Summary of Gl Projects/Mpers .Overseas Done by Region; U.S. Done by Service) West Germany: Fight Back (Heidelberg) Remains One O
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Summary of Gl projects/mpers .Overseas done by region; U.S. done by service) West Germany: FighT bAck (Heidelberg) remains one of the most regularly-prodaced papers, four issues in 1973. While Forward (Berlin) has been less regular (one issue in March) both it and FighT bAck seem strong, as GIs in 'Vest Germany face an unbelievably repressive "anti-drug"movement" by the 7th Army. The arrival of the Lawyers Military Defense Committee (two civilian lawyers, Robert Rivkin and Howard DeNike) has been a real plus for their work. LMDC is going to seek to enjoin the Army from stopping its war on EM. The paper PTA with Pride s (Weisbaden-Mainz) seems to have been more hard hit by the Army's January rix transfers of political activists than FighT bAck. GIs connected with the paper are still there, but no paper in a while. Asia : Semper FI is still coming out every payday (twice a month) like clockwork. The ranks of the Iwakuni WAW chapèer which produced it have been depleted by Marine repression, but seems to be building up again. A very long report from them was in the March 'Bulletin; they seem solid. Omega Press fdks in Okinawa seem active, though the paper hasn't been out in a while. They're involved in a defense campaign for the Sumter Three, 3 black marines apparently being framed for their anti-racist activity on the USS Sumter. We've heard nothing from the other h PCS orojects in Asia for quite a while, though they're all still there, near Yokota AFB, Yokosuka Naval Base, Misawa AFB, and in Kin (also on Okinawa)—all in Japan. Air Force: Not a great deal of activity. Travisty (Travis AFB, Ca) has come out twice, and from Jeff's visit the people there are committed; but little GI involvement. We're not sure what's happening at Mt. Home, other than they've produced a record called H "We Say No to Your War." There hasn't been an issue of Helping Hand all year, and they haven't written to us. Hopefully they'll respond to a long letter Doug has just sent off. (They were on channel 13 M on a pretty good show a while back.) After a long time, a new issue of Special Weapon (Kirtland AFB, NM) came out in January, but nothing since then. Craig Simpson of WRL, who's been working with airmen there, will be in NY next month, and we'll be able to talk with him then. While there seem to be people around Offutt AF3 in Nebraska, there's been very little activity or news from there. Wright-Patterson AFB/star-Spangled Bummer/Pavton WAW: Outside, of the Bruce Ashley trial (a CO XH£HKX convicted of refusing orders), very little info. Gary Steiger, the main influence on the GI Movement there is much more involved with WAW now ' (non active-duty chapter). Marines: In Hawaii, the Liberated Barracks foftks have moved to Kailua to concentrate their work around Kaneohe, a Marine base. Lawyer Eric Seitz is supposed to join them after Pat Chenoweth's trial. No issue of RAGE (Camp Lejeune) since December , but organizing work continues. Good people there. Members of Orange County MDM (El Toro MCAS) don't seem to have done too much at El Toro in some time, though they (however many) are participating in the southern Cal. Gl Project Alliance. But they have been distributing the Atticle 15 petition and say another issue of Payback will be out soon. ISP* y • ,™".A* Army: , Nothing at all at Forts Ord, Devens, or Benning (Cal., Mass., & Ga.J though there's apparently left-over people there. An active-duty chapter of WAW has formed at Ft. Lewis, and is working through the' Shleter Half. In Feb. they picketted Rep. Floyd Hicks Tacoma office for the congressional whitewash (a very racist one) of the Kitty Hawk & Connie incidents; they've produced a pamphlet on racism in the military; and they've started up- Fed-Up again. The GI Alliance, also at Ft. Lewis (and nominally at McChord AFB) has been putting out the Lewis-McChord Free Press every two weeks for many months, a record matched only by Semper Fi. The content of the Free Press deals with concrete base and unit conditions more than any other GI paper. The Broken Rifle/Your Military Left at Ft Sam Houston, Tex. is the only active GI organization/paper left in the Southwest (for the Army), and they're mostly into ! counseling now. One issue of YML has come out in quite a while. te There are a group of people (civilians) in Colorado Springs wanting to do work at Ft. Carson, the-main VOLAR base, but their work has taken no form yet. • Custer's Last Stand has been started up again at Ft Riley, Kansas, perhaps because ' of the return of an entire brigade after the Reforger IV exercises in Germany. There's been little activity there in some time, so this is a good sign. The Columbia GI Office near Ft Jackson, S.C., recieved a $5000 grant from DJB a few months ago to set up a counseling/support service, but we don't know their progress. They don't plan on rushing themselves, but proceeding step by step on the basis of GI response. The GI 6enter at Spring Lake, NC (Ft Bragg) continues to be staffed by BXRX by committed folks, including at least 2 active-duty GIs,' but there haven't been many signs of activity recently. One issue of Bragg Briefs "came out in February, and the GI Coordinating Committee has been working on an educational campaign around the status of Puerto Rico (the 82nd has been on maneuvers there) and preparing for a GI housing campaign. There's a relatively new project in Maryland, the k Ft Meade Military Law Project. They've been putting out a paper, Highway 13% with more and more GI participation. It's a good paper, and they seem like energetic folks. Navy : Projects in Southern California have been having joint meetings and coordinating some things through the GI Project Alliance in San Diego. The Center for Servicemen's Rights and the San Diego Concerned Military chapter have also been working together including putting out joint issues of Up From the Bottom. Concerned Military has also been working with members of the USS Hancock in a petitioning drive. The Center has been leading an anti-Art. 15 ("Stop the Railroad") campaign, collect ing signatures on petitions. They've been working with BSC on the Kitty Hawk defense, now coming to a close, and are thinking about starting up the .Tyre11*s boycott again, The Black Servicemen's Caucus has been limited by money and staff from doing a geea t deal; they and CSR held a March 11 rally for the Kitty Hawk defendants at which Billy Dean Smith spoke. San Diego BSC is supposed to be the national HQ for 3 other chapters of BSC in Santa Ana, Oceanside, and New Orleans. We know little about the other chapters. Long Beach MDM have been working with the Enlisted Men's Rights and Grievances Committee, petitioning about living and working conditions on ships such as the USS Okinawa, and doing an increasing amount of counselling. In San Francisco, Up Against the Bulkhead continues to be put out by civilians to reach sailors in the Bay Area. PCS, SOS, and Bay Area Military Law Panel also serve GIs in the area. Not too much seems to be happening with Great Lakes MEM in Illinois. No issue of Navy Times Are Chanpin' in some time. The Defense Committee in Norfolk, Va. (formed around Jeff Allison's trial) continues to operate. They are now working to build support for the Camp Allen Brothers, a group of black sailors, inmates of the Naval Correctional Center, being court-martial- led on rioting charges following a brig rebellion. They've published two issues of Grapes of Wrath this year. They are also "Discover America Publications" and have published "The Little Red Book of Military Law" and "Radical Words". One of the central figures on the Defense Committee is an ex-organizer from Newport. Finally, the Charleston 01 Office has been doing a lot of counseling/organizing with sailors at the Charleston Naval Base. There have been a couple of issues of Fat Albert's Death Ship Times this year and a lot of counselling around another of the military's "drug" crackdowns. ADDENDUM: Air Force: In Riverside, Ca., the paper BACON has reappeared and work is being done with airmen from Norton and March AF Bases. With the demise of all the New England GI papers, the New England Military Movement Support Office (NEMMSO) has begun publishing the NEM News for GIs at bases previously reached by local papers. Also, the Rocky Mountain Military Project in Denver and the GI Assistance Project in St. Louis are still working in support of military organizing in their respective areas. .