On Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1983 Jackie Allen, a nursery school teacher from Hartford, CT; Clare Grady, an artist and potter from Ithaca, NY; Dean Hammer, father and member of the Plowshares Eight ; Elizabeth McAlister, mother and co-founder of Jonah House; Vern Rossman, minister, father and grandfather from Boston, MA; Kathleen Rumpf, a Catholic Worker from Marlboro, NY; and Karl Smith, member of Jonah House; entered Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, NY. They hammered and poured blood on a B-52 bombers converted to carry cruise missiles as well as on B-52 engines. They also left at the site of their witness a written indictment of Griffiss Air Force Base and the U.S. Government pointing to the war crimes of preparing for nuclear war and depicting how the new state religion of "nuclearism" denies constitutional rights and punishes acts of conscience. Unnoticed for several hours, they finally approached security guards and were arrested. In this, the first Plowshares case to be tried in Federal Court, their justification defense was denied. They were acquitted by a jury of sabotage, but they were convicted of conspiracy and destruction of government property. They received prison sentences ranging from two to three years. Their appeal was denied in Federal Court in March 1985
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