Biography
John Zeitler was a Roman Catholic priest, social worker, and peace activist born April 28, 1940 in East Brady, Pennsylvania. His ministry included parish work in Pennsylvania and Iowa, service with Glenmary and Maryknoll, and leadership at the National Catholic Rural Life Conference. Zeitler entered Offutt Air Force Base during the Feast of the Holy Innocents peace witness on December 28, 1981. After returning for the August 9, 1982 Nagasaki Day action despite a barring letter, he received and served a 15-day sentence. He later worked in mental-health social services in Des Moines and died May 6, 2026.
Initial military detention verified
The original Nuclear Resister issue 10, printed page 3, names Fr. John Zeitler among the December 28, 1981 Offutt activists taken into military custody, issued barring letters and released several hours later. Initial admission is now recorded separately from his later sentence. Original December 28 detention report.
The complete original issue 14, printed page 9, corroborates the later fifteen-day sentence and January 3, 1983 release, but does not give Zeitler's sentence-admission day. January 3 was Thomas Cordaro's admission day, not Zeitler's. No start day has been back-calculated from the sentence length or transferred from another activist.
