Not One Without the Other a social justice love story is an extraordinary account of endurance and commitment by a former Catholic chaplain and Medal of Honor recipient and a former nun, who devoted nearly three decades opposing U. S. foreign policy in Central America and elsewhere, leading, at times to imprisonment and extended separation.

Charlie was convinced that he served a righteous cause in Vietnam until he met Judy in 1981, seven years after leaving the priesthood. She schooled him about the government’s lies regarding Vietnam and the U. S. roles supporting a murderous military dictatorship in El Salvador and a bloody rebellion against a democratically elected government in Nicaragua. Outraged, Charlie renounced his Medal of Honor, the only one of 3,511 recipients to do so, and embarked on a life of peaceful nonviolence, including a 47-day water-only fast on the Capitol steps in Washington and several other extended water-only fasts. He was sentenced to two federal prison terms for his various protest activities.

Judy was a leader in campaigns supporting Central American refugees arriving in the San Francisco area to escape civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala and repression in Honduras. In contrast to Charlie’s more visible actions, she focused on work within the system, including relentless lobbying of Congress. She co-founded a campaign on the West Coast that advocated for closure of the School of the Americas at Ft. Benning, Georgia, which trained Latin American military — a protest that continued for more than 20 years and, at times, drew up to 20,000 demonstrators from across the country.

The Litekys exemplified radical patriotism against U. S. imperialism. Their efforts, which drew national attention, arose at a time when San Francisco and numerous Bay Area churches and cities declared themselves sanctuary communities for Central American refugees.