Bill Arthrell said he was going to napalm a dog on April 22, 1970

 

Bill said he was going to napalm a dog “For your amusement and edification.” Everyone was invited, and there was no admission charge. Bill said he was going to napalm the dog in front of the student union building on April 22, 1970, at noon.

Noon came, and hundreds gathered to protest Bill’s announced napalming of an innocent dog. They were intent on stopping Bill by any means necessary. Police were out in force. The County Prosecutor kept watch. An animal welfare officer, dressed in official animal welfare officer uniform, waited, with collar and leash in hand, to take the dog into protective custody. A little old lady handed out flyers for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Bill, dressed in a suit and tie, arrived at noon.

Bill addressed the crowd. Scientifically, objectively, clinically, he described napalm and it’s effects on flesh. The crowd directed its anger at Bill. Bill asked the crowd “How many of you have come here today to see me napalm a dog?” The crowd booed.

Bill asked the crowd “How many of you are willing to take action to stop me from napalming the dog?” The crowd growled and shook their fists.

Bill said: “I have some news for you. There is no napalm. There is no dog. You’ve come to stop me from committing a very immoral act. Good for you. But realize, it’s not happening to just one dog, it’s happening to tens of thousands of people compliments of the U.S. military, and we don’t seem to hear their screams. And just because it’s on the other side of the world doesn’t make it any less real or any less painful. So please, take your wonderful morality and apply it to the war in Vietnam and not just to this protest here today. Thank you for your morality.”

There was silence. Then applause. Bill walked quietly through the crowd back to his dorm room. Without violence, without argument or shouted slogans, with only a creative mind, an eye for guerrilla theater, and a sense of humor, Bill made his point and got others to look at and see things in a way they hadn’t before.

Twelve days later, May 4th, 1970, two hundred yards to the east of where Bill had spoken, students gathered and acted on their morality, protesting the expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia. That afternoon, 13 students shed their blood, shot by the National Guard. 4 died.

Bill was among the demonstrators there on May 4th, 1970, protesting the war and the National Guard’s presence at Kent State University. Bill was not shot, but the trauma scarred Bill for life. Bill spent most of his career teaching high school in inner city Cleveland. Bill struggled with his mental health, and he shared his struggles openly. Bill never let go his commitment to the cause of peace and social justice.

Bill’s most recent cause was freedom for the people of Ukraine. Bill traveled to Ukraine several times, working with refugees from the war in the Donbas, and serving as an election monitor. Bill Arthrell died in a car accident in 2022, well before his time. 

Live in power; rest in peace.


Thank you to Howard Crombie for writing and providing this story.