Soldiers Against the War

SOLDIERS AGAINST THE WAR The story of Pvt. Andrew Stapp 10< and the Fort Sill Gl's I was very interested to learn about the case of Private Andrew Stapp, who has shown great courage in his opposition to the Vietnam war. I earnestly hope that other American soldiers will follow his example. LORD BERTRAND RUSSELL We fully and wholeheartedly support your stand against the war in Vietnam. Your courage in the face of the army is inspiring. We will help with publicity and fund raising. We are joined in common struggle against U.S. imperialism. We are with you. NICK SALVATORE, END THE DRAFT COMMITTEE The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee wishes to voice its support for Pvt. Stapp and others and the stand that they have taken on the Vietnam war. It should be noted that the position taken by them was ar rived at through the intellectual process of familiarizing themselves with the issues surrounding the war through reading and discussion, and not out of blind emotion. For this they have been prosecuted. How does this country dare proclaim that it is fighting for freedom, justice and democ racy for the Vietnamese people. This country knows nothing of freedom, justice and democracy when it punishes people for thinking. H. RAP BROWN, Chairman, SNCC Dear Pvt. Stapp: ... it is encouraging to know that someone like you thinks enough of my stand and position in compliance with my convic tion in religion to write me such a warm and thoughtful note. May justice and freedom be your reward. Enclosed is a copy of my favorite boxing picture which I hope you will accept as a token of my regard. MUHAMMAD ALI, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion I fully support Pvt Stapp and every other GI who demands justice of his government — in this case the right to question the true issues re garding the war in Vietnam. This is the time when men will have to stand up and be counted: either agree to participate in a war of genocide for the war profiteers in this country or refuse to become murdering tools for Wall Street and the Pentagon. The latter is the only honorable way for the man with a conscience. I look forward to sponsoring thousands more like Pvt. Stapp! Congratulations!! GRACE MORA NEWMAN, sister of August 1967 Pfc. Dennis Mora, FT. HOOD THREE "I refused to let them take my literature because the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States guarantees the right of all Americans to free speech. This guarantee certainly includes the right of revolutionary socialists to organize within the Army against America's imperialist war of aggression in Vietnam. We Gl's say this is not our war, it is Wall Street's war. To cite an example: Dow Chemical stocks have soared as a result of the 25 million pounds of napalm it sells each month to the military forces in Vietnam. At the same time the death toll of American Gl's has risen in proportion to profits and has now reached the new high last week alone of 337. One is haunted by the thought that such companies as Dow profit by the use of napalm, whose only target is man and has killed our fellow Gl's (16 Gl's of the 1st Infantry Division last fall) and innumerable Vietnamese. Such thoughts prey on our minds and we begin to question and seek answers. Many men in the unit are opposed to the war and have literature similar to that which was in my foot locker. I was singled out at random for punishment as an example to others for the purpose of intimi dation. The ruling class needs robots in its army, but we refuse to be unthinking cannon fodder. We are learning every day that until the criminal capitalist system which breeds war, racism and poverty is replaced by socialism the working class youth of America will be impressed into the imperialist army and forced to die for Wall Street profits in Asia, Africa and Latin America." Pvt. Andrew Stapp What They Said at Fort Sill "Men like me have no way out of being cannon fodder while West Pointers and ROTC men have to a greater or lesser degree, based on their class background, the power to manipulate their assignments. Any man with the most limited human instincts tries to find a way out of Vietnam. The only way open to me and men of my class is disaffiliation. When I signed up, I believed we were fighting an enemy, but as I became aware of the genocide and the "As a militant socialist and an American patriot, aggression and the war crimes being conducted I must refuse to take part in the U.S. govern by the U.S., I sought further information. I ment's genocidal war against the people of read everything I could about the war and Vietnam. I support the Vietnamese people in began to formulate my own opinion. I saw that their heroic struggle against imperialist we were completely wrong. The understanding aggression, as I support the people of all nations of this war made me much more class conscious. engaged in the fight for liberation and self- My only alternative was to break in any manner determination." with the U.S. imperialist Army apparatus." Sp/4 Richard Wheaton Sp/5 Paul Gaedtke "Before I enlisted in the Army six months ago, I had been to only one anti-war meeting, seeing the film 'The Time of the Locust' and hearing a tape of Bertrand Russell's Appeal to the American Conscience. I was amazed at the atrocities but pushed all this into the back of my mind. I wanted to forget. However, at Ft. Leavenworth, Mo., when I was sitting in a PX cafeteria, I overheard at the next table two sergeants joking and laughing about Vietnam. They told of tying a 'VC's' hands behind his back and torturing him to extract information. I was being trained as a truck mechanic and was on my way to Ft. Sill to be trained as a mechanic for armored tanks and self-propelled artillery. I was being trained to support these atrocities. If I were to be sent to Vietnam, my support would be very direct. At this point I decided to find out for myself the justice of this war if there was any. Every one was telling me that there was but they couldn't tell what the justice of it was. There wasn't much around on the war. It wasn't until I got to Ft. Sill that I got literature. I told my brother my feelings and he told me to look up Andy Stapp, who had just been court-martialled for anti-war activities. From "Andy I found out about the Ft. Hood Three, Capt. Levy, Pfc. Luftig, Lt. Howe, Pfc. Petrick. Gl's at Ft. Dix and Ft. Lewis, Wash. I wasn t alone. I read about the cases of the Gl's in "Soldiers Against the War," Bertrand Russell's Appeal, Felix Greene's "Vietnam! Vietnam!", back issues of the National Guardian and the Partisan, all the anti-war literature I could get. The anti-war .movement had answers. I shared this material with the guys in the barracks and they'd shake their heads and say "Don't say it," with a what-can-we-do expression on their faces. But they'd always come back and ask for more literature about the war. After reading the Vietnamese history, the purpose of the anti-war movement and the reasons for our government being there, it became quite obvious to me that there was an imperialistic nature and this was the only reason. I sincerely hope that the people of the U.S. will wake up to the fact that they are being led through something which will one day be written as the darkest period in American history. The people of the world will condemn the U.S. as they condemned Hitler. I wantto express my utmost gratitude for those who are fighting to stop the war in Vietnam. I hope that we anti-war Gl's can count on your support in our activities. Pvt. Richara Perrin The Committee for GI Rights was formed to defend Pvt. Andrew Stapp and other soldiers at t Sill, Oklahoma who are being harassed and penalized for their opposition to the Vietnam war. 'ffers help to all servicemen who want legal or practical assistance in exercising their rights. I ha Committee for GI Rights can help anti war Gl's in two ways: 1 ) by helping them secure legal defense in case of prosecution and 2) by providing them with all the assistance they need to organize their fellow soldiers •gainst the war. The Committee has already sent literature to many soldiers at the request he Fort Sill Gl's. This literature includes Bertrand Russell's "Appeal to the American Conscience," the novel Johnny Got His Gun," and other writings that the Gl's themselves feel have the greatest impact on men in the service. Pvt. E-l Andy Stapp, U.S. 52666589 "»^mmmamÊÊÊÊamiÊÊummmÊimmmÊÊÊiÊm Most important of all, the many young men Fort Sill exploded into the press on June who find themselves drafted and want to express 1 when Stapp was sentenced to 45 days' un- their opinions openly about the war need to know confined hard labor, forfeiture of 20 days' that they are not alone; that there is an organiza pay and reduction of rank for refusing to tion specifically set up to come to their aid.

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