katrina.
"The money went to nearly every need crying out for help," said Hudson.
The nuns also wanted to visit the silo and exhort others to keep fighting America's nuclear policies.
Hudson noted that a thicker chain was strung around the gates to the silo and a new gate encircled the installation.
Gilbert added that America's outlook had also hardened, pointing to its doctrine of striking first with weapons if leaders believe the nation is being threatened.
"Every time we come here things have gotten so much worse," Gilbert said. She then told the crowd: "I encourage you to continue to come here and to other sites with your graceful holy spirit and protest."
The nuns led followers in prayer and song. A Weld County sheriff's deputy checked on the group briefly before leaving. A helicopter, meanwhile, hovered.
Afterwards, the three women attended a showing of "Conviction" in Greeley. The documentary details their activities and their arrests.
The appearance of the nuns helps bolster the spirits of residents in nearby cities and towns who object to America's reliance on nuclear weapons, said Bill Sulzman of the Colorado Springs-based Citizens for Peace in Space.
"Others need to pick up the cause championed by these women," Sulzman said. "Without someone saying something, these silos in our country will just be forgotten.
"And that," he said, "is just insane."
Denver Post staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or at mwhaley@denverpost.com