LINK ©M THE SERVICEMAN'S LINK TO PEACE 1029 Vermont Avenue NW, Room 200 THE BEST & THE WORST Washington DC 20005 (202) 638-4126
25£ Donation July 1969 Washington, D. C. Free to Servicemen
A CALL TO RESIST ILLEGITIMATE AUTHORITY AN INDICTMENT AGAINST THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, THE ARMED SERVICES AND ITS INDUSTRIAL ALLIES
By Roger Priest, U.S. Navy
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As a U.S. citizen and as a human being I wish to expose the illegality and immorality of the unnecessary war in Vietnam. I specifically charge the U. S. government, the Armed Services and its industrial allies collectively and individually with the crime of waging aggressive war crimes against humanity, and with specific violations of the laws of war. Article VI of the Constitution states that the Constitution and treaties made under the Authority of the United States shall be the Supreme law of the land. Therefore if members of the U.S. government, the Armed Services and its industrial allies have broken any international law, then they are liable to prosecution by U.S. courts under Article VI of the Constitution. I charge that the U.S. government, the Armed Services and its industrial allies have broken international laws and established personal responsibility for these criminal actions. The Nuremberg Principles define a "crime against peace" as the "planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances." A state of war exists in Vietnam where Vietnamese and Americans are killed almost everyday in armed conflict. The war in Vietnam is a war of aggression on the part of the U.S. government, the Armed Services and its industrial allies. Article 51 of the United Nations Charter states that members of the United Nations have the right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations. All other acts of war are acts of aggression. This means that the United States would have the legal right to intervene in Vietnam if there was an armed attack upon Vietnam by military forces that crossed an international boundary. This is the only justification for armed intervention. The United States government has accused the government of Ho Chi Minh of aggression against the government of South Vietnam. For these actions if they did exist, to be defined as aggressive actions, North and South Vietnam must exist as separate countries. Notth and South Vietnam have never existed as separate countries. The current separation is the result of temporary zoning of the two belligerents of France and the Vietminh after the French-Indochinese War as of 1954. The zoning was only to be temporary. The two zones were to be reunited in 1956 pending elections. Elections the U.S. government never allowed, because Ho Chi Minh had become so popular a national hero that he would win free elections by a big margin (80 per cent, President Eisenhower estimated in his memoirs). The war in Vietnam, then is a civil war, a war between two belligerents indigenous to the same country. Therefore North Vietnam cannot be guilty of acts of aggression against South Vietnam as defined by the United Nations Charter because "armed attack" has never been carried across international boundaries.
There is no way to peace. Peace is the way. The United States government justified its military actions in Vietnam in a State Department Memorandum of March 4, 1966 as actions taken in "collective self-defense." The State Department claimed the U.S. government had the right to intervene in Vietnam to protect South Vietnam from the aggressions of North Vietnam. By its own admission, there had not been an armed attack by North Vietnam upon South Vietnam until February 1965. This attack, the State Department alleged, occurred in an unspecified place at an unspecified time. The State Department has never proven that the North Vietnamese carried out an armed attack across the 17th parallel prior to the massive support of the South Vietnamese government by U.S. troops. The International Control Commission created under the Geneva Accords of 1954 has denied the State Department charge of "armed attack" by North Vietnam against South Vietnam. The ICC has charged the U.S. and the South Vietnamese government with the initial escalation of the war. North • Vietnam and the National Liberation Front were forced to escalate their military activities as the United States government and the South Vietnamese government escalated theirs. Lets look back further in history. France assaulted by "armed attack" the state of Vietnam after the Second World War. France was clearly waging a war of aggression against Vietnam in an attempt to reinstitute Vietnam to its colonial status. Yet the United States government supported France between 1950 and 1954 with approximately two billion dollars in aid (to win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people). When peace was negotiated between France and Vietnam in 1954 the United States refused to sign the document. As the French gradually began to pull their troops out of Vietnam, they were replaced by U.S. troops and supplies (remember the advisors?). The United States and the President of the southern zone of Vietnam refused to hold free elections in 1956 to reunify the country. These facts show that the United States has worked against the self-determination of the Vietnamese and against reuniting their country. The United States government has involved the people of the United States in an unnecessary war. Unnecessary because it can never be won. Unnecessary because it should not be won. The popular support of the people is on the side of those who are attempting to reunify Vietnam and throw the forces of imperialism back into the sea from which they came. United States actions in Vietnam can only be viewed as aggressive and criminal. By introducing large numbers of troops and military supplies on the side of their "puppet" government in the South, the United States government, the Armed Services and its industrial allies have committed acts of aggression against the Vietnamese people. Even the State Department does not claim that the actions taken between 1961 and 1965 by the United States government in Vietnam were not acts of aggression. Under Principle IV of the Nuremberg Principles, members of the U.S. government, the Armed Services and its industrial allies are guilty of a crime against peace punishable under international law. Principle IV states that even though a person acted under order of his government, he is not relieved of his responsibilities, as long as moral choice was possible. A moral choice was possible in these people's case. They chose to break the law. They are therefore guilty and liable for punishment under Article VI of the Constitution for willfully chosing to wage a war of aggression in violation of internation al treaties. They are also guilty of complicity in war crimes. The Nuremberg Principles define war crimes as violation of the laws or customs of war which include, but are not limited to, murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the high seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity (but we destroy to save). I don't think that I have to illustrate the crimes against humanity committed toward the courageous Vietnamese people. Nearly everyday on the news or in the papers and magazines we see or read about the destruction of entire villages by napalm and fragmen tary bombs. We read about the relocation camps for civilians (concentration camps?). We hear about the corruption of Saigon officials. We watch the wanton destruction of cities on T.V. That crimes against humanity have been committed in Vietnam is beyond doubt. The U.S. government in complicity with the Armed Service and its industrial allies have committed these crimes and are forcing the youth of this nation to commit them. Principle VII of the Nuremberg Principles states that complicity in the commission of a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity is a crime under international law. The U.S. government, the Armed Services and its industrial allies have also partici pated by complicity in crimes against humanity. Crimes against humanity defined in the Nuremberg Principles as murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhuman acts done against any civilian population, or persecutions on political, or racial or religious grounds, when such acts are done or such persecutions are carried on in the execution of or in the connection with any crime against peace or any war crime. The proof of these crimes can be found in almost any periodical. How many more women and children must be burned before the people of the United States realize the horrendous crime they are committing against a peasant people fighting to expel foreign oppressors from their homeland? Most Germans remained silent while their government murdered six million Jews. How much longer will the majority of Americans silently watch their Government slaughter the people of Vietnam? It is not surprising then that this is a time of increasing political repression. The negotiations to end the war have degenerated into a farce. The U.S. government has only two things to negotiate: the withdrawal of all U.S. troops and the payment in reparations due the Vietnamese people. There is nothing more to negotiate. And to those who hold illegitimate power over our lives we say to you that we will not accept the continuation of this war. We will continue to resist; and encourage others to do the same. SILENCE IS COMPLICITY.
Dear Friend, A young Navy man, Roger Priest, is facing court-martial charges and a possible lengthy prison term for things he published in his anti-war, anti-racist newsletter, OM. He needs help. David Rein, the noted Washington attorney, has agreed to defend Roger against the charges - all of which challenge his First Amendment rights under the Constitution, but it will take public pressure to make the Navy drop the charges. Your help is urgently needed in three ways: 1) write today to the Secretary of the Navy, John Chafee, The Pentagon, Washington, D. C., urging him to stop the court-martial proceedings against Roger. Send LINK a copy of your letter.
2) send a contribution to help pay for Roger's defense to: LINK, Room 200, 1029 Vermont Avenue, N. W., Washington, D. C. 20005 or call 638-4126 to donate your help.
3) start a petition demanding that all charges be dropped against Roger. Let's begin a campaign to force the Armed Services to honor the constitutional rights of all servicemen.
It costs money to build public support for dissenting GI's and unhappily, it costs money to obtain justice. We hope that it will be possible to give Roger the maximum possible public support through letters, the press and advertisements. We are counting on your assistance.
Peace and Justice,
Carl D. Rogers^-/ Project Director THE WASHINGTON POST Wednetday.Jun* 25.1969 "What I'm hoping for right now is for lots of folks to write the Secretary of the Navy because this whole thing hinges on free speech, freedom of the press. Texas Sailor They're not talking about my military behavior; they're not talking about what I do on the job as a sailor. They're talking about what I do on my own free time, outside of the Navy, in my own apartment with Vs. the Navy my friends ... in other words my rights as an American citizen." By Nicholas von Hoffman Yet it's not fair to blame the Navy for wanting to throw this likeable young man with his pleasant South Last March when Seaman Roger Priest, the young western twang in the brig. On duty or off, no military man from Texas with the Gomer Pyle accent and the organization is going to survive very long if the privates undershot jaw, first hit the papers, the expectation can publicly go about calling the generals pigs. To was the Navy would have him in an Okinawa dungeon say, as the indictment does, that such language inter feres with and impairs loyalty, morale and discipline within 24 hours. Roger had been sitting in a Pentagon is a bit of an understatement. office cheerfully advising his fellow sailors to make The fault lies not with the Navy. There may come antiwar groups the beneficiaries of their GI life a time—South Africa, for instance—when many of the insurance. people opposed to this war will want a well disciplined, The Navy, which is sometimes not nimble enough to efficient Navy. The admirals and the generals aren't pigs. Some of them—one hopes only a few—may be escape being run over by friendly aircraft carriers, stupid, inept, even corrupt, but most of them are doing acted with some dexterity in Rogers case. It pulled him their best in a calling that was almost universally out of the Pentagon in a matter of hours, but instead honored in America until a couple of years ago. It's of making a martyr out of the boy, they assigned him not right to call a man a pig when he has served long to easy duty over on the other side of town. and bravely through a whole lifetime and it is folly Nonetheless, a contest between Roger and the Navy to expect him to understand and accept you when you had begun. The sailor, with the help of a beat-up off do. set press, continued to put out his truculently anti- Not that this helps Roger. He sees Hamburger Hill, military newsletter called OM. The Navy, Roger and he hears United States Senators call it senseless his civilian friends report, began to follow him around, slaughter, slaughter of his own young life, and so in his civilians "in Ford Fairlanes and Plymouth Valiants. I have all the license numbers if you want them. Leave a newsletter he writes of the generals, "They're ready message for me at 638-4126 and I'll give 'em to you." to fight. They're ready to fight to the last drop of When Roger wasn't being followed by plainclothes- YOUR blood." men he was dutifully at work, obeying orders and The fault lies with the political leaders, as he him giving his officers as small a target to hit as he could. self suspects for in the last issue of OM, Roger's in His strategy was to force them to court-martial him serted these lines Herman Goerring uttered at Nurem for OM's contents, and not for some extraneous charge berg: which might disguise the political nature of his battle with the military. At length either his Navy bosses "Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk grew impatient waiting for Roger to break a rule or his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is OM was getting too outrageous. to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the However it was, on Friday he was hit with a court- common people don't want war ... it is the leaders martial charge sheet accusing him of everything that's who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter happened to the Navy except perhaps stealing the to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or Pueblo or letting the air out of that atomic submarine that sank in San Francisco Bay last month. It takes Fascist dictatorship, or a parliament or a Communist more than four, single-spaced typewritten pages to dictatorship . . All you have to do is tell them they enumerate all the bad things Roger has done, which are being attacked and denounce the paficists for lack include the charge that he "did wrongfully use con of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It temptuous words against the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee to the House of Representatives, works the same in any country." L. Mendel Rivers." How Roger managed to use con Against such a reality the struggle for peace will temptuous words against the Congressman wrongfully have a ferocity to match that of war. If a young sailor is not explained, but if he did, he's a very clever boy who wants to live to be an old man calls old men of and they should make him an admiral. power and position unfair names, he should be under stood and forgiven. People feel too strongly about this Each of OM's three issues has been wilder than the war to confine themselves to the pallid statements of one before. The last one is almost rabid. "TODAY'S verifiable fact. Gen. Eisenhower recognized this when PIGS ARE TOMORROW'S BACON," a headline pro he remarked toward the end of his Presidency, "I think claims. Not a boy to make it in the military by apple that people want peace so much that one of these days polishing, Roger applies that word to Gen. Earle G. governments had better get out of their way and let Wheeler, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, J. Edgar Hoover them have it." and Melvin Laird, who he also accuses of being "proud of his war-monger haircut." He probably would have said something equally insulting about the President, but Roger, like so many others, seems to have trouble remembering his name. If Roger Priest were a civilian, the only place in the country he could be arrested for putting out his news letter would be in Montgomery County, because he has some drawings in it of parts of the body which are illegal there. That's why he sees his case as a Con stitutional one: COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY
CHARGE SHEET
PRIEST, Roger Lee, B-72-6
Naval Station Washington, District of Columbia United States Navy
Charge I: Violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 82
Specification: In that Roger Lee PRIEST, journalist seaman apprentice, United States Navy, did, at Washington, District of Columbia, on or about 1 May 1969 solicit members of the military and naval forces of the United States to desert in violation of Article 85 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice through statements in a pamphlet entitled"OM The Serviceman's Newsletter," to wit:
"BE FREE GO CANADA — Deserters from the U.S. military can still find refuge in Canada contrary to recent misleading reports in the Establishment press.
The Montreal-based American Deserters Committee (ADC) reports James Gross of the Canadian Immigration Department as saying, "There's no legislation which would permit us to refuse landed immigrant status on that basis (of being a deserter) alone." Gross denied that deserters were banned from Canada and stated that they could not be deported to the U.S.
The ADC suggests that servicemen seeking to escape the military enter Canada as a visitor, while on leave if possible and use other than military identification papers, e.g. birth certificates, drivers license. Application for permanent legal status as a landed immigrant should be made after entry and in connection with one of the following groups working with deserters :
MONTREAL: American Deserters Committee P. 0. Box 6ll Station H Montreal 25, Quebec
TORONTO: Toronto Anti-Draft Programme P. 0. Box 76k Adelside St. Station ^ f> Toronto 25, Ontario C * V* V D< VANCOUVER: Vancouver Committee to Aid War Objectors o' C?P P. 0. Box U23I Vancouver 9» British Columbia" '*?*** Charge Violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice", Article 89
Specification: In that~~Röger^Lee PRIEST »--journalist seaman apprentice, United States Navy, didJ^S^JJa^hington, District of Columbia, on or about 1 June 19&9 in tj^jarïe issue of a~p&ïîpuletentitled "OM The Liberation Newsletter," behaye^himself with disrespect towar^s~^EacleG. Wheeler, General, United States-Army, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, aerior com- missioned-"officer, by stating in said pamphlet:
COPY COPY COPY COPY V "DOES THIS PIG SPEAK FOR YOU? / /\ General Earle G. Wheeler, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, / speaks for the power structure. He demands obedience. He says, you/ do as\you're told no matter what it is. If he orders you to go to / Vietnam^-and get killed you aren't supposed to ask questions. It's' just your^fob to die for important people like him. And theyTejfeady to fight. They're ready to fight to the last drop of YOUR blood.
He and his sind are the power behind every rotten officer and lifer. \ /
He says, I and the\people that count give the orders son; you just do what you're told and shutup about it and say sir when you're talking to an officer." X /
Charge III: Violation of the Uhiform\ode of Military Justice, Article 92
Specification 1: In that Roger Lee PRIEST\ journalist seaman apprentice, United States Navy, did, at Washington, District of Columbia, on or about 1 April 1969, violate a lawful generaL^egulatlon, to wit: Article 1252 of the U.S. Navy Regulations, 19^8, by failing to include in the 1 April 1969 issue of a pamphlet entitled "OM The Servieemaja^ Newsletter," published and distributed by him, the said Roger Lee PRIEST, a statement to tt^e effect that opinions or in sertions contained in that pamphlet were the prlvate\mes of the writer, the said Roger Lee PRIEST, and were not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Navy Department or the naval service at large. \
Specification 2: In that Roger Lee PRIEST, Journalist seaman apprentice, United States N&vy, did, at Washington, District or\Columbia, on or about 1 May I969, violate/a lawful general regulation, to wit: \Article 1252 of the U.S. Navy Regulations, 19^8, by failing to include in the 1 May 1969 issue of a pamphlet entitled "XM The Serviceman's Newsletter," published anaSdistributed by him, the said Roger/Lee PRIEST, a statement to the effect that opinions or inser tions contained in that pamphlet were the private ones of the writer, x>he said Roger Lee PRTES3?, and were not to be construed as official or reflecting\the views of the Navy Department or the naval service at large. \ Specification 3: In that Roger Lee PRIEST, journalist seaman apprentice, United / States Navy, did, at W a shington, District of Columbia, on orv abour 1 June 1969, violate a lawful general regulation, to wit: Article 1252 oflk thé U.S. Navy Regulations, I9U8, by failing to Include in the June issue of a \ /pamphlet entitled "OM The Liberation Newsletter," published and distributed by him, the said Roger Lee PRIEST, a statement to the effect that opinions or insertions contained in that pamphlet were the private ones of the writer, the said Roger Lee PRIEST, and were not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Navy Department or the naval service at large.
Charge "Sf*. Violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article I3U Specification 1: In that Roger Lee PRIEST, journalist seaman apprentice, United States Navy, did, at Washington, District of Columbia, on or about 1 April 1969 with intent to Interfere with, impair and influence the loyalty, morale, and discipline of the military and naval forces of the United States did cause to be printed and distributed a pamphlet entitled "OM, 1 April I969, The Serviceman's Newsletter," which said pamphlet contained statements advising and
COPY COPY COPY 6 COPY COPY urging insubordination, disloyalty and the refusal of duty by members of the mili tary and naval forces of the United States.
Specification 2: In that Roger Lee PRIEST, journalist seaman apprentice, United States Navy, did, at Washington, District of Columbia, on or about 1 May 1969 with intent to interfere with, impair and influence the loyalty, morale, and discipline of the military and naval forces of the United States did cause to be printed and distributed a pamphlet entitled "OM, 1 May 1969, The Serviceman's Newsletter," which said pamphlet contained statements advising and urging insubordination, disloyalty and the refusal of duty by members of the mili tary and naval forces of the United States.
Specification 3: In that Roger Lee PRIEST, journalist seaman apprentice, United States Navy, did, at Washington, District of Columbia, on or about 1 June 1969 with intent to interfere with, impair and influence the loyalty, morale, and discipline of the military and naval forces of the United States did cause to be printed and distributed a pamphlet entitled "OM The Liberation News letter," which said pamphlet contained statements advising and urging insubordina tion, disloyalty and the refusal of duty by members of the military and naval forces of the United States.
Specification h: In that Roger Lee PRIEST, journalist seaman apprentice, United States Navy, did, at Wasington, District of Columbia, on or about 1 April 1969 with design to promote disloyalty and disaffection among members of the Armed Forces of the United States cause to be printed and distributed a pam phlet entitled "OM The Serviceman's Newsletter," which said pamphlet contained statements disloyal to the United States.
Specification 5: In that Roger Lee PRIEST, journalist seaman apprentice, United States Navy, did, at Washington, District of Columbia, on or about 1 May 1969 with design to promote disloyalty and disaffection among members of the Armed Forces of the United States cause to be printed and distributed a pam phlet entitled "OM The Serviceman's Newsletter," which said pamphlet contained statements disloyal to the United States.
Specification 6: In that Roger Lee PRIEST, journalist seaman apprentice, United States Navy, did, at Washington, District of Columbia, on or about 1 June 1969 with design to promote disloyalty and disaffection among members of the Armed Forces of the United States cause to be printed and distributed a pamphlet entitled "OM The Liberation Newsletter," which said pamphlet contained statements disloyal to the United States.
Specification 7: In that Roger Lee PRIEST, journalist seaman apprentice, United StatesNaary, did, at Washington, District of Columbia, on or^ateout 1 June 1969 in the June isaöe-oJ a pamphlet entitled "OM The Liberatljja^Newsletter" wrongfully use the following contemptuous words against-the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee to the^House of Representatives, L. Mendel Rivers, to wit:
"BÔÏ CSEALE'S PARABLE
Once upon a time^"there was a very^pQor man who was walking along the base of a $alï' mountain.
TJiC'man was extremely thirsty, so he was deliglif ^when he came upon a stream.
COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY 7 But as he bent down to quench his thirst, he noticed that the stream was full of muck and filth. In desperate need of a cool, clean çink, the man tried to get the muck and filth out of the stream, but to\o avail.
As. he was about to give up, another man appeared and asked him what he\as doing.
"I am vfexy, very thirsty," the poor man said^^but I can't drink from this stream because it is filthy and I am unable to clean it."
The second man\emiled and explained •that the stream was full of muck and filth because^a huge hog was standing in the middle of the stream at the top of thesmountain.
"This hog," the man saidw^is pissing and shitting in the stream and that is why it is so di^tyX^
"If you want a copï, clean drirlk^ you must get that hog out of that stream."
And with that, the two men set out to oQ_Lmb the mountain and get the hog out of the stream.
L. MENDEif RIVERS. GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THAT STREAMXYOU HEAR, BOY?
Specification 8: In that Roger Lee PRIEST, journalist seaman apprentice, United States Navy, did, at Washington, District of Columbia, on or about 1 Junô/1969 in the June issue of a pamphlet entitled "OM The Liberation Newsletter" wrongfully use the followJng ROntrTnjrhuous words against the Secretary o^Defense Lvin LATRD, to wit: "People's Enemy No. 1," "pig," and'k practicing prostitute •"and pimp. "
Specification +: In that Roger Lee PRIEST, journalist seaman apprentice, United States Navy, did, at Washington, District of Columbia, on or about 1 June 1969 solicit members of the military and naval forces of the United States to commit sedition in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 9U, through statements In a pamphlet entitled "OM The Liberation Newsletter," to wit:
"TODAY'S PI03 ARE TOMORROW'S BACON"
"WE MUST STOP THE CAPITALIST CORPORATE POWER STRUCTURE FROM KILLING US, TAXING US, DIVIDING US AND RULING US. WHY DO WE HAVE CAPITALISM, IMPERILAISM AND AN ECONOMÏ BASED ON MILITARISM? THE TIME HAS COME TO FAIL THE SYSTEM. IT ONLY USES US TO PERPETUATE ITSELF. TO SERVE THE SYSTEM IS TREASON. SMASH THE STATE. POWER TO THE PEOPLE."
"WE WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO STOP THE VIETNAM WAR, AND POWER ARRANGEMENTS THAT MADE IT POSSIBLE. WE TAKE THAT "NOTHING" SERIOUSLY."
"DESTROY THAT SACRED COW OF CAPITALISM -- PROPERTY."
"BOMB AMERICA. MAKE COCA-COLA SOMEPLACE ELSE."
"OUR GOAL IS LIBERATION...BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY."
"SHOOT A PIGÎÏ" 8 COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY Pf ACE \r-
1967
Mine eyes have seen the conning of- • •
"Ah, but some time later When I feel a little safer We'll assainate (sic) the President And take over the government And then we're going to fry them! '
--Phil Ochs" "FREE US NOW GUNS BABY GUNS:"
"Don't just stand there help in the liberation of this country from those power pigs that have their hands in our pockets and around our throats. If you would like to help write to: Roger Priest, U. S. Navy P. O. Box 1033 Washington, D. C. 20013"
COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY Potpourri
REIFICATION: The conversion of a symbol or other abstraction into a concrete or "real" thing; the acceptance of a symbol or other abstraction as something concrete or "real" with an essence of its own; the folly of mistaking nothing for something—as when white, red and blue coloring is put on a rag and then mistaken for something other than white, red and blue coloring on a rag.
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FAMOUS QUOTES--"I bet that Russian Army is jealous as hell. Our troops are here getting all this experience, we're learning about guerrilla warfare, helicopters, vertical envelopment, close artillery support. Those Russian generals would love to be here... Any true professional wants to march to the sound of gunfire. "
--General William C. Westmoreland
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The streets of our country are in turmoil. The universities are full of students rebelling and rioting. Communists are seeking to destroy our country. Russia is threatening us with her might and the Republic is in danger. Yes, danger from within and from without. We need law and order. Without law and order our nation cannot survive. Elect us and we shall restore law and order. We will be respected by the nations of the world for law and order. Without law and order, our Republic will fall.
--Adolph Hitler, 1932
T ^n ^F ^F ^r ^r ^ ^F ^h ^ ^r *n *r ^h ^r
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE--"Nothing would please the Kremlin more than to have the people of this country choose a second-rate President.
--Richard M. Nixon, Pittsburg, October 8, 1952
*************** "Civilians can scarcely understand or even believe that many ambitious military professionals truly yearn for wars and the opportunities for glory and distinction afforded only in combat. Standing closely behind these leaders, and encourging and prompting them, are rich and powerful defense industries. Standing in front, adorned with service caps, ribbons and lapel emblems, is a Nation of veterans - patriotic, belligerent.. .finding a certain sublimation and excitment in their country's latest military venture. Militarism in America is in full bloom.. .the blight of Vietnam reveals that militarism is more a poisonous weed than a glorious blossom. "
--Gen. David M. Shoup, former Commandant of the Marine Corps and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ***************
If Spiro Agnew jumped (or was pushed) from the spire of the Empire State Building, and was caught by a favorable crosswind, he would hit 34th Street at a velocity of 281. 6 feet per second.
10 You have used a word Which means nothing. You have given a word The power to send men to death. Men are not free who are sent to die. Only those who send them are "free. " You should have freedom stuffed down your fat throats. --Kenneth Patchen
The policemen arrested me in the name of the law; I hit him in the name of liberty.
--Clement Duval
"Why of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country. "
--Hermann Goering, at the Nuremberg Trials
"Science and Peace will triumph over ignorance and war, nations will unite, not to destroy, but to build, and the future will belong to those who will have done most for suffering humanity. "
--Louis Pasteur
Thanks to Dow's napalm and modern technology, it is possible to take the ovens to the people rather than the people to the ovens.
— fltMtl stuik-rU pu**'!*. Rtttl Cntlvnt Don't get caught up in the system "Injustice is the great catalyst of revolution. A nation that found life through revolution has now become the world's number one counterrevolutionary force, not because American people would have it that way, but because the rich choose to defend their power and wealth. The masters of die trusts and corporate giants, along with their representatives in Washington, must learn the hard lessons of justice, or our country may be swept away and humanity with it. "
--An excerpt from the Catonsville Nine Statement
11 EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS TO THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY
Dear Mr. Chafee:
... Mr. Priest appears to be charged with Freedom of the Press, a crime which our founders fought for in this great nation. This seems to me as a direct attack upon the First Amendment of the Constitution...... I hope you will make every effort to prevent any attempt to punish Roger for his critical attitude of the military industrial beast that is devouring this country...... Mr. Priest has an unusual style of expression saturated with much tabasco but nevertheless ringing out the truth loud and clear for all to hear and consider... You will never be able to stop or silence the truth no matter what you do...... The attack upon freedom of the press in the form of the charges against Roger Priest constitutes an act of Treason. Wake up.' Wake up»' Honor life - or die as a pig...... Apparently the junior Hitlers only punish people who speak out against war. Well if it would stop the war, I would personally go to jail to stop it, and I have served 21 years in the U. S. Navy, in two wars, and was retired for disability...... I sometimes run movies in Walter Reed Hospital for the wounded and have seen how they come back from Nam. Why don't you visit them and see what the war does to them? ... Even though some of Seaman Priest's activities have been from an unusually strong conscience, I have not been able to actually discover anything illegal. Just what basic legal ground do you have for the charges--over and above discomfort? ... If we court-martial servicemen for exercising their first amendment rights, we undermine the country by contributing to the revolutionary feelings that are so common today...... Roger Priest has demonstrated beyond a doubt that he is brave. But if his home becomes a jail, then the best part of the soul of this great land is dragged into the cell with him, there to languish. And maybe to die...... Why should generals and admirals have the right to criticize national policy matters, when the same right is denied to enlisted men? "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal... " Are some of us more equal than others? ... With the growing sentiment against the Vietnam War, I highly recommend that you review the charges against Mr. Priest before initiating court martial proceedings. This war is in violation of the United States Constitution. Our own country, your own colleagues, tried German officers at Nuremberg for the crimes of silence and complicity. You now propose to try Roger Priest for upholding the Nuremberg Principles...
THE SERVICEMAN'S LINK TO PEACE 1029 Vermont Avenue NW, Room 200 LINKI Washington. DC 20005 (202) 638-4126 THE SERVICEMAN'S LINK TO PEACE 1029 Vermont Avenue NW, Room 200 LINK Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 638-4126
PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The following is a statement by Navy Seaman Roger Priest, for whom Navy court-martial proceedings began July 22, 1969:
"MY CRIME IS SPEECH" By following the routine it knows so well — overkill — the admirals and generals have, by arbitrary and capricious power, tried to silence dissenlsion in the ranks - by any means, legal and humane or otherwise. This, to me, is the only way to view the heavy-handed attempts to put out of commission the anti-war, anti-military newsletter, called 0M - which I edit.
Although most military Brass take it for granted that they should be able to criticize national policy matters, the idea that enlisted men have the same right is looked upon as radical and dangerous. The Navy, by "over-reacting" in the manner it has, will soon learn - to its total dismay - that by suppressing military dissent it has not lessened, but has, in fact, increased the chances of further outbreaks or acts that can only bring discredit on the military and civilian leadership of this country.
If I can be put away for a number of years in prison for the mere writing of words - an act so basic to the founding of this country that it finds its basis in the Fiiä. Amendment to the Constitution - then my crime is speech. But let me tell you this: 0M will go on, for others will take up the pen where I leave off. *-\% feA THE SERVICEMAN'S LINK TO PEACE 1029 Vermont Avenue NW, Room 200 LINK Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 638-4126 BIOGRAPHICAL FACTS ON ROGER LEE PRIEST. B-72-69-03
AGE: (Date of birth: March 13, 1944) HOMETOWN: Houston, Texas
MARITAL STATUS: Single EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND: Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from the University of Houston (June 1, 1967).
ENTERED U.S. NAVY: October 19, 1967 DISCHARGE DATE: October 18, 1971
RANK: Journalist Seaman Apprentice (JOSA) PAY GRADE: E-2
PUBLIC RECOGNITION
...WIRE SERVICE STORY that Priest designated the War Resistors League as the sole beneficiary for all service-connected insurance, February 1969
...WASHINGTON POST column by Nicholas von Hoffman, March 24, 1969
...WASHINGTON POST "Personalities" story, March 25, 1969
...CBS SATURDAY REPORT, WITH ROGER MUDD, May 3, 1969
...LIFE MAGAZINE story on "Dissent in the Military," May 23, 1969
...WASHINGTON POST column by Nicholas von Hoffman, June 25, 1969
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS RELATED TO THE PUBLICATION OF OM
April 1, 1969 - First issue of OM—The Servicemen's Newsletter. Roger Priest reassigned to the Navy/Marine Corps Exhibit Center, Washington Navy Yard, 1% hours after arriving at the Office of Navy Infor mation, Pentagon. Priest had been serving in the Pentagon from January 12, 1968 until this time
May 1, 1969 - Second issue of 0M--The Servicemen's Newsletter. Circulation: 1000
June 1, 1969 - Third issue of OM—The Liberation Newsletter (name changed)
June 12, 1969 - Interrogated by Office of Naval Intelligence agents about OM
June 17, 1969 - Transferred to the Processing Division, Naval Yard, Washington, DC, and put in a "legal hold" status, pending further investigation.
June 20, 1969 - Official charges filed by the U.S. Navy, Naval Station, Washington
July 21, 1969 - Seaman Priest leads nearly 100 people in a protest demonstration at the National Archives Building, carrying sign reading: "MY CRIME IS SPEECH"
July 22, 1969 - Begining of Article 32 investigation, Building 92, Naval Air Station, Anacostia THE SERVICEMAN'S LINK TO PEACE 1029 Vermont Avenue NW, Room 200 LINK Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 638-4126
PRESS RELEASE r t t r , „ Contact: CarStevle Roger Wilcosx For Immediate Release July 29, 1969
MAYOR'S REPORT ON P.C. TRASH-SPYING DUE AS NAVY DECIDES HOW TO HANDLE ANTI-WAR SAILOR
While the Navy is determining what to do with Roger Priest and his anti war newspaper, District of Columbia Mayor, Walter E. Washington must decide how to explain the direct contradiction between statements made by Department of Sanitary Engineering officials and the sworn testimony of a Navy intelli gence agent.
Robert V. Howard, a special agent for the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), testified at a preliminary hearing this week that the Department of Sanitiation made a "special pickup" of trash at the home of Seaman Priest, who faces charges which stem from the publication of his anti-war newspaper, OM. A letter found in the sailor's trash was introduced as evidence against him at the investigation which could lead to a court-martial and a possible lengthy sentence for the 25-year-old Texan.
The course of action the Navy takes against Priest will be based on the recommendation of the investigating officer, Commander Norman Mills, who heard testimony that the Navy had assigned 25 agents to the case.
A report of the investigation into the Sanitary Department's cooper ation with the ONI agents is expected to reach Mayor Washington this week. The Mayor called for "an immediate and full review" of the trash-spying after the head of the Sanitation Division William F. Roeder, was reported to say, "If the police ask us to do this, we cooperate with them." After learning that the Mayor ordered a probe into the practices of helping investigators with "special pickups", Roeder denied making the statement.
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. Page 2 of 3 pages
In a 25 minute summation of the case for the defense, Washington lawyer David Rein charged that the Navy's investigation has "done more to bring dis credit on the armed forces than anything Roger Priest has done." Referring to the fact that the trash of all residents in Priest's four-story building had been searched during the investigation, Rein said, "I wonder if the Navy is tending to their business or to civilians."
Rein also pointed out that at an anti-war conference Priest attended in July, six people in a workshop group of 15 were Navy intelligence agents.
The Navy charges in one of the 14 specifications filed against Priest, that his newsletter contained "statements disloyal to the United States." Rein argued that this charge is "absolutely without meaning," "The only disloyalty to the United States," said Rein, "is an attempt to deprive some one of his Constitutional rights."
How the Navy will handle the matter will probably not be decided upon for at least two weeks. If the Navy follows the advice of David Rein, they will find "some other way of dealing with people."
If Roger Priest is court-martialed and convicted he could receive up to 35 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge. In a statement issued this week he expressed his feelings about that possibility: "If I can be put away for a number of years in prison for the mere writing of words — an act so basic to the founding of this country that it finds it basis in the First Amendment to the Constitution ~ then my crime is speech."
Priest says in that statement, that what he is hoping for right now is for lots of people to write to the Secretary of the Navy, John Chafee because "the whole thing hinges on free speech, freedom of the press." "Despite what the Navy says, Secretary Chafee can still have the charges dropped." Roger believes that action on his defense should be taken in the larger context of repression against all who dissent against policies that are "antithetical to life and justice." "My case," he says, "gives us the opportunity to es-
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calate the movement toward peace and justice." To help with this "escalation" The Serviceman's LINK To Peace, a Washington-based anti-war group organizing public support for Roger, has prepared a 12-page compilation of the first three issues of OM. "The Best and The Worst," as it is called, includes a "Parable" by the Black Panther leader, Bobby Seale, which was a key factor in the charges being brought against Priest, The full list of charges - taking up five pages - is also reprinted in this special edition of Priest's paper. They include: behaving with disrespect towards Earle G. Wheeler, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; contemptuous words against Melvin Laird and L, Mendel Rivers, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee; as well as statements alleged to "interfere with, impair, and influence the loyalty, morale, and discipline of the military and naval forces of the United States."
Copies of "OM - The Best and The Worst" are being sold by LINK to help raise funds for Roger's defense. They can be obtained from The Serviceman's LINK To Peace, Room 200, 1029 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20005. For further information, call (202) 638-4126. THE SERVICEMAN'S LINK TO PEACE 1029 Vermont Avenue NW, Room 200 LINK Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 638-4126 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT : August 28, 1969 Carl Rogers NEWS Steve Wilcox NAVY TO COURT-MARTIAL SAILOR WHO PUBLISHES ANTI-WAR NEWSLETTER
A General Court-Martial was ordered today for Roger Lee Priest,
Journalist Seaman, who publishes an anti-war newspaper for servicemen.
The eight offenses charged against the 25-year-old sailor concern material he printed in three issues of his publication entitled "OM -
The Liberation Newsletter." The charges allege that Priest solicited members of the military to desert and commit sedition. The Navy defines this as "concerted revolt or violence against the Government with intent to cause its overthrow." They also charge Priest with publishing statements urging insuboridnation, disloyalty and refusal to duty by members of the military forces with intent to impair loyalty, morale and discipline, as well as publishing statements disloyal to the United States, which were designed to promote dis loyalty and dissension among members of the Armed Forces.
The charges were referred to a General Court-Martial by the
Commandant of the Naval District of Washington, Rear Adm. George P.
Koch, after he reviewed evidence presented at a pre-trial hearing in
July. Six of the charges preferred at that time were not referred for trial by Koch. They were those charges alleging use of dis respectful behavior or language towards General Earle G. Wheeler,
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Rep. L. Mendel Rivers, D-S.C., and Defense Secretary Melvin Laird. Also dropped were three charges
-MORE- -2- of minor violations of regulations that Priest failed to state in his paper that the views expressed were his and "were not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Navy."
In choosing not to prosecute Priest on these charges, Rear Adm.
Koch stated that he had decided toward a trial only on those specifi cations which allege acts or conduct that have been recognized histor ically as offenses by military personnel.
"What we are left with are the real free speech issues," said
David Rein, attorney for Seaman Priest. In reference to the charge of soliciting members of the military and Naval forces to commit sedition, Rein said: "It is plain that the material in Priest's pub lication is neither directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action nor is it likely to incite or produce such action. The material quoted in the specification charging Priest with soliciting sedition is obviously nothing more than abstract rhetoric and cannot possibly be rationally construed as a serious request or advice to do anything.
Horever, since Priest's activities were all conducted off base in the form of a printed publication whose contents are no different than public newstands throughout the country, there is no warrant or basis for applying a different rule to this publication than is applied to publications generally."
Rein noted a decision by the Army this week to allow the distrib ution of a similarly anti-war serviceman's newspaper at Fort Eustis and suggested that, 'Haybe the services should get together and talk to each other." -MORE- -3-
It was Rein who blasted the Navy's probe methods during the July investigation at which time it was revealed that 25 agents had been assigned to follow the Texas seaman. It was also learned then that the
D.C. Department of Sanitation had cooperated with the Office of Naval
Intelligence by providing a truck for a special pick-up of Priest's trash outside the apartment where he puts together the newsletter on his off-duty time.
Priest was not permitted to speak with members of the press today, but he issued the following statement through The Serviceman's LINK To
Peace, the anti-war group providing his civilian defense:
"The issue, as I see it, is whether an American citizen gives up his Constitutional rights to free speech and free press upon entering the Armed Forces of the United States. I think he does not; and should not give up those rights that others have given so much to preserve. The Navy, by over-reacting in this manner, will soon learn that by suppressing military dissent it has not lessened, but has, in fact, increased the chances of further outbreaks of acts that can only bring discredit on the military and civilian leadership of this country."
Priest stsced that he has prepared a "Special Court-Martial
Edition" of "01" which he is sending to a printer shortly.
A trial date has been set for October 1st, but attorneys for the accused sailor said that they would ask for a postponement until
November 4th. The trial will be held at the United States Navy Yard in the District of Columbia.
-30- THE SERVICEMAN'S LINK TO PEACE 1029 Vermont Avenue NW, Room 200 LINK Washington, D.C 20005 (202) 638-4126 NEWS The following is an excerpt from the transcript of an Article 39A (pre trial) Hearing, October 9, 1969, in the case of The United States Navy vs Seaman Roger L. Priest, The abbreviations in this transcript are used to identify the following parties to the trial:
TC: Trial Counsel (the prosecution), Lt. John McGrath, JAGC, USN MILITARY JUDGE or L0: Legal Officer, Captain B. Raymond Perkins, JAGC, USN IDC: Individual Defense Counsel, David Rein (Priest's civilian attorney)
TC: The military judge will not be a witness for the prosecution. If the military judge is aware of any matters which he believes may be a ground for challenge by either side against him, he should now state such matters. MILITARY JUDGE: I am personally unaware of any circumstance that would be a ground for challenge against me. TC: The prosecution has no challenge for cause against the mili tary judge. Does the accused desire to challenge the military judge for cause or conduct voir dire examination of the military judge? IDC: (Mr. Rein): We would like to conduct voir-dire at this time, if Your Honor please. I would like to, before I conduct the voir-dire, Your Honor, to just make just a few prefatory remarks to indicate the nature of the voir-dire and the purpose of it. L0: Mr. Rein, we apparently have some kind of machine out back, so if you would just speak a little louder than ordinarily or come closer to the bench, it would be helpful. IDC (Mr. Rein): Can you get me now? THE REPORTER: Yes, sir. IDC (Mr. Rein): Very briefly, I am going to ask Your Honor cer tain questions which I would not normally ask in a proceedings, which I feel are necessary to ask in this proceeding, and I would like to indicate why before I ask the questions. The nature of the charges against the Defendant Roger Priest here stems, it seems to me, from his expressions and views with regard to the war in Vietnam. He is charged with having made disloyal statements because of the expression of those views. I will later indicate we have some difficulty with that aspect of the case because we don't know what statements are alleged to be disloyal. But in view of the fact that the nature of the case depends entirely--and the judgment of the case depends entirely on one's political judgment and one's views for or against the war in Vietnam--I think of necessity before I decide whether to challenge the military judge here I would have to put questions to you with regard to ^ your views and the war in Vietnam, because it seems to me that depending -Û ^ * on how you feel about the war in Vietnam is crucial as to how you will <£ decide the issues in this case, which are the issues in this case.
VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION
Questions by the IDC (Mr. Rein): Q. I would like to ask Your Honor at this time whether you believe the war in Vietnam serves the best interest of the United States, or do you share the view by many senators and a widespread section of the public at this time that a withdrawal of our armed forces from Vietnam at this time would be in the best interest of the country? A. Well, Mr. Reins that is sort of an either/or proposition. Let me say this. That I cannot honestly say that I possess any conviction as to whether or not that conflict is in the best interest of our citizens in the nation as a whole. Q. Do you believe that it is in the best interest of the United States to withdraw from Vietnam at the present time? A. I can't say that I hold that conviction. Q. Do you believe that it is in the best interest of the United States to continue to keep in power in South Vietnam the present government and that it is to our interest to furnish armed forces for the purpose of keeping that government in power? A. I do not know whether our relationship with that particular government is in our best interest or the best interest of our govern ment or not. I must say that is an avenue that I haven't made any particular effort to establish a conviction upon. Q. Do you believe that it is in the best interest of the United States to permit the Vietnamese to choose for themselves what govern ment they wish to have in their own particular area? A. I think that a self-determination is to be everywhere, a determination that we should support. Q. Do you believe that servicemen, enlisted servicemen in the rank with Roger Priest, whether in the Navy or in the Army, have the right as ordinary citizens of the United States have, to discuss the rights or wrongs of the war in Vietnam and to publish material with respect to that? A. I do not hold any such belief, Q. Do you believe that the United States has the right to engage in force in international affairs unilaterally without the sanction of the United Nations, or do you believe that to be a violation of the UN Charter? A, Well, I will say this. That I think it is a matter to be avoided and to go to great length to avoid it, but I am not prepared to say that I believe that it is a violation of the UN Charter. Q. Have you followed the Senate Hearings and the other evidence and discussion with respect to the Tonkin Gulf incident? A, I am aware of what has appeared in the paper from time to time regarding that particular incident, Q. If evidence was presented at this trial to show—and I think that there is such evidence—that President Johnson deliberately lied to the American public with respect to the facts of the Tonkin Gulf incident, would you be prepared to consider and credit such evidence? A, I am not prepared to receive evidence of such a matter so far remote from the circumstance which I deem this court is assembled to consider. Q. Well, I am not saying. I think the evidence, the discussion, will be later pointed out that that is the issue in this case, as posed not by myself but as posed by the prosecution. May I say, that on the basis of Your Honor's answer to the question that you do not believe that enlisted men have the right to discuss, as citizens normally do, the rights and wrongs of the war in Vietnam, I would on that basis challenge Your Honor for-cause, A. Is that the question that you asked before, Mr, Rein? Q, Yes. Yes, I asked you that question, and you said that you did not believe that they had such rights. Perhaps I had better put it again, A. All right. I didn't think I heard this statement you just made, Q. Well, let me ask you the question again. The question I asked was: Do you believe that servicemen have the right similar to" that possessed by citizens of the United States to discuss "the~"r~ighTTs~~ or wrongs of the war in Vietnam and to publish material on that subject? A, I would strike the last three words of your statement and then give you an unqualified "yes." But when you add the last three words of your question then I could not give an unqualified "yes." Q. Well, if I modified it. If I said, "publish it on their own time and with their own facilities and not using Navy time or Navy facilities? A, Well, this seems to leave open a wide range of conduct, seme of which conceivably would be permitted conduct on the part of a serviceman, but on the other hand I conceive of other that would be contrary to the best interest of the Armed Forces, and consequently, I would be obliged to say that on the basis of my oath and conscience I would be opposed to it; Q. Well, on the basis of that answer I would move to challenge the military judge for cause because I believe he has predetermined the issues in this case, and that is the issue in the case. MILITARY JUDGE: The opposite side has opportunity to conduct voir dire if it wishes and then both sides will be given an opportunity to make argument as they see fit. TC (LT McGRATH): Yes, sir.
VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION
Questions by the prosecution (LT McGRATH) to the military judge: Q. I only have a few brief questions on voir-dire, Q. Directing your attention to Mr. Rein's last question, would you be able during the course of this trial—this court-martial--to have an open mind and listen to legal precedent cited by both sides and give due consideration to legal authority in determining the legal questions as to servicemen's rights and the applicability of constitu tional protections of members of the Armed Forces? A. Affirmative, THE SERVICEMAN'S LINK TO PEACE 1029 Vermont Avenue NW, Room 200 LINK Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 638-4126 The following article was written by WS Carl Rogers, Director of LINK THE COURT-MARTIAL: A System For Military Justice or An Instrument For Military Discipline? "I can think of no more fitting expression of this country's appreciation for the sacrifices of our young servicemen than to grant them the same rights they are defending." So said Senator Sam J, Ervin (Dem. N.C.) when he introduced a bill to revise the Uniform Code of Military Justice in June of 1968. The bill, which became law on August 1, 1969, was hailed by the White House and the Pentagon as a sweeping reform of the UCMJ. It should have been, considering the 1,000 pages of testimony before Ervin's Senate Constitutional Rights Subcommittee and an intensive field investigation, but the fact of the matter is, little has changed.
The essentials of a fair, impartial trial and effective appellate review appear to exist in the language of the new Code, but not in practice. The reason: command influence. Basic reform of the court-martial system is not possible until command control of military courts is eliminated. Even under the new Code the commanding officer still brings the charges, appoints the judge, the counsel, the members of the court and reviews the findings and the sentence. As Ed Sherman of Harvard Law School has written, "It is a little like having a district attorney act as a grand jury, and then select the judge, both attorneys and the jury from his staff, and finally review the sentence on appeal."
However, there is a ray of hope for change on the horizon coming from the case of Seaman Roger Priest who faces court-martial for statements he made in his servicemen's newspaper. On December 19th the U.S. Court of Military Appeals ordered Priest's commanding officer, Rear Adm. George P. Koch, to answer allegations that he applied command influence on the court-martial judge in the case which began last July. The allegations give the court the opportunity to settle the matter of command influence once and for all by grant ing the relief Priest's lawyers asked for in a brief that cited the following incidents:
Priest was originally charged with soliciting servicemen to desert and commit sedition and making disloyal statements in his paper, called "0M." On November 19th, the trial judge, Capt. B. Raymond Perkins announced his decision to drop the solicitation _J charges. -°, S. £ -2-
Koch then ordered Perkins to reconsider the move because he disagreed with the ruling "as a matter of law." On November 25th, the judge reinstated the charges, saying he felt compelled to accede to the ruling of the admiral although he did not agree with it.
Priest's attorneys called the admiral's action a "gross usurp ation of the authority of the military judge, an unpardonable inter ference in the course of the proceedings and a denial of due process of law." They said: "If the military judge is to perform his trial duties fairly and impartially, he must be free of the influence and control, be it real or apparent, of the everpresent convening authority"- in this case, Admiral Koch. Priest, they went on, "simply cannot have a fair trial in this atmosphere."
Priest 's lawyers asked the Court of Military Appeals to order Koch, Perkins and the prosecutor, Cdr. Thomas - get this - Jefferson Jimmerson, not to proceed with the charges dismissed earlier. The three men must now explain why they should be allowed to go ahead and then the court will rule after January 7th, the date set for their reply.
'Their decision on command influence," said Seaman Priest, "will indicate whether the court-martial system under the new Uniform Code of Military Justice is, in fact, just or continues to be merely an instrument of military discipline."
Legal and public defense for Triest is being provided by The Serviceman's LINK To Peace, Room 200, 1029 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005. Telephone: (202) 638-4126. "STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY THE SERVICEMAN'S LINK TO PEACE Or WISCONSIN 816 State Street 1029 Vermont Avenue IMW, Room 200 Madison, Wisconsin 53706 LINK Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 638-4126 NEWS TO THE EDITORS OF SERVICEMEN'S NEWSPAPERS: The following interview with L. Mendel Rivers was tape recorded on Veteran's Day, November 11th, at a "Freedom Day Rally" held in Washington, D.C. Interviewing Rivers is Vietnam veteran Carl Rogers, the director of the Serviceman's LINK to Peace. Note River's view of servicemen who publish papers.
CARL ROGERS: Yesterday in the Washington Post there was a story con cerning your view on dissent within the military. How do you feel about.... (Copy attached)
L. MENDEL RIVERS: I haven't seen the Washington Post.
ROGERS: Well, in yesterday's story there was an account of hearings that were held this past-July when you, and members of the House Armed Services Committee discussed the "Guidance on-Dissent" and, what is, what is your viewpoint on the "Guidance on Dissent"?
RIVERS: I haven't seen the article. I don't know what article you're talking about.
ROGERS: You have not?
RIVERS No.
ROGERS Well, it said that there was a crackdown in G.I. dissent and cited testimony that you had in closed hearings in July, and there were views -- there were reports — if I'm not mistaken, of your testimony with General Westmoreland, and a quote that you said that you didn't believe he supported the present directive and that if he had an ounce of South Carolina blood in him, I believe, that he wouldn't go along with it.
RIVERS: I don't know. I don't know anything about the article. I read the Washington Post as infrequently as I can and just about any thing that's in it I'd have to read it twice, to see what they're talking about. They're not on the same side with me, you know, so I don't quote the Washington Post.
ROGERS: What is your viewpoint about servicemen participating in this demonstration today?
RIVERS: This demonstration today?
ROGERS: Here. Yes.
RIVERS: Well I don't see anything wrong'with this, this is for America. This is on our side. When I say our side I imagine it's your side. 'This is backing up the President of the United States, and every ser viceman takes an oath to support and defend the Constitution and follow the orders of the President of the United States as Commander-in-Chief and, this is backing up the man whom we elected to lead this country, and I would imagine all the servicemen-, the great majority of them, want to be here. I can't imagine any serviceman who knows his obliga tion wouldn't be, ah, something to bring an honorable peace to America. That's what this thing's about today. ROGERS: What is your view then about those who may be marching or participating in Saturday's anti-war demonstration? (November 15th) RIVERS: Well, there'll be a lot of good Americans in that, but, it's going to be exploited, in my opinion, by a lot of people who carry the Communist, ah, the Communist cause in America, ah, I'm sure there'll be a lot of good people in it, a lot of misguided people, but these are the kinds of things where the Communists exploit it on the slightest provocation. This is the danger of this, ah, so-called Moratorium. And I don't believe anybody who knows what he's talking about would want us to just pick up and leave Vietnam now. They're-, they're just talking. I don't believe anybody believes that. Because if they did it 'd be the greatest blood-bath and the greatest murder in the history of the world. They're just talking there. Now we want to get out fast as we can, but honorably, I wanted to win you know. I'm a hawk. I'm not any dove. And I believe we could have won this war. But since we're not going to win it, let's leave it honorably.
ROGERS: Well, is it your view then that the military should take a strong position against servicemen who protest the war in this week's demonstrations? RIVERS: Well, it's according, it's according to how they protest-it. I don 't know of any sizeable group of any -- I don't know of any size able group of... servicemen protesting this war, ah, some of them don't want to be drafted, and some of them are giving trouble in certain areas but that's, that's, in ray opinion, has a lot to do with, a lot of weak leadership, from the top.
ROGERS: What about servicemen who have published papers, like Seaman Roger Priest: Are you familiar with his publication? RIVERS: They ought to be in jail. ROGERS: Are you familiar with Seaman Priest's publication? RIVERS: I, I've seen some of them. He ought to be in jail in my opinion. ROGERS: Is it your view then that this is not a question of constitu tional rights, or free speech, or, or a matter of servicemen being allowed to speak their views? RIVERS: No, I don't think so, I, I can't elaborate on that now, you know, there's something that's very close to -- ah, you know you've got to distinguish between dissent and treason. Crackdown on Gl Dissent Pentagon Tightened Rules After Rivers' Panel Called Softer Set of Guidelines 'Nauseating9 By Richard Homan to prepare a constitutional concerns me more than any ed Army Chief of Staff Wil- WMhlwtoa Put BUft WrlUr amendment, but he noted that thing I have ever read from Warn C. Westmoreland about The Defense Department re a special subcommittee is still the Army .... It is just nau the guideline memo. wrote and tightened its guide looking into "this damnable seating to me to think that "General Westmoreland, I lines for dealing with dissent problem" of dissent and mili such a publication would be will bet my hat you don't agree In the military after the House tary discipline. possible from the Army." with it," Rivers said. "Now if KArmed Services Committee an The original guidelines were Resor told the committee you have got one drop of South grily criticized them as too issued by the Army, the ser that the guidelines were "our Carolina blood left in your Twrm'ssive and threatened to vice most troubled by dissent best judgment as to what the veins, you don't agree with it. Had some constitutional and demonstrations, on May Constitution means, applied This is an awful thing to come lerdment" to help in "stop 28. to these circumstances." to pass. It is very difficult for ping thiskind of thing." In conciliatory language, "I think it is very important me to compose myself.. . " Committee members scath they gave post commanders to the Army," he said, "that Letter From Pentagon ingly rebuked top Army offi guidance on dealing with dem we adopt a position that ap Included in the hearing rec cials in closed bearings lasti onstrations by soldiers and ci pears to the public as a whol summer, faying that the guide vilians, underground news ly reasonable position and not ord is correspondence from lines then in effect were "naus papers, coffee houses, service an arbitrary one . . . The mili Rep. W. C. (Dan) Daniel (D eating" and "most repugnant" men's organizations and pos tary is under attack from Va.) to the Pentagon, criticiz "Gcd help us if we continue session and distribution of pol many elements and if we are ing the guidelines and a re to worry about the interpreta itical materials. going to survive, we must sponse from Brig. Gen. Leo E. tion of the Constitution at the show that we are acting In Benade, deputy assistant sec cost of losing our country," In compliance with the a reasonable way and show we retary of defense, noting that Rep. John Hunt (R-N.J.) told guidelines, the commanding are standing up for the Con "the Department of Defense Army Secretary Stanley R. Re- officer of Ft. Meade, Md., per stitution." now has the entire subject sor. mitted 40 persons, guarded by area under consideration and military police, to distribute One Eye on Court Committee Chairman L. is in the process of developing antiwar leaflets and demon Rep. Alexander Pirnie (R- policies for department wide Mendfl Rivers (DS.C.) told the strate for 90 minutes inside Army, "The committee is going N.Y.) said, "If you try to keep application. I trust that the the installation on June 20. one eye on the Supreme Court policies which are finally to spend a lot of time trying The guidelines told comman to find some constitutional instead of both eyes on the adopted on this matter will al amendment whereby we can ders that "a specific request mission of the the Army, you leviate the concerns expressed assist you in stopping thfir kind for a permit to conduct an on- are apt to suffer." in your letter. post demonstration in an area of thiag ... We recognize the Rep. Hunt said, "I nave nev The new Department of De Supreme Court'« décision as a to which the public has gener er read anything which to me ally been granted access fence guidelines, issued Sept pretty sorry opinion." was more repugnant than this 12, make virtually all of the should not be denied on an ar particular documentation." He Six weeks after hearing the bitrary basis." changes suggested in the bear comiElttea's criticism in a urged the Pentagon to revis« ings. closed session, tiie Defense Interference la Key the guidelines, adding, "We They do not include the ad Department issued new guide The new guidelines say: will deal later with the Su monition to "impose only such lines, incorporating nearly all "The commander of a mili preme Court—two years, three minimum restraints as axe of the specific changes rec tary, installation shall prohib years, or five years." necessary," which Blandford ommended by the committee, it any demonstration or acti Committee Counsel John R criticized. whidî recently made public vity on the installation which Blandford told Resor, "I think On each issue, they simply the transcript of the July hear could result in interference it is one of the most damaging tell commanders what is not ing. with or prevention or order documents ever put out by the permissible without suggesting ly accomplishment of. the mis Army." what is permissible, as the Seasoas Given sion of the installation, or At one point in the rambling original guidelines had. Rep. F. PeEîagon spokesman Jerry present a clear danger to loy hearings, Rivers ordered Resor Edward Hebert (D-La.) had IVtedheim said hut week, alty, discipline or morale of to read aloud, from a plaque complained that "to announce howcrsr, that th« changes the troops." in the committee room, Art. 1, these things as permissible is were not made in response to Sec. 8 of the U.S. Constitution, The earlier guidelines stat to give a license end the dis demands by the committee. which states: "The Congress senters can start from there." ed that "it is the policy of the shall have the power to raise "Rivers and his committee Department of the Army to Discretionary authority, ex were heard from" while the and support armies; provide safeguard the service mem and maintain a navy and make pressed in the original guide new guidelines were being pre ber's right of expression to lines as what a commander pared, Friedheim said. "In that rules for the government and the maximum extent possible, regulation of the land.and nav "may" do to restrict dissent in interim, some people support and to impose only such mini a variety of situations was ed «?* (earlier) guidelines and al forces." mum restraints as are neces When Resor finished, Rivers made mandatory, expressed in soma objected to them. The sary to enable the Army to the new guidelines as what new guidelines were not an asked, "Under that section of perform its mission," and cau the Constitution, do you ques the commander "shall" do. attempt to be responsive to tioned that "complaining per "When did the services ever one side or the other. tion the fact that the Congress sonnel must not be treated as could enact the statute that the come down to using the word "Ï »ink it's pushing a Utile 'enemies of the system.' " Secretary shall have no author 'may'?" Hunt asked in the to say it's responsive to In the closed hearings, Rep. ity to permit ... a demonstra hearing. "Everything I ever Rivers." Charles £. Bennett (D-Fla.) tion on a military post?" read and had to comply with A committee spokesman said told Resor, The dissent paper At another time. Rivers aak- said 'shell.' I respectfoUy say then was no longer any move to you, Mr. Secretary, we should get somebody who is M M «taeitlt* Tlit mo York Tim« £ WASHINGTON, Nov. 19— (Charges of soliciting desertion and sedition were tentatively dismissed today by a Navy m Mofk Stmes udge presiding at a hearing for toger Lee Priest, a sailor who Jipublishes an antiwar newslet ter. {• At the same time, the judge, Eapt. B. Raymond Perkins, re fused a motion to dismiss the J-emaining charge of committing *ix separate violations, of a mil THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 203 1969 itary law designed to preserve ,prder and discipline in the •armed forces. 2 The charges, which stem '(from thé publication of three jjssues of "OM, The Service- stoen's Newsletter," were lodged jhgainst Seaman Priest in June, »poon after the appearance of local newspaper articles dealing Svith his antiwar activities. 8 'Hie Navy accused him of vio lating four military statutes— Sncluding solicitation, disrespect Howard a superior officer and aailure to obey an order—and fei ted 14 specific violations. 2 Since then, three of the «charges have been dismissed: h»nd the trial has been set back S-fvcral times. w . ——— Friday, Oct. 10,1969 . , . R THE WASHINGTON POST GI Referendum Planned On Withdrawing Troops The publisher of an under Boxes for "Yes" or "No" an ground newspaper for service swers appear directly under men announced plans yester the question, also information day for a "GI referendum" in about obtaining Additional which U.S. servicemen will be copies of the ballot for circula asked whether they believe tion among servicemen. American troops should be im Priest, a 25-year-old enlisted mediately withdrawn from man stationed at the Naval Vietnam. Weapons Plant here, said yes The referendum is being terday that referendum ballots sponsored by Navy Seaman will also be distributed Roger Priest who faces a throughout the country by the court-martial for allegedly en Vietnam Moratorium Commit couraging military desertions. tee and other antiwar organi However, the plan suffered zations. an initial setback yesterday Later yesterday at a Navy When the editorial board of hearing, Priest's civilian law the Army, Navy and Air Force yer asked a Navy law officer Times newspapers refused to to either dismiss the court- accept an advertisement con martial charges of encourag taining a ballot on the with ing desertion or require the drawal question, prosecution to provide more A spokesman for the three detailed specifications. weekly publications, which The lawyer, David Rein, said have a combined circulation the Defense Department has among servicemen of 600,000, specifically ruled that service Said the board "reached a con sensus that the proposed ad men may take part in under vertisement is unacceptable ground publications if they do for publication." so on their own time. The presiding officer, Capt/ The papers were asked Mon B. Raymond Perkins, took the day by representatives of two antiwar organizations—the defense motions under advise Serviceman's Link to Peace ment. and the Business Executives Rein also asked that a court Move For Peace in Vietnam-— composed entirely of low-rank- to publish Priest's advertise ing enlisted men be appointed ment. to hear the case to ensure Priest told a press confer Priest à trial "by his peers." ence yesterday he is negotiat ing with Playboy magazine to run the same advertisement turned down by the three weekly newspapers. The prospective referendum asks: "Should the United States bring the rest of the GI's home from Vietnam Now?" Gl REFERENDU :^\: ^ON VIETNAM Should the United States • bring the rest of the GFs home from Vietnam now? • YES D NO Photo taken by Roger Williams at the Bob Hope Christmas Show Cong Binh, Vietnam, December, 1968. „^a^BaaABBBBBBBa! •mm G.I. REFERENDUM ON VIETNAM Should the United States Bring the Rest of the G.l.'s Home from Vietnam Now? : • YES D No ®m • Enclosed is my $1.00 contribution to help pay for printing the G.I. Referendum on Vietnam in Playboy, Army Times, Navy Times, and Air Force Times. Send me copies of this referendum for distribution in my area. Signature L^_ Please print name Rank and Branch of Service Address Date Clip and Mall To: SEAMAN ROGER L PRIEST, U.S. NAVY 1029 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Room 200 Washington, D. C. 20005 Telephone: (202) 638-4126 Sailor Hears Agents' Charges Sailor and Newsletter By Martin Weil Have Navy Perplexed Washington Post SUM Writer MJMBERG Swff Earle Wheeler as "j Navy investigators toi«' ilications are protect^ ana told an unkind pa: yesterday h""^. Virst Amendment, 200UI Sep. Mendel. Bl Votected no matt fa/em sm out." t yjre" . ,t. V. Howard / y's poir nt of the Ni e 'eüingf ^,en that Service, ts 4 H, (furtialPii agents 4 jause celt 0 ü »ism T^P^H^S^«oùce" h* Öle n l '*rl& ,„ more trr A mattet VC c itié»^e 6*ö£ tsW-^fJ/ ^=^^^£ *>,... '«*.,5 «IM „ ««kc L ^ee;«rfe/ih: t then be "r ^en^ . , -$&A ' er '"^-fer , 7»ktresoundil n couty /.H*.- * ^ce>el^4 " pT^\„^tvacncoSU' » ^ .*•& Ä^• J •etf^Mt be Ä of dealing wit £*«•. - conclue" HSsx - - - assct^'•» ' w .*".\t»»V* . JWy So* * —»*r^OS«*..*, tottot »» rA»»'\.-A'TO** ^^îSd»t JE^ed e s/fl «e /5ö &Zl "HE W£W YORK TIMES, THURSDAY, JULY 24, MffgffotA«*? c?ö M sffi ^y y .M'a y ïSailor's Lawyer Asks Navy Nöf to Punish Him for War Views ^c^J^i •Wte^Mmn». jComrir. Norman Mills, IwotfHwotftt put ida quietus'oquietus' on 0•.f^fst, -~» t ^*&, , T/j ise in the Navy." ?c fhe P» ° ^d h» n defense lawyer cautioned the to his superiors how )ughout the hearing," the '.to ^ 'ftyiöa e"/1'' Navy today that it was making with" the Charges agar* concentrated on proving '03 /B Utiiterf ,' "Wsuc a political martyr out of a Priest. A two-day heal -ïr. Priest is indeed the JPrj/ , «e £>££tat / Pre young seaman who has been f c es consider this circumst^ 1er of the newsletter. It hjs „'***• dt? *o//havc publishing an antiwar news •t deal with the issue of . eH>-*fet 1 "Si*-SS «ï îfS-sr* g^gA.tion charges against >. MAYOR O^E^JV^P}^lEJ^S^£l^' year /o?% «it Trash-Spying Critics Thought They'd !?*«-WeCm^Ze A .^v baggeo and giv- ^Z'^^^S5 K ^ PeoD|ft £3j- By SIDNEY LIPPMAN used for a special pickup "but we keep the week having trash J***,^ rt ; ^-'ifi'ir TiTtar Tf1i?t --, •••-•- ,:s-^-i ••„•^ ,...^„»„.; ...... ,:,. ... j.-.,.-»• T iT •?•"• ".""''?" ^t4s»-.- îiSÉS WeatheKaX,U.«Mp,TM;i»^gMr ^ »***» - fSa^SBSPxaBB ««sai /"•"•sJ. l .a"Mlm » »ua Occasional rain WASHINGTON today and tonlte. 3 Kigh 83. Low-to nlte 72. Tomor G^iSKt row cloudy, warmer, chance of afternoon Final Edition Wednesday, July 23, 19&9 .showers. . .•»M-IJ&.Ä., WW. f2P005> Dh 7-7177 Second Class Postage at Washington, D. C. Poliei Coant .,1 #& Year-Ad. 227 J" PaKished DB#jf Except'Snnday SAVE THE P R Navy man Roger Priest, 25, puts out his own paper, passes it out DQ1 in Washington (below). He has Vol. 66 No. 20 May 23,1969 sent copies to President Nixon and Secretary of Defense Laird. I S T Cover) THE WASHINGTON POST Wedn^^day.Jun, 25,1969 "What I'm hoping for right now is for lots of folks to write the Secretary of the Navy because this whole thing hinges on free speech, freedom of the press. Texas Sailor They're not talking about my military behavior; they're not talking about what I do on the job as a sailor. They're talking about what I do on my own free time, outside of the Navy, in my own apartment with Vs. the Navy my friends ... in other words my rights as an American citizen." By Nicholas von Hoffman Yet it's not fair to blame the Navy for wanting to throw this likeable young man with his pleasant South Last March when Seaman Roger Priest, the young western twang in the brig. On duty or off, no military man from Texas with the Gomer Pyle accent and the organization is going to survive very long if the privates undershot jaw, first hit the papers, the expectation can publicly go about calling the generals pigs. To was the Navy would have him in an Okinawa dungeon say, as the indictment does, that such language inter feres with and impairs loyalty, morale and discipline within 24 hours. Roger had been sitting in a Pentagon is a bit of an understatement. office cheerfully advising his fellow sailors to make The fault lies not with the Navy. There may come antiwar groups the beneficiaries of their GI life a time—South Africa, for instance—when many of the insurance. people opposed to this war will want a well disciplined, The Navy, which is sometimes not nimble enough to efficient Navy. The admirals and the generals aren't pigs. Some of them—one hopes only a few—may be escape being run over by friendly aircraft carriers, stupid, inept, even corrupt, but most of them are doing acted with some dexterity in Rogers case. It pulled him their best in a calling that was almost universally out of the Pentagon in a matter of hours, but instead honored in America until a couple of years ago. It's of making a martyr out of the boy, they assigned him not right to call a man a pig when he has served long to easy duty over on the other side of town. and bravely through a whole lifetime and it is folly Nonetheless, a contest between Roger and the Navy to expect him to understand and accept you when you had begun. The sailor, with the help of a beat-up off do. set press, continued to put out his truculently anti- Not that this helps Roger. He sees Hamburger Hill, military newsletter called OM. The Navy, Roger and he hears United States Senators call it senseless his civilian friends report, began to follow him around, slaughter, slaughter of his own young life, and so in his civilians "in Ford Fairlanes and Plymouth Valiants. I have all the license numbers if you want them. Leave a newsletter he writes of the generals, "They're ready message for me at 638-4126 and I'll give 'em to you." to fight. They're ready to fight to the last drop of When Roger wasn't being followed by plainclothes- YOUR blood." men he was dutifully at work, obeying orders and The fault lies with the political leaders, as he him giving his officers as small a target to hit as he could. self suspects for in the last issue of OM, Roger's in His strategy was to force them to court-martial him serted these lines Herman Goerring uttered at Nurem for OM's contents, and not for some extraneous charge berg: which might disguise the political nature of his battle with the military. At length either his Navy bosses "Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk grew impatient waiting for Roger to break a rule or his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is OM was getting too outrageous. to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the However it was, on Friday he was hit with a court- common people don't want war ... it is the leaders martial charge sheet accusing him of everything that's who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter happened to the Navy except perhaps stealing the Pueblo or letting the air out of that atomic submarine to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or that sank in San Francisco Bay last month. It takes : Fascist dictatorship, or a parliament or a Communist more than four, single-spaced typewritten pages to dictatorship . . .All you have to do is tell them they enumerate all the bad things Roger has done, which are being attacked and denounce the paficists for lack include the charge that he "did wrongfully use con of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It temptuous words against the Chairman of the Armed works the same in any country." Services Committee to the House of Representatives, Against such a reality the struggle for peace will L. Mendel Rivers." How Roger managed to use con have a ferocity to match that of war. If a young sailor temptuous words against the Congressman wrongfully who wants to live to be an old man calls old men of is not explained, but if he did, he's a very clever boy power and position unfair names, he should be under and they should make him an admiral. stood and forgiven. People feel too strongly about this Each of OM's three issues has been wilder than the war to confine themselves to the pallid statements of one before. The last one is almost rabid. "TODAY'S verifiable fact. Gen. Eisenhower recognized this when PIGS ARE TOMORROW'S BACON," a headline pro he remarked toward the end of his Presidency, "I think claims. Not a boy to make it in the military by apple that people want peace so much that one of these days polishing, Roger applies that word to Gen. Earle G. governments had better get out of their way and let Wheeler, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, J. Edgar Hoover them have it." _. and Melvin Laird, who he also accuses of being "proud —>*——' " • • "l-WM»-«aB>aa_MB_B_MB_i_a»B)iM»B«»»aaa-BBaBBBBB«a- ' " ._»--•__•,_•«_. of his war-monger haircut." He probably would have Write: John H. Chafee said something equally insulting about the President, but Roger, like so many others, seems to have trouble Secretary of the Navy remembering his name. The Pentagon, Washington D.C. If Roger Priest were a civilian, the only place in the Send the copy of your letter to: country he could be arrested for putting out his news letter would be in Montgomery County, because he has LINK some drawings in it of parts of the body which are 1029 Vermont Ave. NW, Room 200 illegal there. That's why he sees his case as a Con Washington D.C. 20005 stitutional one: (202) 683-4126 THE SERVICEMAN'S LINK TO PEACE 1029 Vermont Avenue NW, Room 200 LINK Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 638-4126 NEWS CONTACT : FOR RELEASE: A.M. Carl Rogers MONDAY, DEC. 8, 1969 Harry Scott DEFENSE ATTORNEYS APPEAL ADMIRAL'S INTERVENTION IN COURT-MARTIAL OF ANTI-WAR SAILOR Defense attorneys appealed today to the highest military court to prevent the trial of Seaman Roger Priest from going forward on charges which were dismissed last month by a military judge but later reinstated by the commandant of the Washington Naval District, Rear Adm. George P. Koch. Priest's civilian attorney, David Rein of Washington, said in filing a Writ of Prohibition in the United States Court of Military Appeals, "The basis for this request is that the admiral had no power under the Uniform Code of Military Justice to overrule the military judge." "His action," said Rein, ''was an invasion and impairment of the independent role of the military judge as established by the Military Justice Act of 1968." In a pre-trial hearing November 19th the military judge in the case, Capt. B. Raymond Perkins, announced his decision to dismiss two charges against the 25-year-old sailor, but Perkins reversed his decision on November 25th after the admiral ruled to reinstate the charges. The two counts allege that Priest solicited servicemen to desert and to commit sedition, but they do not state whom it is he solicited. When Perkins changed his decision he stated that he felt compelled to accede to the ruling of the admiral to reinstate the charges even though he did not agree with the admiral's decision. Six other specifications against Priest have remained through the various proceedings which got under way last June. They all stem from statements the Texas sailor printed in a serviceman's newspaper. Three charges allege that Priest's paper, called "0M," contained statements urging insubordination, disloyalty, and refusal of duty by members of the military forces with intent to impair loyalty, morale, and discipline. Three other specifications charge Priest with making statements disloyal to the United States. STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY THE SERVICEMAN'S LINK TO PEACE So aS.°^ 1029 Vermont Avenue NW, Room 200 Madison, Wisconsin 537DA LINK Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 638-4126 NEWS BIOGRAPHICAL FACTS ON ROGER LEE PRIEST AGE: 25 (Born March 13, 1944) HOMETOWN: Houston, Texas MARITAL STATUS: Single EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND: Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from the University of Houston (June 1, 1967) ENTERED U.S. NAVY: Ocotber 19, 1967 DISCHARGE DATE: October 18, 1971 RANK: Journalist Seaman Apprentice (JOSA) PAY GRADE: E-2 CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS RELATED TO TIE PUBLICATION OF OM AND THE COURT-MARTIAL OF ROGER PRIEST April 1, 1969 - First issue of 0M--The Servicemen's Newsletter. Seaman Priest reassigned to the Navy/Marine Corps Exhibit Center, Washington Navy Yard, 1% hours after arriving at the Office of Navy Information in the Pentagon where he had been serving since January 12, 1968. Circulation: 1,000. Mav ! Second issue of 0M--The Servicemen's Newsletter. Circulation: 1,000. June 1 Third issue of 0M--The Liberation Newsletter (name changed). Circulation: 1,000. June 12 Priest interrogated by Office of Naval Intelligence agents about OM. June 17 Priest transferred to the Processing Division, Naval Yard, Washington, D.C. and put in a "legal hold" status, pending further investigation. June 20 Fourteen official charges filed by the U.S. Navy, Naval Station, Washington, D.C, including: soliciting members of the military forces to desert and to commit sedition; publishing statements urging insubordination, disloyalty and refusal of duty by members of the mili tary forces with intent to impair loyalty, morale and discipline; and publishing statements which were de signed to promote disloyalty and disaffection among members of the U.S. armed forces. July 22-23 Navy conducts Article 32, pre-trial investigation into the charges. Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) re- I ft veals they assigned at least 25 agents to follow Priest. * Agent testifies that D.C. Dept. of Sanitation provided truck for special pick-up of Priest's trash. D.C. Mayor orders probe of trash-spying. August 28 General Court-Martial ordered by Commandant, Washing ton Naval District, Rear Adm. George P. Koch (pro nounced like Coke). Six of the original charges dropped alleging Priest's use of disrespectful language toward Gen. Earle G. Wheeler, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Rep. L. Mendel Rivers, and Defense Secretary Melvin Laird; and three specifications alleging minor violations of regulations that Priest failed to state in his paper that the views expressed were "the pri vate ones of the writer and were not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Navy Depart ment or the naval service at large." Scplembev 4 New York Senator Charles Goodell scored the Navy's decision to court-martial Priest. He urged-Navy Secretary John Chafee to gi^e the Priest case "very careful personal attention before embarrassment and discredit to the Navy result." Ocotber 1 "Court-Martial Edition" of OM released. Circulation: 10,000. October 9 Priest announces plan for world-wide distribution of a G.I. REFERENDUM ON VIETNAM, asking servicemen whether they believe U.S. troops should be immediately withdrawn from Vietnam. First Article 39A hearing held before the assigned - judge in the case, Capt.'B. Raymond Perkins. Defense lawyers challenge Perkins' ability to try the case without prejudice after questioning his views on the war and the Constitutional right of GI's to speak out. Perkins overrules the defense challenge. Judge takes under advisement the defense requests for dismissal of charges on the basis of legal insufficien cy. For example, the defense argued that two charges against Priest for soliciting servicemen to desert and commit sedition failed to state whom he solicited and were, therefore, insufficient. November 19 In a second Article 39A hearing, Judge Perkins an-^ nounced his decision to dismiss the two specifications under Charge I, alleging solicitation for desertion and sedition. He refused, however, to dismiss the remaining six specifications. Prosecution attorneys stated their intention to appeal the judge's decision to the convening authority, Rear Adm. Koch. November 24. Re^r Audm. Koch heard arguments from the defense why thé judge's decision should be upheld. The prosecu tion argued that the admiral had the'right to inter vene and overrule the judge and reinstate the two specifications. Defense attorneys argued that he had no such power. November 25 Koch submitted in writing his request that the judge reconsider his earlier decision to dismiss the two specifications of solicitation for desertion and sedition. In a third Article 39A hearing, Judge Perkins said he felt he was compelled to accede to the ruling of the admiral although he didn't agree with his decision. Defense lawyers then said this decision would force them to appeal this matter of command intervention to the United States Court of Military Appeals (COMA). December 8 Defense lawyers file a Writ of Prohibition with the U.S. Court of Military Appeals to prevent the trial from going forward on the charges which were dismissed by the military judge and reinstated by the convening authority. They argued in their brief that the admiral had no power under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to overrule the military judge and that his action was an invasion and an impairment of the-in dependent role of the military judge as established by the Military Justice Act of 1968. -3- December 19 The Court Of Military Appeals ordered Adm. Koch, Capt. Perkins, and Cdr. Jimmerson to show cause, in writing by January 7th, why the relief requested by the defense on December 8th should not be granted. "Their decision on command influence," said Seaman Priest, "will indicate whether the court-martial system is, in fact, just, or continues to be merely an instrument of military discipline." THE SERVICEMAN'S LINK TO PEACE 1029 Vermont Avenue NW, Room 200 Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 638-4126 M I- \A/ C F0R PLEASE *• M* CONTACT: Carl Rogers 111 £• W ^i# Friday, January 23, 1970 Harry Scott HIGHEST COURT TO MAKE DECISION THAT COULD CHANGE JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN THE MILITARY RULING IN CASE OF ANTI-WAR SAILOR COULD LIMIT ROLE OF ALL COMMANDING OFFICERS IN COURTS-MARTIAL The United States Court of Military Appeals (COMA), the highest military court, has scheduled a hearing Friday, January iéth, to determine whether a commanding officer can overrule a decision of a court-martial judge. The hearing, scheduled for 10:00 a. no. in the U.S. Court cf Military Appeals Building (Fifth and E Streets, N. W. ) will deal specifically with the convening authority in the case of anti-war Seaman Roger Priest. The decision in this case, however, could set a legal precedent for all csurts- martial to come. The oral arguments to be heard by the court center on whether cr not the Commandant of the Naval District in Washington, Rear Admiral George P. Koch, applied command influence on Capt, B. Raymond Perkins, the court-martial judge who originally dismissed two charges against Seaman Priest, but later reinstated them after the admiral told him to reconsider his previous decision. The two charges allege that Priest srlicited servicemen to desert and commit sedition through statements made in his servicemen's paper. Priest, a 25-year old Navy journalist faces six other charges of making disloyal statements in tis publication called "OM", but the court-martial proceedings, which began in July, were stopped oa December 8th «ten the defense lawyers filed a Writ of Prohibition in the L*. S. Court of lAUtary Appeals. Their written brief charged that the admiral's actim was "a groat ueurpettae o/ the —Ilimllj rl the military judge, aa un pardonable interference in the course of the proceedings and a denial cf due process of law. " These allegations forced the court to rule once and for all on the question of how much control, if any, a commanding officer has «ver a trial judge. ,- At the hearing Friday the defense attorneys are expected to argue that if the military judge (Perkins) is to perform his trial duties fairly, and impartiaUy, he must be free of the influence and control, be it real or apparent, -of the «verpresent convening authority (Koch). Priest's civilian attorney, David Rein of Washington, said that under the provisions of the Uniform Ode of Military Justice, Admiral Kcch did not have the right tt. crder f^rVitLS to reinstate the two charges in question. Rein notes, however, that this cede, which in a revised form became law on August 1, 1969, is not consistent with the present In addition to civilian legal defense, Priest is receiving public support for his case through the efforts of The Serviceman's LINK To Peace, an and-war group in Washington which has been working for over a year to bring about changes in the present military law. LINK director Carl Rogers agrees with lawyer Rein that basic reform of the court-martial system is not possible until command control of military courts is eliminated. "The essentials of a fair, impartial trial and effective review appear tu exist in the language of the new code, " says Rogers, "but not in practice. " "The reason, " he says, "is command influence. " He illustrates his point by noting that even under the revised code the commanding officer still brings the charges, appoints the judge, the counsel, the members of the court and reviews the findings and the sentence. "How can Rsger Priest, or anybody else for that matter, have a fair trial in this kind of atmosphere, " asks Rogers. Despite the pending court-martial, Seaman Priest has continued to publish his war paper. In his latest edition be points not that "ND matter «tat dactelOB is reached by the court, a trial will take place on the six ceases «•dar Artest IM fnf *e code) which have remained intact to this date. " He says, "k Is under Ms autuiltoa catchall provision ci the code that I'm being charged with the 'crime* of 'advising and urging insubordination and disloyalty with intent to interfere with, impair and influence the loyalty, morale, and discipline of the military and naval forces through statements in 'OM1." He further notes that if found guilty of these charges he could receive a dishonorable discharge and up to 39 years in jail. "The decision to be made by the U.S. Court of Military Appeals," says Priest, "will indicate whether the court-martial system under the new Uniform Code of Military Justice is, in fact, just or continues to be merely an instrument of military discipline." -30- ^ ~rVe$* Ulf i THE SERVICEMAN'S LINK TO PEACE rKV ^ 111 ft 1029 Verm<>nt Avenue NW, Room 200 .£?•*&*<\P^o^<\ I-11III I Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 638-4126 *** o*\ 6 S^o^M mil/ ^ü FOR RELEASE: A. M. CONTACT: Carl Rogers ^ ^f*ff* WtwL f f ^«s? Tuesday, Feb. 14, 1970 Harry Scott A**' COLUMNIST JACK ANDERSON CLAIMS THAT NAVY APPEASED L. MENDEL RIVERS BY ORDERING COURT-MARTIAL OF ANTI-WAR SAILOR. Nationally-syncated columnist Jack Anderson revealed today that "confidential correspondence" obtained by his column "establishes clearly that the Navy was acting to appease House Armed Services Chairman Mendel Rivers when it ordered a young seaman court-martialed for publishing an antiwar newsletter." The seaman is Rsger Priest who began publishing a monthly newsletter called "OM' last April during his off-duty hours. Anderson writes in his "Washingtsn Merry-Go-Round" column that the Navy's first reaction was to fire Priest from his desk job in the Pentagon and to send him to work at the Navy yard across town. Anderson then notes that "the Navy, apparently mindful of constitutional guarantees of free speech and freedom of the press, brought no charges against Priest," even though they assigned 25 agents to spy on him. "But, " Anderson says, "when the June issue of his newsletter contained a slap at Rivers, the South Carolina Congressman fired a letter to the Navy accusing Priest of a 'gross abuse of the constitutional right of free speech.'" The letter Anderson cites was written by Rivers on June 6th to Rear Admiral Means Johnston, Chief of Legislative Liaison for the Navy. In it Rivers asks that the Judge Advocate General of the Navy provide him with an opinion as to whether or not Priest's activities were a violation of law or Navy regulations. Rivers concluded the letter by saying: "Finally, I would appreciate being informed as to what action you contemplate taking in this instance. " Six days later Rivers received a reply from the Navy assuring him that a full investigation was under way and that he would receive "a complete report shortly. " On June 20th Rivers received his report aad fourteen official charges were filed against Priest, including one specification that he used "contemptuous words against L. Mendel Rivers." In response to the Anderson column, Carl Rogers, Director of The Serviceman's LINK To Peace, a Washington anti-war group that is providing legal defense and publicity for Seaman Priest said, "We have been saying all along that Rivers was responsible for the court-martial charges, but we were never able to prove it until now." Rogers says that Seaman Priest's lawyers will probably raise some questions about the Rivers correspondence when the court-martial proceedings resume. -MORE- w » -2- At the moment the proceedings are at a stand-still, pending a decision from the United States Court of Military Appeals on a question of whether or not the convening authority in the case illegally interfered when he ordered the Navy judge to reinstate two charges which the judge had originally agreed to dismiss at a pre-trial hearing. Rogers noted that the Court of Military Appeals ruling on this "command influence" question could set a legal precedent for all courts-martial to come, but a favorable ruling for Priest does not end the proceedings because six other charges of the original fourteen still stand. The two charges in question allege that Priest solicited servicemen to desert and commit sedition through statements made in his serviceman's paper. The others allege that Priest's publication "contained statements disloyal to the United States," designed "to interfere with, impair and influence the loyalty, morale, and discipline of the military and naval forces of the United States." The charge that Priest used "con temptuous words against L. Mendel Rivers" was dismissed, along with five others, when a General Court-Martial was ordered fa August by the Commandant of the Washington Naval District, Rear Adm. George P. Koch. "If found guilty of this 'crime of speech'," says Priest in his latest edition of "OM" "I could receive a dishonorable discharge and up to 39 years in jail." "The ridiculous ness of the charges, " he says, "and its obvious repressive intent does not need ex panding upon, except to say that as an American citizen I have been speaking and writing the truth as I see it to be. K that be a 'crime* it is one I PROUDLY admit. " "And I might add," writes Priest, "that I am more than willing to measure my 'crime' against those who have perpetrated the illegal and immoral war in Vietnam." Referring specifically to River's involvement in his case, the 25-year-old Texan states: "Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are not liberties that are won easily-- and are not liberties to be given away easily. L, Mendel Rivers may well get the court-martial that he ordered and the Navy may get the conviction that it wants so desperately, but I tell it to you straight; it will be WE -- not THEY -- ^ho will have the last word," Copies of the correspondence between Rivers and the Pentagon are attached, -30- PRIEST , R. NAVY HOLD (FS) June 6, 1969 Rear Admiral Means Johnston, USN Chief of Legislative Liaison Department of the Navy Washington, D. C. 20350 Dear Admiral Johnston: Today I received a copy of a publication identified as having been prepared and published by "R. Priest, U. S. Navy." The publi cation, which is enclosed herewith for your information, reflects a gross abuse of the constitutional right of free speech. I would appreciate being advised as to wether or not the alleged author is a member of the U. S. Navy. In the event it is established that "R. Priest" is a member of the U. S. Navy, it is requested that the Judge Advocate General of the Navy provide me with an opinion as to whether or not this acti vity by the individual identified as "R. Priest" constitutes a violation of Navy regulations and/or a violation of Title 18, United States Code. Finally, I would appreciate being informed as to what action you ctntemplate taking in this instance. Sincerely, L. Mendel Rivers Chairman Enclosure LMR:fsk COPY*COPY*COPY'fCOP"f COPY*nOPY*CrPY*COPY*COPY*COPY*COPY*COPY*COPY* DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY Q-*<< " J OFFICr OF LEGISLATIV!: Ar I AIMS WASHINGTON, p. C. 203SO IN IIII'LV «If 1H TO LA-13:dn 6-1015:6-20 June 12, 1969 Dear Mr. Chairman: This is to acknowledge your recent letter concerning a publication identified as having been prepared and published by "R. Priest, U. S. Navy." This matter is being investigated and I will provide you with a complete report shortly. Sincerely yours, 5^v->^< J. M. HINGSON Captain, Honorable L. Mendel Rivers, Chairman Committee on Armed Services 2120 Raybum Office Building House of Representatives Washington, D. C. 20515 DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS WASHINGTON. 0,C. 20330 IN «tCFLY HCrtH TO LA-13:dn 6-1015 June 20, 1969 r*ear Mr. Chairman: This is in reply to your recent correspondence concerning a publi cation identified as having been prepared and published by Seaman Apprentice Roger L. Priest, United States Navy. The Judge Advocate General has informed me that a preliminary in quiry indicates the probability that offenses have been committed by Seaman Priest arising out of his publication and dissemination of a publication primarily for the consumption of military person nel. He is assigned to the U. S. Naval Station, Washington, D. C. pending investigation and further disposition. It has btsen determined that Seaman Priest will be processed for a pretrial investigation on appropriate charges resulting from a preliminary inquiry. Although not final, such charges include about twenty or more specifications under several articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Included therein are the following: ' Article 82 - Soliciting others to desert in violation of Article 85 Soliciting others to commit sedition in viola tion of Article 94 Article 92 Violation of U. S. Navy Regulations, 1948 (Article 1252 - Disclosure and Publication of Information) Article 134 Conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline (disloyal statements) Violation of Title 18, section 2387 (activi ties affecting armed forces generally) LA-13:dn 6-1015 I trust that the foregoing information will be of assistance to you. Sincerely yours, MEANS /OHNST* Rear Admiral Chief of Legislative Affairs "Honorable L. Mendel Rivers, Chairman Committee on Armed Services 2120 Rayburn Office Building House of Representatives Washington, D. C. 20515 THE SERVICEMAN'S LINK TO PEACE 1029 Vermont Avenue NW, Room 200 LINK I Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 638-4126 FOR RELEASE: P.M. CONTACT: Carl Rogers NEWS Friday, March 13, 1970 Harry Scott "HIGHEST MILITARY COURT DEALS BLOW TO JUSTICE BY UPHOLDING RIGHT OF COMMAND INFLUENCE," SAYS ANTI-WAR SAILOR ROGER PRIEST. THIRTEEN-PAGE DENIAL OF APPEAL ISSUED ON PRIEST'S BIRTHDAY - FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH. The United States Court of Military Appeals issued an opinion today which upholds the right of a commanding officer (who has no legal training) to overrule a decision of a military judge. The court's decision centered on whether or not the Commandant of the Naval District of Washington applied improper influence on the court-martial judge in the case of anti-war sailor Roger Priest. Priest, who is 26-years-old today, faces court-martial on eight charges which stem from statements he made in bis serviœmen's newsletter, called "OM . The court-martial proceedings, one of the longest in military history, began la July, but were stepped on December Rth when Priest appealed to the highe« to prevent his trial on two of the charges which were originally dismissed by the Capt. B. Raymond Perkins, but were later reinstated after the convening authority, Rear Adm. George P. Koch, ordered the judge to reconsider his previous decision. In a written petition to the court at that time and in oral arguments before them on January 23rd, Priest's lawyers charged that the admiral's action was a "gross usurpaticn of the authority of the military judge, an unpardonable interference in the course of the proceed ings and a denial of due process of law. " They asked the court to prevent Priest's trial on the two charges in question which allege that he solicited servicemen to desert and commit sedition through statements made in his anti-war publication. Although the court's decision today refutes the defense lawyer's position, it did acknowledge that "certain anomalies in military practice exist in comparison with the procedures in the Federal civilian courts, but," says the court, "a difference of procedure is not tantamount to a due process defect. " Ironically, the court's thirteen-page denial of Priest's appeal was announced on his birthday - Friday the thirteenth, making it a day Priest should never forget. The court's decision," said the Texas sailor, "deals a blow to justice by upholding the right of command influence." "Their decision simply supports my view that the court-martial system is not a system of justice, but merely an instrument of military discipline, " he said. And he added: "I find it inconceivable that the court failed to meet the issues raised in our petition. They side-stepped the matter concerning the role of the (MORE) / -2- conrening authority, saying 'the preblem of incompatible roles in court-martial proceed ings is nit new, ' yet this caurt was either unable or unwilling to do anything about this. " Priest said he found it "a small concession" that in denying the petition for relief, the court felt 'the record thus indicates no risk of irreparable harm' to him if he is left to the usual course of appeal in the event of conviction. "I guess they see more irreparable harm coming to the Navy, " said Priest, "if it is not allowed to prosecute these charges, then in meeting the issue head on. " "So they leave me to the usual course of appealing in the event of conviction," he adds, "but where will I be upon conviction? Debating legal points or pounding rocks?" Priest's civilian lawyer, David Rein, said "he "just couldn't follow the court's reasoning. " Said Rein: "I can't subscribe to their premises that 1) an admiral is a judge, and 2) that a man who prefers charges can impartially decide on the validity of those charges." Rein says, "Ongress never intended to sanction such a procedure. We will now have to prove that this court has misread the Military Justice .-\ct and its legislative histor>. The Serviceman's LINK To Peace, the anti-war group providing publicity and civilian support for Priest said, "The court's decision shows us once again that the Uniform Code of Military Justice is for yes men only -- those who will do as they are told without any question." LINK further stated "that the court's decision has betrayed the intentions of Congress to insure a serviceman a just trial. " The group said that they see the decision foreshadowing the outcome of Priest's court-martial. "If there is no justice within the highest military court, " said LINK organizer Gail Harris, "then how can we any longer hope to forsee any justice in the lower branches of this system?" "It's judicial mockery," she said. Some further pre-trial matters must still be dealt with before the actual court- martial gets underway. If there are no further changes at thaU time, Priest will stand trial on both the solicitation for desertion and sedition charges, plus six other specifications that his publication "contained statements disloyal to the United States, " and "statements advising and urging insubordination, disloyalty, and refusal of duty by A. members of the military and naval forces of the United States." -30- THE 1029 Vermont Avenu Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 63&M126 FOR RELEASE: P.M. CONTACT: Carl Rogers -T>fÊWS Friday, March 20, 1970 Gail Harris COURT-MARTIAL OF ANTI-WAR SAILOR ROGER PRIEST SET FOR APRIL 14T.H 1UDGE DENIES ALL FINAL DEFENSE MOTIONS, INCLUDING RE.OJLESJLTO^UBPQJMA CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN L. MENDEL RIVERS AND~THE PENTAGON. After nine months of pre-trial hearings, a date was set today for the trial of anti-war sailor Roger Priest. Priest, the first serviceman to face court-martial for statements made in an anti-war newsletter, will now stand trial in Washington on Tuesday, April 14th. In a final pre-trial hearing this morning at the Washington Navy Yard, Judge B. Raymond Perkins denied all motions by the defense, including one request that correspondence between L. Mendel Rivers and the Pentagon be subpoened so Priest's lawyers could determine if the House Armed Services Chairman applied improper influence on the Navy to court-martial the 26-year-old journalist. In denying the motion, Judge Ferkins stated that he interpreted three letters presented to him in court as "routine correspondance" and saw no cause for granting the defense request for the further exploration of any command influence in the case. The charges against Priest include three specifications that his newspaper called "0M" "contained statements advising and urging insubordination, disloyalty, and refusal of duty by members of the military and naval forces of the United States," and three specifica tions that it contained ' statements disloyal to the United States." Additionally, he is charged with soliciting servicemen to desert and commit sedition. The latter two charges had initially been dropped by Judge Perkins for being "legally insufficient," but were later reinstated when Admiral George P. Koch, the originator of the charges ordered Perkins to reconsider his decision. The defense lawyers appealed this action to the United States Court of Military Appeals on the basis that the Admiral had no such power, to interfere in the course of the proceedings. Their petition was denied, however, on March 13th when the court issued an opinion that upheld the right of a convening authority to overrule a military judge. The maximum punishment for the eight charges Priest faces is 39 years in prison. -30- THE SERVICEMAN'S LINK TO PEACE 1029 Vermont Avenue NW, Room 200 LINK Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 638-4126 MEMORANDUM April 9, 1970 TO: Editors, Assignment Desks, Features NEWS Writers STA,,; •••':.-,; FROM: Carl Rogers, Director of LINK Of VWSCONS/Nr ^ ' SUBJECT: Coverage of the Court-Martial . 816 State Street of Seaman Roger Priest *•*«* Wisconsin 537Q6 The trial of anti-war Seaman Roger Priest begins at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, April 14th. The court-martial will be held in Building 92 at the Anacostia Naval Station (first exit to the right after cross ing the Frederick Douglas Bridge.) Priest is the first serviceman to be court-martialed for statements contained in an anti-war newsletter he edits. If convicted of the eight charges he faces, he could receive up to 39 years in prison. The trial is public and open to the press. However, the judge is expected to limit the number of reporters allowed in the court, so it is recommended that your assigned correspondent arrive early. Details on admission procedures can be obtained from the Navy's Public Affairs Officer, Lt. Commander Paul Conners at OX 3-2354. NOTE: Those agencies who have not already made arrangements for the installation of phone lines should do so immediately. Call Commander Conners. It is believed that the government's case will take from two to four days. The defense case, which is expected to begin on Monday, April 20th, will also take from two to four days. Witnesses for the defense will include well-known personalities quoted by Seaman Priest in his publication, including Gen. David M. Shoup, former Commandant of the Marine Corp, as well as outstanding authorities on the war in Vietnam, and authorities who will speak to the legal questions raised in this case. The charges faced by Priest and additional background information are provided in the enclosed material. To arrange for interviews with Priest or to obtain additional information, please call us at (202) 638-4126. Thank you. JUSTICE AND CAPTAIN LEVY <^Sß\ • On June 2, 1967, Captain Howard cial concessions to the military. Barely Levy was convicted by a military court- three years after the Code was passed, martial of charges brought against him a Congressional committee called for by his commanding officer, Colonel 17 immediate changes, and bills to re Henry Franklin Fancy. One day later form the Code have continually been Levy, a Brooklyn dermatologist who proposed ever since. Even its principal had until the trial worked in an army author. Professor Edmund Morgan of hospital at Fort Jackson, South Caro Harvard Law School, has voiced doubts lina, was sentenced to three years at about the quality of military justice, hard labor, clasped in handcuffs, and and has challenged the military serv led out of the small clapboard build ices to demonstrate to Congress "that ing that had housed the trial since the concessions made in the Code do early May. not impair the essentials of a fair, im In the months that followed, the partial trial and effective appellate re complex issues of free speech and view." medical ethics that had been raised at That those essentials have been so the trial received considerable atten impaired is no longer open to ques tion, particularly among doctors and tion. Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr. (Dem. medical students, but also among the N.C. ) introduced on June 26, 1968, a general public. bill to revise the UCMJ in response Less attention was given to the pro to almost 1,000 pages of testimony be cedures of military law under which fore the Senate Constitutional Rights Levy was tried and convicted and un Subcommittee, an intensive field inves der which his various appeals are tigation, and what Senator Ervin has proceeding today. Most of these pro called "hundreds of complaints from cedures are contained in the Uniform servicemen and their families." "I can Code of Military Justice, described by think of no more fitting expression of some as an enlightened document and this country's appreciation for the sac by others as one of the great mis rifices of our young servicemen," said nomers of the Western world, being Senator Ervin, "than to grant them the neither uniform, nor a code, nor in same rights they are defending." A any way having much to do with brief look at the elements of military justice. justice reveals the extent to which serv To be sure, the UCMJ did result in a icemen do not today enjoy those significant reform of military law when rights. it was passed in 1950. New procedural 1. Freedom of Speech. Four of the protections for servicemen were es five charges against Howard Levy re tablished and at least some of the pro lated directly to his words. As the visions that had led to court-martial transcript of the Levy court-martial abuses during World War II were re shows, Levy was convicted under moved. these charges not for what he did, but Nonetheless, the UCMJ of 1950 was for what he said. Furthermore, the a compromise which made several cru government was not even required to demonstrate a specific military neces Command influence is a subject of For if the challenge was used and a sity that was endangered by his words. reform in Senator Ervin's bill. But it member was removed, he was not re The military definition of crime, is questionable whether command in placed, which meant that the "jury" taken with little change from 18th- fluence can be reformed merely by then consisted of nine members in century British military law, is so forbidding it. The present Code al stead of ten. And since court-martial vaguely worded that it could never ready forbids it, but it still happens, conviction only requires a two-thirds withstand constitutional scrutiny in ci primarily because of the influence that vote (just in case the other features of vilian law. Words that are "unbecom is built into the chain of command the court-martial should fail to pre ing," "provocative," "defamatory," "re and the enormous amount of discre vent reasonable doubt from creeping proachful," are crimes. In practice, tion that commanding officers have. into one member's mind), only six these words mean anything the com As Edward F. Sherman of Harvard votes would then be needed for con manding officer wants them to mean, Law School has written, "It is a little viction instead of seven! and in the Leyy trial they were in like having a district attorney act as a 4. The Right to Witnesses. In a re vested with meanings so terrible that grand jury, and then select the judge, cent symposium on military justice run the existence of the nation as well as both attorneys and the jury from his by the Association of the Bar of the the army seemed to be at stake. The staff, and finally review the sentence City of New York, Colonel Harold E. result was the resurrection of heresy on appeal." Parker, a military lawyer for the as a legitimate crime—precisely what In fact, command influence—which army, remarked that, in military trials, the First Amendment was designed to makes an impartial trial impossible- "the defense has, by statute, the same prevent. is typical of and intrinsic to the entire power to secure witnesses by subpoena 2. Command influence. Before the system of military law. For command as the trial counsel." That is simply not Uniform Code of Military Justice was influence is merely a consequence of a true. In the Levy case, civilian wit passed in 1950, Arthur E. Farmer, system whose basic assumption is that nesses for the defense had to come Chairman of the Committee on Mili a court-martial is not a trial at all, but voluntarily or else the defense had tary Law of the War Veterans Bar As an instrument of discipline. to request a subpoena from the prose sociation, warned: 3. The Right to a Jury Trial. The cution! Furthermore, the defense had to justify the relevance of the desired The basic reform which the court- Sixth Amendment guarantees the right witness to the prosecution, which martial system requires and without to a jury trial in serious criminal cases, meant that the defense had to reveal which no real reform is possible—the and that right has recently been ruled elimination of command control from by the U.S. Supreme Court to apply its argument in advance. Even then, courts—is conspicuously lacking in the to the states. In general courts-martial, subpoenas were with one exception new Code. Un.ler the Code the com however, that right does not exist. The never granted. Military witnesses for manding general will still appoint the members of the court-martial are a de the defense who were not at Fort Jack members of the court, the trial coun facto jury, but they are chosen in a son but who were willing to come were sel and the defense counsel from mem way that completely prevents a fair also prevented. One key witness, a doc bers of his command and will review trial, and that could never stand in tor who had been chief of psychiatry the findings and the sentence. We will at two hospitals in Vietnam, who was still have the same old story of a court civilian courts. now serving the last weeks of his duty and counsel, all of whom are depend In the Levy case, the "jury" con at Fort Dix in New Jersey and who ent upon the appointing or reviewing sisted of ten officers. All were of su would have testified that Dr. Levy was authority for their efficiency ratings, perior rank to Captain Levy. All were being prosecuted for saying things in their promotions, their duties and their subject to command influence. Seven an army hospital in South Carolina leaves. of the ten were white Southerners in a that were said widely and freely and That warning went unheeded 18 case that heavily involved the issue of without fear of prosecution in army years ago and it remains unheeded to Levy's activities on behalf of the civil hospitals in Vietnam, was ready to day. In the Levy court-martial, every rights movement in South Carolina; come. Plane reservations were made. member of the "jury" was an officer five of the seven were from South All that remained was to issue a mili of superior rank under the direct com Carolina itself. Four were recent com tary subpoena, since the doctor could mand of the commanding general who bat veterans in Vietnam, and one had not leave Fort Dix without orders. convened the court-martial in the first recently had half his face shattered The prosecution, however, decided place, and would later review the find and one eye blown out by a mine. that the testimony was irrelevant and ings and the sentence. There were no doctors. When asked so the witness never was allowed to by Levy's counsel, Charles Morgan, In July 1967, Major General Thom testify. as Lipscomb, commanding general of whether or not they could be fair to Fort Leonard Wood in Illinois, was a man of Levy's views, they all an 5. The Right to Confront the Evi charged with systematic tampering swered yes. And since the removal for dence Against You. As the trial record with courts-martial. After 3 months cause of any member must be ap in the Levy case indicates, the chief of testimony that General Lipscomb proved by the other members, no one and perhaps the only evidence leading had threatened counsel, pressured was so removed. to the charges that resulted in a gen court members, and encouraged harsh Finally, one peremptory challenge eral court-martial was contained in a 47 er sentences, he was cleared of "im was allowed, but even then there was 180-page intelligence dossier on Cap proper" influence by the investigating a catch that made it inadvisable for tain Levy. Civilian counsel was never officer. the defense to exercise that challenge. allowed to see more than a fraction of SPRING 1969/COLUMBIA FORUM that dossier (having been assured by most trial errors can never be re heat was off. About the only thing the the prosecution that nothing in it was viewed. Finally, the Board of Review, affidavit did not allege was that Levy relevant) on the grounds that the ma being part and parcel of the military also planned upon his return to get terial was classified and civilian coun bureaucracy, has not in the past pro a job in the Texas School Book De sel was without security clearance. vided impartial review, as the Court pository! Military counsel was allowed to see of Military Appeals has on occasion All attempts to persuade the courts the dossier, but only on condition that scathingly noted: to force the army to produce the he would not talk about it to civilian author of the affidavit for cross- counsel! The obvious choice the army This case (U.S. v. Williams, 1957) examination fell on deaf ears. Mean should never have been brought be would seem to have is clear: either it while, back at the Bar Association, fore this court. It is incomprehensible must reveal the evidence to the defense to us, how, at this late date, after the Colonel Harold E. Parker was point or else it cannot introduce it. Yet in enactment of the Uniform Code of ing with pride to the right of confron the weird world of military law, that Military Justice, a record of trial con tation which the military enjoys. . . . choice need not be made. The evidence taining such a plethora of errors Subsequent attempts to prevent the is both introduced and kept from de . . . could have proceeded unscathed armed services from punishing people fense scrutiny. through the staff legal officer, the con whose appeals are still pending have 6. The Right to a Lawyer. The vening authority and the board of re met with equally bizarre results. Ar view. armed services like to point out that ticle 71 (c) of the Uniform Code of the right to counsej existed in the mili And though the record of the Court Military Justice provides that: tary long before the Gideon case, of Military Appeals is better, only a which established the right to counsel relatively few of the 60,000 courts- No sentence which includes, unsus- in civilian criminal cases. Apparently, martial are reviewed by it. pended, a dishonorable or bad con duct discharge, or confinement for that is one of the chief exhibits in the 8. The Right to Bail. The military one year or more shall be executed military argument that the UCMJ is takes the position that the right to bail until affirmed by a board of review an enlightened document. Even if true, pending appeal, like any other consti and, in cases reviewed by it, the Court that right would seem to be insufficient tutional right, applies to the military of Military Appeals. in light of the other defects in military only at the military's discretion and law. But in fact, the right to a lawyer subject to whatever limitations the Since Dale Noyd was sentenced to is seriously qualified in the military. military feels it needs to impose. Thus, one year and Howard Levy to three, Servicemen faced with undesirable dis although Muhammed Ali is presently it seems perfectly clear that Article charge, for example, have the right to free pending appeal of his conviction 71(c) applies to them and that their counsel who if reasonably available in federal court for refusing induc sentences cannot be executed until the should be a lawyer. Thus, legally quali tion, Howard Levy and countless others appeals are over. Yet more than a year fied counsel is a gratuity, not a statu continue to be subjected to restraint and a half after conviction, Howard tory right, which may or may not be while the courts have yet to review Levy still languished in military prison granted. Similarly, the UCMJ does not their convictions. And because funda in Fort Leavenworth while his appeals require lawyers in special courts-mar mental First Amendment rights are in proceeded slowly through the military tial. Servicemen facing bad conduct volved, the military is in effect exacting courts. discharges, for example, need not be its price for the exercise of conscience, There is a long-standing tradition in furnished legally qualified counsel. producing the desired "chilling effect" the United States military, dating back Since special courts-martial account on others, which was the purpose of to the British Articles of War of 1774, for two thirds of all courts-martial, the prosecutions in the first instance. of not carrying out court-martial sen and result not only in bad conduct dis Since the appeals will in all probability tences until review is completed. As charges but also in as much as six require more time than the length of the military appellate procedure has months imprisonment, the claim of the sentence to complete, the military evolved during the past 50 years to in some military lawyers to a progressive is permitted in effect to ignore the right clude a Board of Review and a civilian right to counsel provision is, to put of appeal. Court of Appeals, the tradition of not it mildly, somewhat tarnished by the The army's argument for denying carrying out sentences until review is facts. bail pending appeal in the Levy case completed has also been extended, 7. The Right to Appeal. This right, truly reveals the macabre, medieval principally through Article 71(c). which is also made much of by some world of the military. When the case Yet in a politically charged case military lawyers, is equally tainted. for bail was argued, the army sud like Howard Levy's, the military sim In the first place, special court-martial denly produced a mysterious affidavit ply chooses to ignore its own law. convictions that do not result in bad by "a confidential informant" (un Thus the entire appellate procedure is conduct discharge are reviewed only named) who "had proved reliable in reduced to a meaningless charade. For by the convening authority and the the past" and who had heard from "a if a prisoner can be compelled to serve staff judge advocate. But the conven close associate" of Levy's (unnamed) his sentence before appellate review ing authority is the commander who that if Levy was released, he planned has been completed, what meaningful 48 ordered the court-martial and the staff to flee the country, denounce the purpose does appellate review serve? judge advocate is his lawyer! Further United States and then, because he If the military has the power to simply more, since verbatim transcripts of knew the U.S. was lenient on defec ignore its own law any time it wants to, special courts-martial are rarely made, tors, return in a few years when the do we in fact have the rule of law or do we have instead the arbitrary and is little doubt that where the require a "striking military necessity." But no capricious rule of men? ments of discipline clash with the re such striking military necessity even More than a year and a half after quirements of justice, we are made to remotely existed at Fort Jackson. ronvirtirm thf* rhargHp WQC rnmnlptp' swallow the discipline, like it or not. There, Captain Levy was a doctor, the Court of Military Appeals refused Indeed, the entire system—with its working in a hospital, and spending to review Levy's case (which raised overbroad regulations, its vaguely almost all his time treating minor skin more substantial legal questions than worded definitions, its enormous dis diseases. There, the army could not— any case in a decade); and Levy was cretion and its stacked procedures—is and did not try— to show a specific, swiftly dismissed from the army and designed to preserve the minimum illu immediate "striking military necessi transferred to the federal penitentiary sion of justice that is necessary in order ty." What it relied on instead was pre at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. As of this to justify the disciplinary measures that cisely the sort of vague incantations writing, Dr. Levy's ACLU attorneys the army considers crucial. about the need for discipline and the are seeking review of his case in the It is difficult, then, to avoid the con terrible things that would surely hap civilian courts through habeas corpus clusion that military law falls con pen if Howard Levy were let alone. proceedings. Meanwhile, Levy is still siderably short of the standards de The significance of all this is clear in jail, having been unable from the be manded by the Bill of Rights. The when one considers that, a few months ginning to secure either a fair trial or question then becomes whether or not after Washington's inauguration, the an impartial review. the military needs to violate the Bill armed services numbered only 672. None of the travesties of justice of Rights in order to maintain its Today, there are more than IVi mil perpetrated under the UCMJ is really effectiveness as a fighting force. lion men on active military duty. That very surprising, for military law has To some extent, it is possible to is more than the population in 32 of always been and continues to be pri argue that less discipline and more the states, and does not include more marily an instrument of discipline, not liberty would not destroy the army or than two million Ready Reserves. justice. As Lt. Col. Edward M. O'Con- reduce our military strength. There In addition, there are more than 27 nell, associate professor of law at the was once a Navy Commodore, for ex million men in America who have at United States Military Academy, ample, strangely enough also named one time or another served in the pointed out in his article in Encyclo Levy, who was court-martialed six or armed forces. Potentially, every male pedia Americana, military courts- eight times for, among other things, in America faces military service. martial began historically as special refusing to flog his men. The Navy's Thus more than 30 million men have tribunals established for "the enforce argument was that without flogging, been within the jurisdiction of a sys ment of military discipline within the it would be impossible to maintain tem of justice that can only be called armed forces of nations." discipline and without discipline you totalitarian. Today the United States Nor have more recent versions of couldn't have a Navy. There hasn't faces a paradox: on the one hand, we the UCMJ in any way modified the been flogging in the Navy for some have an army in order to defend the basic assumptions and purposes of time now and our Navy is stronger values of freedom from the inroads military law. As Prof. Sherman noted than ever. of totalitarianism; on the other, it is at the Bar Association symposium, The point is that it is always easy precisely that army—large and massive ". . . the Military Code . . . was drafted to use the need for discipline as an and affecting millions of people—which in terms of Von Clausewitz's concept excuse for all sorts of deprivations of in the name of freedom promotes the . . . that a soldier must submit to liberty. Agents of tyranny have always values of tyranny. 'obedience, order, rule and method' used such arguments and, if the bur We would do well today to heed the and have no opinions contrary to the den of- proof is not correctly placed, prophetic warning of James Madison: interests of the state . . ." And even the argument always prevails. In the Capt. George F. O'Malley, whose in Levy case, precisely such an argument The veteran legions of Rome were an tention at the symposium was to cele was used by the Army, despite the overmatch for the undisciplined valor brate military law, admits that "the fact that there was no evidence what of all other nations, and rendered her purpose of military law is to promote soever that any specific threat to mil the mistress of the world. Not the less true is it, that the liberties of Rome and maintain discipline. . . ." itary discipline in fact existed. proved the final victim to her military Nonetheless, Capt. O'Malley goes on It is one thing to require total dis triumphs; and that the liberties of Eu to claim that, under military law, the cipline in the heat of battle; it is quite rope, as far as they have ever existed, rights of the accused are "jealously" another to require it on a peaceful have, with few exceptions, been the guarded. Yet it seems abundantly clear army base, far removed from the price of her military establishments. that any system of law dedicated first fighting and totally without the ele and foremost to the promotion and ments of emergency that characterize —IRA GLASSER maintenance of discipline cannot at a battle. the same time also be dedicated with It might well be, for example, that equal fervor to the promotion and a foot-soldier ordered in the heat of • The author, associate director of the maintenance of justice. To be sure, battle to charge a hill, must respond New York Civil Liberties Union, de grains of justice are scattered about with unthinking obedience. In such a livered an address on the subject of 49 here and there to flavor the system and situation, the right of free speech may this essay to the students of Columbia make it palatable, the way a mother well be suspended in deference to what University's College of Physicians and sugars medicine for a child. But there Chief Justice Earl Warren has called Surgeons. Additional reprints available through: SPRING 1969/COLUMBIA FORUM THE SERVICEMAN'S LINK TO PEACE 1029 Vermont Avenue NW, Room 200 LINK Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 638-4126 A publication of COWLES COMMUNICATIONS, INC. GARDNER COWLES. Editorial Chairrr WILLIAM ATTWOOD. Editor in Chiaf LOOK ALLEN HURLBURT. D.rector of D*»ign Contents for October 15, 1968 • Volume 32 Number 21 THE MILITARY'S NEW % ''s DILEMMA *e ty o«"sent .***& f o/?( * PROTEST ACS Cfs i*£5*i IN e,shi tS^i '"« (o!?PVA. S"6- *'« ;/-3^7,, ä'»i N THE RANKS «^r^Ä^^w.i•or» con,;s ' ftfcteJ*«*t f BY CHRISTOPHER S. WREN IOO«A.ORED.T«, "WE ARE TIRED of all the lies about war, the false ideals, the empty reasoning," read the hastily Ctfu.l£e?2rce, ' > mimeographed leaflet. "Even the most degenerate of animals don't organize and institutionalize their ^rQr._ * a f„ quarrels. Man's emergence from the Dark Ages is long overdue." What put the U.S. Army uptight was that the authors were two draftees passing out V'%^ 150 copies to other GFs at Fort Ord. Calif. Pvt. tore t P*pe /}/'/,% %>/ *» , —.... to*™, than - Ä^, <^ ^/ >*. ^K^/S' ST •"•. 'A. «* 'V. THE NEW YORK TIMES, MONDAY. APRIL 2S, 1969 Antiwar G.I. 's and Army Head for Clash Over Vietnam Officials Concerned Activists Say Their but 'Think We Can Efforts Will Help Hold Our Ground* to End the War By BEN A. FRANKLIN same boat who are good guys Speelil to The New York Time« and good soldiers but who ape fed up, disgusted and demand WASHINGTON, April 27— ing some control over their "The new action army" that is lives. proclaimed these days In this assessment, Mr. Gard cruiting posters is approaching ner is not alone. collision over the war "The army is simply an an Vietnam with the young dis achronism," says Brian Drolet, senters and militant New Left a 26-year-old "seminary drop ists who have been filling its out" He said that he turned m ranks through the draft. his draft card.a year this month The young activists in uni as a protest and has been coun form are declaring that their seling antiwar and runaway sol' growing display of assertedly diers in the San Francisco area "legal" harassment and frankly since then. illegal resistance is the decisive While waiting for the Gov Battle of Vietnam, which will ernment to react to his refusal not only 'help to end the war to carry a draft card he has) but may also rebuke "militar been working in a San Fran ism1* in the United States. cisco church office for a Nevf Although it may be too early York-based antiwar group, to make such sweeping claims, Clergy and Laymen Concerned there is no question that the About Vietnam. G.I. dissenters, despite their Desertion Rate Rising small number among 1.4 million soldiers, are causing serious "People will no longer do concern within the Army's things simply because they are leadership. told to," Mr. Drolet said. "They have to see a reason for it, and Personnel and legal officers the G.I. antiwar movement is in Washington and base com coming up with better reasons manders in the field report that The Shelter Half at Tacoma, Wash., near Fort Lewis, is one of the three coffee houses near they are feeling more and more for not doing it than the Army the same frustrations and wor Army bases that serve as the centers of anti-war activity among young enlisted men. —or the country, really—has ries aboiit young Americans for this absurd war." that have plagued embattled win, and the reason the right Army officials in Washing college presidents, mayors and is on our side, is that we've got ton are concerned about the police chiefs in civilian life. the explosive truth with us,"" rising rate of desertion, which said Fred Gardner., a curly- has just passed the Korean war The Pentagon acknowledges haired, boyish-looking 1963 peak of 28 for each 1,000 men that "we do not have every in uniform and is expected t» thing under control." Harvard graduate. He has led and largely fi go on rising. Motivation Unzipped nanced, with $10,000 of his own But after studying extensiva -"Certainly, you can't fight money, the opening of the three psychiatric reports of returned *n army whose motivation is off-base G.I. coffee houses now and apprehended deserters and coming unzipped," is the way in operation in this country. A.W.O.L.'s, the Army believes one Pentagon' spokesman put The coffee houses are cen that dropping out in the mili ft, 'Twt we think we can proba ters of antiwar activity at Col tary is "probably the most sub bly hold our ground." umbia, S.C., near Fort Jackson; jective of all inservice viola The conflicts within the Killeen, Tex., near Fort Hood, tions"—an act of single-minded and Tacoma, Wash., at Fort desperation rarely shared with Army may merely reflect the others. unrest in civilian society, Lewis. seen on campuses and in slums Their appeal to soldiers is There is little disposition, ac across the country. But in the designed to be "cultural" rather cordingly, to blame A-W.O.L.'s Army there is a difference, for than aggressively political, to or desertions on the militants. there dissent and protest are offer a haven of what is called Army officers who must ex not merely defiant gestures. "the life-style of today's youth" plain the igrowtH of militancy They are often treated as se amid the clutter of cheap bars among the troops to superiors rious military crimes. and prostitutes lining the and to Congress are not happy And the* Army acknowledges streets of many Army base about it. They say that their Jim Seymour for The New York Times towns. real concern is over the soldiers* punishment of dissent is growing links to the civilian turn creating resentment Signs on the door of The Oleo Strut coffee house in Kil- But antiwar politics is served antiwar militants and radicals many of the young Army men leen, Tex., near Fort Hood, pokes fun at Army and ex with the coffee and folk-rock who are supporting them. who had not been politically presses feelings of the young habitués who are inside. music. 'We have a varied number of '^turned on" about Vietnam or "The mind-blowing truth, apparently any other national flTwenty-seven stockade pri-ing only 239 objector applica- responses to keep them off bal and the Army knows it," Mr. ance," one Pentagon official issue when they were inducted. soners at the Presidio in San tions from Army ranks so far Gardner said in an interview In recetnt months, the Army Francisco were given stiff sen- this year, compared to 282 for said. Without much confidence, fences for "mutiny" after they the full year of 1968. in California, "is that there ii he added, "We hope it keeps has convened conferences not a guy in his right mind in Washington of base com had staged a sit-down demon- But this total does not in- them off balance as much as stration to protest their prison elude applications that cases America who wants to inter they keep us off balance." manders to prepare them for rupt his life to go 10,000 miles the G.I. movement's growth. conditions and the death of a now on appeal in civilian courts G.I. prisoner shot by a stockade have disclosed. Commanders in and run through the jungle to Army headquarters has issued guard. the field have been accused of kill soma farm kid. For what? guidelines setting forth early They should have asked them warning symptoms of G.I. un Specialist 4 Allen Myers, who not forwarding applications to published an antiwar newspa- the Department of the Army, as selves that before they aske£ rest. But since last summer the us to do this." phenomenon has spread. per at Fort Dix, believes thatregulations require, Major Cases Listed the in-uniform resistance has I Soldiers with a college back- Mr. Gardner, 26, a former A catalogue of the major "solidified under President Nix- ground are also said to be mak member of The Harvard Crim cases illustrates the trend: ing application for Officers son and an editor, in New York The level of opposition is Candidate School to delay em of The Scientific American WASHINGTON — To some in cases where a publication climax this week at Fort Jack they are upheld, will give the young radicals in this country constitutes a clear danger to mili son, near Columbia, S. C. By courts a clear opening to declare who despair of changing things tary loyalty, discipline or mo harassing, restricting and arrest that American enlisted men do, by reform, there is no more sat rale . . ." ing on dubious charges the lea indeed, have the same constitu isfying prospect than that of The military mind still bog ders of an interracial militant tional right to oppose by all American soldiers throwing gles at the thought of troops enlisted group there called G.I.'s lawful, orderly means the course down their weapons and refus holding antiwar rallies on base United Against the War in Viet chosen by their Government and ing to fight, in Vietnam or else in their off-duty hours, handing nam, Fort Jackson's brass has military leaders. where. leaflets to G.I.'s on the chow produced a cause célèbre out of Regular Army men despair or The idea of a Bolshevik-style line or mimeographing "under all proportion to the known are unbelieving at such a pros mass military mutiny by Ameri ground" newspapers in which facts. It has also brought about pect — of "running an Army cans, of course, is anarchistic the war in Vietnam, the "racist" two court actions, directed by by committee." They may be romance and nonsense. But with Army (or Navy or Marine Corps) capable and contentious civil right For the fact is, if it lasts, the prospect of another season and its officers and noncoms ian legal counsel, which may that G.I. dissent could be the of combat in Asia and aggres are held up to scorn and ridi give a merely fractious episode most effective form of antiwar sive discontent on campuses and cule, some of it obscene. lasting effect. protest thought up yet. in cities—possibly requiring the But that is the case on a The Fort Jackson lawsuits, if —BEN A. FRANKLIN use of troops—here at home, the growing number of military res muttering among the young in ervations. There are at least 16 uniform about warring against harshly irreverent "under revolutions in Vietnam and in ground" newspapers produced the United States at the same in varying degrees of secrecy time is reaching noticeable and, by enlisted men. Fort Dix, N. J., Thinking Man's Army the Army now admits, trouble and Ford Hood, Tex., each has "If my soldiers were to begin to think," Frederick two underground house organs. some proportions. the Great said, "not one would remain in the ranks." Neither the military intelli New ones seem to appear some gence forces, whose duty is to where every week. Last week, The United States Army these days, supported by worry about it, nor the semi- the Army at Fort Gordon, Ga., a draft law that is beginning to tap even graduate clandestine G. I. antiwar move struck back by giving an "un students, is increasingly an army of thinking men. It ment itself, knows how many suitability" discharge to the un is not surprising, therefore, that there is beginning to derground editor there. activists lurk among the 3.5 mil be trouble in the ranks. lion American men and women The radical message of the In San Francisco's Presidio stockade last fall, 27 G.I. pamphleteers varies. A few in uniform. There is probably a Army prisoners staged a sitdown to protest stockade hard core of no more than a openly advocate going A.W.O.L. few hundred, with followers or or deserting to Canada or Swe conditions, particularly the fatal shooting of a fellow sympathizers of thousands. den to escape the war. But most prisoner by a guard. In New York and six other cities 'Unsuitability* Discharge are more sophisticated and dis last weekend, servicemen joined civilian peace march But in the rigid structure of ciplined. They counsel staying ers, carrying banners saying, "G.I.'s against the war with it and being good soldiers, the military — a world of con the more to "hassle" the authori in Vietnam." At Fort Dix and a number of other Army formity and obedience and sub ties. camps, servicemen are publishing underground news ordination to command in which papers critical of the Vietnam war. even passive questioners and Civil Dissidence Cited doubters stand out sharply—a Army authorities have tended to respond to these very little dissent goes a long Without expressing any less signs of independent thought in the ranks with all the way. Like the proverbial pea concern about it, sophisticated imagination of tradition-bound automatons. For their under the mattress, the G.I. anti Army officials see the G.I. Re mild protest against conditions that would be a scan sistance as an inevitable and war movement already is keep dal in any nonmilitary prison, the Presidio protesters ing the brass awake at night. wholly nonconspiratorial reflec tion of the unrest and dissidence have been hauled before a general court-martial. In recent months the Army Eight already have been convicted and sentenced and the other services have made present in American civilian life. a few modest concessions to It is, after all, basically a citi to severe terms ranging up to sixteen years. what might be called militant zen army, drawing its men in The Army certainly has an overriding concern for "G.I. power," possibly to avoid part from the colleges, high the preservation of discipline, which can be a life-or- schools — and the corps of the kind of direct confrontation death matter for the soldiers themselves under battle they face now. An Army circular dropouts — where activists against the war have been vo conditions. But the employment of McCarthy-type in last October, for example, re quisition tactics and the imposition of Neanderthal minded commanders that troops cal. "have both civil rights and mili It is the few committed or disciplinary practices from the "theirs-not-to-reason- tary obligations" and that "they ganizers — "guys who have why" days are not going to command the respect and are not incompatible." Contrary their heads together about obedience of the educated young men needed to man to some local commanders' fiat, where it's at" — who have been a modern army. Army Regulation 600-20, it noted, able to capitalize in the fashion In the interest of morale and military efficiency as of the Negro civil rights move specifically permits troops to well as for the sake of young men who have been march in nonviolent antiwar ment on the field Army's re demonstrations off base when pressive and sometimes brutal subjected to excessive penalties, the Pentagon should they are not in uniform. way of dealing with militants, thoroughly review current disciplinary practices, es To discourage local command "troublemakers" and "odd-balls." pecially the case of the 27 Presidio protesters. It is ers from using too heavy a hand As with Negro marchers and also time Congress took another look at the military college students, overreaction by in suppressing publications of code of justice, last revised in 1950, to see what ad dissent, Army Regulation 210-10 the Army has radicalized rather than pacified the politically un- ditional safeguards may be needed to protect the was amended in January to in involved. It has also brought in rights of young men who serve, frequently involun clude the directive that "military experienced civil liberties law tarily, in the armed forces. personnel are entitled to the yers and the press.. same free access to publications as «re other citizens . . . except,, A classic case approaches a Äi-^fOf**l e £. j£'' '' V5V°> > ,°r//V. <*•*> .4FA.."fe» a. «f.^i^ilv. "'*/« .'0.5,//»»fc,"*., ,e «., «* J */,.,*<*^, '«£ , A couple of squads of reporters and instance, when one GI shouted from a bar > Cameramen were invited over to Fort Dix, racks window: "Get them to let you rap N. J., this week for what turned out to be ftalk] with the prisoners," a sergeant an exercise in camouflage, diversionary yelled: "Get back from that window . . . action and military maneuver. You're on report to me. Get down there." Ostensibly, the civilians were taken on Later, officers acknowledged that there an inspection tour of the post stockade, had been 361 escapes last year—hardly an ordered by the Dept. of Defense in an at tempt to show that conditions in military indication that Dix is running a model prisons are not as represented by protest prison. ing GI inmates. In view of all this, the Army claim that The Fort Dix officers disrnalîy flunked the visitors were given a look at a "typi the inspection, not because the visitors cal" situation is patent fraud. It may be uncovered any outstanding indications of that conditions in some stockades are be abuse or maltreatment but because—de- ing improved somewhat—the Pentagon's 'S epite one colonel's claim that "I don't want sensitivity to increasing criticism suggests f to hide anything"—interviews with pris- the possiblity—but, if so, this will not be t joners were officially denied. due to the Army's self-serving public in- Äs a consequence, the closely escorted formation policies. It will result, from the reporters were obliged to rsly on second- determination of the press to get accurate c fti'X evidence, none of it reassuring. For information to the public 4" -?rt""^ 'if ft "re '•ft .--«s "O 2** fa Sfs «'S. *'. 0ft Army Names Panel To Inspect Stockades By Richard Homan The Army appointed a com.,oner was killed Ù d mitt«, of civilian pe„a, ex- Prisoned wounded """'",.»• iC yeSS"y t0 '"^'iS'^nc« Reduced' *' military stockades and con- m. % / lfc„- n. »a> "nement procedures and rec- •.• my has bf,en sharply ,, frefG<****>£ ommend improvements Mtaaxl for its handling of a> °''<°^»r /!,/"•<>.£.5 Creation of the six man P' ?" by 27 P™""«« at the««< 5* ents within Army stockades— mutiny and several reeeivecW''*' ' the Presidio in San Fran- senten«s of mere than 10• **c -1 «t i. „.i,i.i. .. Iye at eourts-martial. TheÜ j £fc * « Lon "•or. (ment yesterday specified that,'*- 7'*/> lommmees study would „'«<• ? 4,3» '«C' *, •he committee's study would V* -I,*» * W '•nleo >s revie* w o.#f th.. e Pres-"V>'fe_ >,.. #/„ *i > "'«off'', /°V/ W~ -i Francisco «tock-''5^'o;5 >, V ,ä/ff A ' ^ * ^ ». ' o"0"^ < %*ojr 4g ^;<>;;Ä; 4^ v, <<>%/o^ » »»** «ff t\\e ^>>> cVd\e POSTER *^^ tcce dV #*a3*^& ^ 'Presidio 27': •e*' c\Oe ,co'^a AeV^ «A One Testifies 15y Nicholas von Hoffman vv ^ew»^' »s ^.r*3^^610'" <*»**&? FT- ORD, Calif., April 24—Pvt. Richard Gentile 1e K e «>T^£ *•* V e" * , V^ aSs- sv,^ V, ^^ makes a bad first impression. His nose is too big, his ^ to°-i<^r rj vte^*^ otv Wtvvt tf1cmn is undershot, his features are indelicate, his ^\ sC e -v ^o^ .c=, '^ Q^W^uniform's too small, and when he tramps up to salute *r "' „as^^otf^e &e^\*v the president of the court-martial his banging and !c*,i stamping seem a parody of military manners. «*" 1 4 'W* ^ox^ * The charge against him and his 13 codefendants Is ,c.jjet à -s * x>e * serious: Mutiny, which means combining "with Intent \c\.e ' * V»* \Me vXV' to override lawful military authority." ^ • ~» °^ »^V s°^v-e s T° look at this cioddish 2u-year-old, the stepson of a vv^e û\ jK* "', »tv* \, ^c regular Army noncom, a tenth-grade dropout, Is to l -* v* ^ -d*.. doubt he could be part of an offense so rare, but he v ^0 "^ x s •S*, "^^»t^ was there in the isolated work building, part of a group - ^ 0^ ^ \1 o >C»0VA \vc^fe of men called The Presidio 27, who are being tried for '° \^ e t vS <»4 -c^o' *'<*P t-v-^, sitting down and singing "We Shall Overcome" last ' >v.v* *%..vk.<» -=,\. October. «*• They did it when they were military prisoners in v San Francisco's Presidio stockade because one of the A other soldiers in jail had been shot trying to escape , \jjb nd they wanted to protest his death. So Richard xP" xf"^*, ntile was a witness in his own defense, and outside ^CP^A^OV 6°^'% far-off, little courtroom, The Monterey Peninsula %°^ r,ï»W,^ Ä^-**. *• -sS^. Ö^ .v^ JCS 0X t* s S^ . •rV^ ^ 9 G. I.'« Sue Army on Right5 NINE SEIZED G.I.'S By BEN A. FRANKLIN 'Jackson Eight : Tiny Group Sp*d«ï to Th« Ne» York Time« Army Ponders Action on 8 GIs COLUMBIA, S, C, April 1- WILL FACE TRIAL Militantly antiwar soldiers on the sprawling infantry training Held After Anti-Viet Meeting Charges Filed Over Meeti^r base at Fort Jackson here sued That Discussed.-*** Causing Army Big Concern the Airn"'~ »t^** JB4*W ' . = l«1' Viet- „.tali005 OW" „o *« » to M c>°r;*ec^e"v «*.wt*' *»ul?™oor»'D;:«^o^ iea'e C< ^fsaii *rèv«*'' dea—"» «,**^ *o^>* ^ ,»«.** ri«w" "--" u" "" ,t>le » ..vie-" M +*0*»7-Z*£ \0« 1 :•££&&- 5o»lwVf °"*JSy.w *°~m « tw^eia)« *B,et*^r a«» &&&&&> Underground 3 »r.V v * • ,, 4 c Ol W «at a<"> " ,W -,o'wW " Ove* „ieW^J s»y« Gl*G»«"' ' To sec^Liaes s e ,ltet Ä^^ ^^ L it" s W «ot * ". after e e ^g^GI Paper *& |< V* Ca» \s * „eto» , « .rviC gis Anti-War jagg^*: ' üve V.A ft Ä'sfear °ra;hel ,r\ilc» r»t.v^ ° A*'^" . cai'C nhewasair- been has not vet Domingo m 1 0^"^% ,0 ras hopes, \*.i-" ea States >•"»- S S^r,a,s he can see ihe N* Army Un have Wide circula Tovio tolnüUtary,- •aribbeo- THE WASHINGTON POST Mend,,, May 26, im .Q A GI Rebel: War Upset 'GI Coffeehouse ' Planned Here Soon Basic Beliefs •Un/a Antiwar Work By • Washington Post Staff Write? NEW YORK—The making Seen as Use of a GI rebel: Fred Patrick, age 21, is from Hatboro, Pa. He is a member of a large For Facility Catholic family. His father is a tax assessor for two bor By Carl Bernstein oughs in Pennsylvania, a Ws shic rton Post Stoff Writer real estate broker and a jus A coalition of antiwar tice of the peace. workers and leaders of the "I had been brought up servicemen's rights move very loyal to the American cause," says the short, burly ment are developing plans youth. "My father is in the to open a "GI coffeehouse" veterans' organizations; he in Washington by early sum is a naturalized citizen and very grateful to the coun mer. try." Patterned after those near Drops Out of Program Ft. Jackson, S.C., and the Patrick went to a small Presidio in San Francisco, teachers college in Pennsyl the coffeehouse would serve vania, where he joined an Air Force officer training as a meeting place and so program, mostly to stay out cial center for servicemen of the service while finish seeking contact with civil ing school. At the college he ians and military personnel became involved with a cir cle of friends who were involved in antiwar and GI against the war and were rights activities. challenging some of the The Washington Mobiliza basic beliefs he had ac cepted on faith since child tion Committee to End the hood. War in Vietnam and service "Finally, I couldn't take men who publish Open the thought of getting into Sights—a Washington area this war, so I dropped out of the officer's program. I was underground paper for mili immediately put on active tary personnel—have been By LeRoy Woodson Jr.—The Washington Post duty and snipped to Califor working on the coffeehouse These are eight of the more than 40 servicemen who attended an antiwar conference at Georgetown University. nia." plans for two months. There, working at fueling soldiers, acei; carrier-based jets, he came Tentative plans call for lo YesterdaySLeraay,, Rein told the Many of the servicemen "The only thing that's going serv *jt--^asily identifia in contact with pilots who cating the coffeehouse nea»* said yesterday's conference to loosen up the brass is had flown bombing missions Washington's two ble ' U --v-UtS— was the first GI protest ac- fighting them." in Vietnam. "I got a com ir->s>> t minais, hut alt Ou *'vity they had attended, One of the Ft. Meade sol plete, straightforward re ist said they read port. They would relate war are heing consii Un diers, who asked that his 50 'vse editors name not be used, answered stories of how they would Hundreds Pass 1 I -'-.kfld* *ej the same question this way: fly over rice paddies, straf ing, dropping napalm, The sponsors xStoc1 8 ""'"'re all here for the same has We're getting watching people scatter. prefer the area a They actually derived pleas military terminals—at 121 ure out of it'.' e and New York Ave 3U" In California, Patrick be- —because they ar member of the î^B^VS0°etVeSOt daily by hundreds * * n Servicemen's ' -*ion that icèmen from all ovi Sff tist East Coast. * •roty f 8 ° th, The coffeehouse IUI« /re- *ei u sim- were discussed yesterdi Uf -et»en "'con' *&s a "GI Antiwar Conferei *'y*r&.* **gep o fuel y °*tin,„ # y. "It at Georgetown Univer. ^*o „„/«tsive iu be 0,â„"" >*~^"'y jiat I that was attended by ab» !»bicb fe pewnt- 120 persons, more than 40 eaï whion.^,nhar Prison- *« ».„ °M, aJ's»„..™7tt„Z..("'rfer. ., >° r„i>»U,e e / in an them servicemen on acth sz<^ss^•ally 'v&?: ot •by «von,. /omoted duty. Hie, «ialii. «2Ü */$>< tn ke work- Stirred by the dropping oi Mra." charges against eight anti s»v 4l°. men war soldiers at Ft. Jackson use' £?*4,v >">ger »"', "re • I) Pennsyl- r e 0 last week, participants in v„ Psvchi.P nei,t,r, 'a„w t*r- bn„i. a JJeu^"*'„„.. 1 f'feri /-> /father in- 1 o?° "4 * ' the conference discussed a even 1 G '3te .^intoM " Prel « %>«« d„. artf./oritieS and variety of programs indica t,c«a/?,'Ae A''*!' "try*"* toffrs a 'He turned tive of the new boldness Sea, tt"">- terrt" to Zf °rk -» V*W% York last servicemen are demonstrat the * ing in challenging military •»ttby^rt jit in the brig, to' authorities. ^e!'^. anized 24 fel- /to the ASU. In addition to the coffee W>"-. bee„ "trl^*, fe./Äler\ house, they talked about re Jle^rges arv M In plans for a Hiroshima Day e/ „a^a p/hem observance by servicemen lVr*C ft e Ss deeper. It's clear ass that this isn't The New Breed of SoMbrtSSSg££.S&&$£ä by-night organiza- was court-mar- and despite the aid *aty civil liberties lawyer, And Why He's Out of Step 1 or-/ tip QJJ --onvicted and given the r months in Jia-^aW ^yS>\*e /o« " "^eets mum- BRYNA TAl-BMAN nit against Brig. Gen. James] organization I've ever n '° it-.« , yfarig and a bad conduct Private JosephM^es repre- Hollingaworth, the command-! Miles said. "When it comes ^^sV^Àca^î.asO '^^hargearge. , 1 sent« a new'tvpé'ôTArrny man, j er at Fort Jackson, and th<- iobs, it's a Jim **,{ow,i he plani s to get a job 'ft u a small, but growing minority I Secretary of the Army, demand to college, "and con ng the right to hold publi fie for the ASU." of GIs who do not accept the lD i* - ^» ^^e< Army's idea of right, wrong and meetings and to petition tl ct discipline. government. Hollingsworth refused tl ^SÄ*«$**& Miles, a former anCi-wai E M petition circulated nmrnuL ganizer, was drafted In June, I ^, cs on 1968, and immediately began One Fin** ~ " ^„V* 7 ; was "collective bargaining-' *>r?*C speaking out against the war. e/r I Although most of the pre: cond h 4- • ''C'A By February of this year, he "•„ ^. ; anti-Army sentiment is foe "'/,, ^ had won support of more than 1 •^ against the Vietnam war, By j ''•>; 200 soldiers at Fort Jackson, : a, spreading to other area *&*'-'*> '«, Of, ^/S-; S. C, where he was stationed. 'AN 0 i military life. '«e ,^ '•-***£*& fir„*n "We circulated a petition Feel Like Slaves y a »>-«? around the base, asking the v>>o„ u,., to V • Sold, P0st 'etn * Pos, - "Stt,s ' "sfe £ rfuj erf, inaenniTIndefinite LeavLeave Giveuiven Wavrarr Opponenvpponenrt t/>>/>SV!/-*-»«»•">» D.#Jw«r—»- •/ S&lftf •*to2»wöj Co/,s, ' v^ Elite Soldier to Stay Here lis], fy of c ' *V>^ f . tl e a ?, fo A,,,!/«e « i„8 °* Kv.Ky . sol-" 'on ç ti£• t^o Jî >er «e, >VJ;/ t "-fljP„.' a a;' Ae /We» *e/, 4r J are •«• a al »*??&<* shou<£ <7j F wo,. Jg ^•i* ' EDITOR'S NOTE-Hup, two, The civilian peace movement On the other hand, leaders of What do the activists hope to three, four. Soldiers who are op was late in recognizing the po the Seattle-Tacoma GI-Civilian accomplish? posing war? There is acknowl tential of working from inside Alliance for Peace claimed Pvt. Steve Dash, a physics edged dissent among the U.S. the Army. weekly attendance at their off- graduate of New York's City armed forces and it's more than George Johnson, youthful offi post meetings ran as high as 70 College and an avowed foe of just GI griping. How extensive cial of Northern California's GIs, and that about 600 men at the war, told a reporter at Ft. is it? What does it involve be GI-Civilian Alliance for Peace, Ft. Lewis and nearby McChord Jackson, S.C.: "If the entire yond a basic antiwar senti acknowledged that "at the be Air Force Base are on the mail Army were to demand the war ment? What is the official mili ginning of the war, the move ing list for the underground in Vietnam should not be fought tary thought about it? AP Mili ment viewed GIs as moral mon newspaper called Counterpoint. If they decided they tary Writer Fred Hoffman visit sters." wouldn't fight, it would be im A senior officer at Ft. Hood ed Army bases, spoke with the Last year, however, GI under possible to fight the war. This dissident soldiers and base com Tex., a huge armor center with ground papers attacking the 43,000 men, said that "to the ! manders, as well as Pentagon 1 would not be mutiny. It would Vietnam war began appearing best of my knowledge, there is be a mass movement." authorities, for this comprehen and now the soldier is regarded sive report. no organized activist movement A leader at Ft. Hood said by the antiwar forces as a vic here" and no meetings on post. "Our focus has never been the tim of a crushing and overbear "I honestly don't know that war. If the war disappeared to By FRED HOFFMAN ing military system. any Ft. Hood soldiers are in AP Military Writer morrow, we'd still have a cause. Much of the progress being volved in Fatigue Press," he We all assume that when the WASHINGTON (AP) - A said. This was a reference to an spreading alliance of disgrun recorded in the Army by anti-[ wir is over there will be other tled GIs and antiwar civilian war groups can be traced to underground paper-a mimeo- v.ars like it. Imperialism is the groups appears to be moving to their championing the causes «raphed newsletter, really-put highest form of capitalism." and gripes of the GI, giving Put.,by servicemen-editors and While many activists try for ward coordination of a nation clv lllans wide campaign to end the U.S. voice and legal support to the, t a the Oleo Strut, an demonstrations, petition cam role in Vietnam. soldier against the military es^, f antiwar coffee house in the ad- paigns and other devices to gain '"£1 joining city of Killeén Another goal is to force new tablishment. They make stron public attention, some groups ;;? I But there is a cadre of about and greater liberties for serv representations to black, Puerto with long-term political objec icemen in the military. Rican and Mexican-American 120 activist soldiers at Hood who tives are obviously interested in have been holding talk sessions educating and indoctrinating Such a development could servicemen in barracks—and have started a soldiers to their views. spell big trouble for the Army, se The Army is the chief target^ Çond paper, the GI Organizer, which is uncertain how to deal Some, like Andrew Stapp, with the help of the University with a growing GI protest move because, it is heavily manned head of the American Service of Texas Committee to End the ment even in its loosely linked by draftees. men's Union, are trying to form. War in Vietnam. organize GIs to wrest from the It could mean long-range The other services—Marines, [• In the Pentagon, Army au- Army certain fundamental problems for the Nixon adminis Navy and Air Force in about ]thorities are becoming worried. changes which would reduce tration—and even successive that order—have some antiwar-[But they say they really don't drastically the brass' authority ones—-since many leading activ antibrass activity in their large-!;know how deeply the trouble over enlisted men. ists in and out of uniform say ly volunteer ranks. But it's way-runs, nor how they should pro- Stapp, who was given an their aims go beyond the Viet below the Army, according to iceed. undesirable discharge at Ft. nam conflict to basic military, the estimates of protest sources. "We're still trying to deter- Sill, Okla., last year, has draft political and racial reforms. .,,,,, .. mine how serious it is," said ed eight basic demands, includ ing election of officers by enlist These activists talk about prev Although hard core antmo.- one ffi w witn responsibility ed men, collective bargaining enting future Vietnams by work activists may number no m&v ^ ^ matter ing to end U.S. military commit v\. Army investigators have been rights for soldiers, and "rank armed force totaling more th< and file control." ments abroad. 3.4 million, there is reason unable to detect any central The trend in thinking within believe that passive backing control or direction, he said. the movement emerged in con much more widespread. iThis coincides with the position versations with local and nation of Justice Department and FBI al leaders during an investiga While GI underground papers sources asked about the situa- tion of the protest phenomenon have proliferated to about two ti°n- at key military bases and cen dozen, Army authorities at var- "This kind of activity has es- ters of activity. ious bases tend to play down -f ' calated since last fall," the Army staff specialist said. "It's There is as yet no discernible extent of the movement. still a small problem in terms of over-all plan for national-coordi numbers, but it's getting more nating machinery. Several civil Brig. Gen. Richard L. Iroy, attention in the Pentagon. We ian groups already are in *'-e acting commander of the still have no real solution." field, sometimes overlappiri^ 35,000-man Ft. Lewis, Wash , and there may be «- o SPEAKERS: ACTIVE DUTY Gl's DCI-iALD DUNCAN, EX-GREEN BERET oward Zinn, author, THE LOGIC OP WITHDRAWAL Sandra LevinSOn, New York Editor, RAMPARTS jrbara Pane, foiksinger. Prof. Marvin Gettleman, author of VIETNAM Matilde Zimmerman, National Secretary,GI Civil Liberties Defense Committee j Representative of VIETNAM VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR , Eric Bentiey's DMZ Political Cabaret WED. DECEMBER 18 8:00 pm HUNTER COLLEGE ASSEMBLY HALL PARK AVE & 68th ST. contrib: $1.00 ^ SPÖNSIRS: LINK GI Civil Liberties Defense Committee Hunter College Committee to End the War in Vietnam