Randy Kehler

In 1967, after dropping out of graduate school, Randy Kehler sent his draft card back to the Selective Service with a letter explaining his opposition to the Vietnam War. He worked for the War Resisters League in San Francisco (1967-70). Speaking at a conference of war resisters in August ’69, Kehler helped to inspire audience member Daniel Ellsberg to risk imprisonment to help stop the war. After his two-year federal prison sentence (for draft law violations), Kehler co-founded the Nuclear Weapons Freeze and became its national coordinator (1980-84). Kehler continues his work as an activist, promoting publicly-funded elections and nonviolence.