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World War Two veteran and longtime Watsonville native, Al Hopson tells of his time in the United States Army Air Corps (now called the US Air Force). He enlisted in February of 1943 on his eighteenth birthday. His intention was...

USMC veteran, Andre Navarro recounts the events leading to his decision to join the marine corps. His responsibilities included O431 logistics. This meant that he was in charge of making sure that divisions worth of military equipment were ready to...

Amy recounts her time as an army chaplain and tells how it has led to her current job as veterans' employment specialist and part time missionary. From her work experience with veterans reentering society, Vradenburg explains the difficulties servicemen and...

Suzanne's faith began with singing in the choir and has led to her leadership in providing shelter services for the homeless throughout the community. Building community is part of everything she does, and she's learned to do that at Peace...

Joseph Howe, a Vietnam War veteran, explains the every day challenges faced by veterans once they come home. For him, health issues resulting form Agent Orange exposure continue to affect him to this day. He also talks about the hypervigilence...

David Dodson tells the story of his father, Dwight Dodson, who was the senior pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Chicago in the 1950’s. That church prided itself on its history of having been formed by a group of...

Mary Caravalho's mother died young of cancer and Mary honored her mother by taking on her mother's role of staying in touch with her cousin Judy throughout Judy's life. Now Mary honors her cousin Judy by uncovering and telling the...

Two sisters, Josette and Lilly Thomas, talk about how they first started attending First Congregational Church in Santa Cruz, California at the ages of five and eight. They share their thoughts and feelings about the church changing its name to...

Speed Leas talks about his distinguished career as a United Church of Christ minister. Throughout his career he made significant contributions to civil rights and peace making in the communities in which he served, as well as within the many...

Uncle Martin's Life story

I talk with my moms about childhood, spirituality, influences and more.

Finding a community where you feel like you belong is so important to finding peace.

"Peace" is an action verb, not just a noun. Personal transformation and relationship building are paths to peace.

Stoney Brook talks about how being a pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago in 2014 touched and changed him in unexpected ways. Among other things the pilgrimage was the gateway to his setting up the first Veteran's Treatment Court in...

Nick Piediscalzi, a retired minister, talks about what brought him to Peace United Church of Christ in Santa Cruz California. He admires the active, lively congregation here where people are not afraid to be vulnerable in church. Nick explains: “In...

Nicholas Piediscalzi, a retired United Church of Christ minister, talks to us about his personal experience and relationship to peace, as well as his work in peace-making in larger settings. As a minister in Chicago in the 1940s and 1950’s...

Curtis Reliford talks about overcoming racism and serious adversity to find and fulfill his life's purpose which is helping those who are experiencing hard times: hurricane Katrina victims and the Navajo and Hopi people. Curtis describes how he follows his...

Interviewing my daughter

Where did we come from?

My dad's name is John DeLury Jr. He flew two tours in Vietnam. Recently I had the chance to sit down and interview him about his experience and his decision back in the 1960's to enlist (he wasn't drafted; he...

Judi talks about how she began this shelter, her experience of the Santa Cruz massacre and her heart for family reconciliation. She is helped by translator Acy Lodja