On Saturday October 29th, 2005, The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation honored Daniel Ellsberg with its 2005 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award and Honorable Douglas Roche, O.C. with its Lifetime Achievement Award. The Distinguished Peace Leadership Award is presented annually to individuals who have demonstrated courageous leadership in the cause of peace. Daniel Ellsberg and Hon. Douglas Roche accepted their awards and were interviewed live by Helen Thomas at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s 22nd annual Evening for Peace gala and ceremony at Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort in Santa Barbara, California.
Since 1984, the Foundation has honored some
of the great peace leaders of our time with its Distinguished
Peace Leadership Award, including Archbishop Desmond
Tutu, His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, Jacques-Yves
Cousteau, Helen Caldicott, Jody Williams and King Hussein
of Jordan. The Foundation's World
Citizenship Award has been presented since 1998 to
such luminaries as Ted Turner, Queen Noor of Jordan, Daisaku
Ikeda and Dr. Robert Muller.
Daniel Ellsberg is America’s best known government whistle-blower for his role in releasing the Pentagon Papers in 1971, a move that harkened an end to US involvement in the Vietnam War and exposed government deceit and illegality at the highest levels. Since the end of the Vietnam War, Daniel Ellsberg has been a lecturer, writer and activist on the dangers of the nuclear era and unlawful interventions. His strong and courageous stances against war, militarism and nuclear weapons have played a pivotal role in promoting government accountability and transparency.
The Honorable Douglas Roche, O.C. is an author, parliamentarian and diplomat who has specialized in peace and human security issues throughout his 34-year public career. He is a former Canadian Senator and served as Canada’s Ambassador for Disarmament to the United Nations. He has been, and continues to be, a consistent and eloquent advocate for the global elimination of nuclear weapons and is currently Chair of the Middle Powers Initiative.
Helen Thomas, widely acknowledged as the dean of the White House press corps, served for 57 years as a correspondent for United Press International and, as White House Bureau Chief, covered every president since John F. Kennedy. She is currently a nationally syndicated columnist for Hearst Newspapers.
