July 20, 2017
Smedley’s meet the Irish
by Pat Scanlon
My family was headed for Ireland for vacation in early July. I had heard there was a new chapter in Ireland so I looked on the chapter contact list and there he was, Ed Horgan. I sent Ed an email and within a week we were having lunch at a beautiful pub in Killarney, Ireland, home of the Blarney Stone. A Smedley meets our Irish brother. Over some Irish stew and a pint of Guinness we had a wonderful conversation. It is nice when kindred souls get together. Ed gave me a publication, “Shannon Airport and 21st Century War” plus some bumper stickers and a very creative paper 7” x 7 “shamrock with information about their campaign entitled, Peaceful Endeavour to Terminate Aggressive Landings at Shannon Airport. I gave Ed a copy of my CD, “Extremists for Peace”.
For about an hour or so we traded stories and let each other know what our respective chapters were up to. Ed is quite the activist, having been an official peacekeeper in Egypt and other locations around the world. Ed is going to court soon, for as he said, he is charged with allegedly, emphasis on allegedly, breaking onto Shannon Airport grounds and painting some message on the side of a U.S. Air Force plane, something like, “US Military Out of Shannon. Ed would like to attend the upcoming VFP Convention in Chicago, but he is on a no fly list. If he ever gets to Boston he has an open invitation for a place to stay and a cold Guinness.