{"id":13616,"date":"2019-05-14T11:55:08","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T15:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=13616"},"modified":"2019-05-14T13:32:42","modified_gmt":"2019-05-14T17:32:42","slug":"jon-utleys-lifetime-fight-for-freedom-recognized-with-new-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2019\/05\/14\/jon-utleys-lifetime-fight-for-freedom-recognized-with-new-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Jon Utley’s Lifetime Fight for Freedom Recognized With New Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jon Utley<\/a>, one of the most dedicated and principled pro-freedom and antiwar activists in the nation, received a well-earned Lifetime Achievement Award from American Conservative<\/strong> <\/a>magazine at their Washington dinner last week.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jon has been in the forefront of the antiwar movement since 1990, when he spearheaded a group to oppose George H.W. Bush\u2019s war against Iraq.\u00a0 He has been a rare voice of reason and grace in conservative circles, patiently pointing out how foreign warring was destroying American freedom \u2013 as well as wreaking pointless havoc abroad.\u00a0 He has also been a generous supporter of groups ranging from the Future of Freedom Foundation<\/a> to Antiwar.com<\/a>, where his columns have trounced bloodthirsty politicians of all stripes.<\/p>\n

In his acceptance speech last Thursday, Jon mentioned that his contrarian nature may have started when he arrived on a ship in New York harbor in December 1939.\u00a0 Jon was only 5 years old and could not see the skyline because of the throng of people.\u00a0 The ship was tilting slightly, and Jon realized he could get a much better view by going to the higher side of the ship and looking across. Jon has been getting better views than the vast majority of Washingtonians ever since.<\/p>\n

Jon was born in the Soviet Union in 1934. His mother was Freda Utley<\/a>, a bestselling author who helped awaken Americans to the Soviet peril in the 1940s and beyond. Ms. Utley also wrote one of the first books published in America on the horrendous sufferings in postwar Germany \u2013 \u201cThe High Cost of Vengeance,\u201d published by Regnery in 1949, available at this link<\/a>. His father, Arcadi Berdichevsky<\/a>, was murdered in Stalin\u2019s Gulag in 1938. Return to the Gulag<\/em>, a film on his father\u2019s fate, has been shown on PBS and on other venues around the nation. Reason.com<\/a> described the movie: \u201cIn 2004, Utley embarked upon a search to learn of his father\u2019s fate. This documentary traces Utley\u2019s journey through former labor camps and cities in northern Russia and his final uncovering of the horrible truth at the dreaded camp city of Vorkuta within the Arctic Circle.\u201d You can watch the 28-minute documentary here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here is a nine-minute\u00a0 tribute video – “Jon Utley – A Lifetime of Courage<\/strong><\/a>” that was shown on Thursday, featuring Kelley Vlahos, John Henry, Roger Ream, and others.<\/p>\n