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icans for Amnesty Mr
a special supplement of American Report sponsored by America
Something Decent For A Change
by Ramsey Clark
The war in Indochina leaves our nation divided
and troubled. For many, believing we have found
peace with honor is essential to self-respect. For
others, the dishonor, self-inflicted by our
violence, will require generations of service to
humanity if we are to redeem our character. The
war has left a heritage of hate, doubt, grief, fear
and anguish.
Few experiences in our history have so tortured
-■the- AnTericah'isou'l.-;Our deiftial &- tti"e'common"
humanity of the Indochinese, our use of
technology against life there, have raised
profound questions of our purposes as a nation
and whether we intend justice.
Among the people of Southeast Asia, over two
million have been killed. All have suffered. The
war has been the single most significant fact in the
life of everyone. Nature herself has been ravaged.
More then 50,000 American men have lost their
lives to the war. Still greater numbers have lost
their health and wholeness. Hundreds spent
months or years in foreign prisons. Several million
others spent years of their lives in a military
pursuit they did not choose, and often did not
believe in. The nation, as a whole, has given an
enormous amount of its energy and resources,
diverted from the urgent needs of life:  food,
health,   knowledge,   labor,   adequate   housing,
liveable cities
The war leaves another enormous group of
casualties: young Americans forced to Choose
between obedience to the Military Selective
Service Act and the drastic consequences of
failing to do so. For many who chose military
service the conflict came later, leading to
desertion or a discharge less than honorable.
Except for the war, none of these young men
would have been confronted with Oris necessity to
-^do^lalTjfougKfIherh into con"rlKJt*witH"their'
government. However we feel about their actions,
we should not assume their course has been easy
for them, their families, or their friends. They
have borne a full measure of grief, hardship, and
suffering. It continues until this moment and—
even if assuaged by amnesty—will continue until
death. The war is the single most significant fact
in the lives of well over 500,000 young Americans
Under the direct coercion of law, these young
men became victims of discrimination by
classification clerks, draft boards, conimanding
officers, and courts-martial before whom they
stood, often uncounseled and uninformed of
their rights. They suffer a stigma that greatly
diminishes their chance to hold a job, to live
normal lives, to make a contribution. We should
ask  what  this  accomplishes,  and  why  a  free
democratic society vests such arbitrary power in
the military to blight so needlessly the lives of
those it finds unacceptable.
Today, thousands of young Americans who
have violated the law of their land live in exile,
unwelcome by the Lady in the Harbor whose
torch once burned for the poor and oppressed of
all lands. More than 20,000 have obtained oer-
manent legal status in Canada, with perhaps as
many there without such status. Most live, furtively ^herein Am erica jjives of qgiet-desperatiofl...
While Thdse young people were refusing to
register, resisting induction, deserting from the
service, and receiving less than honorable
discharges, millions of young men in their age
group, with the privileges of wealth, knowledge,
power, and opportunity were evading military
service. Famous, physically strong professional
football players and affluent young men who
"knew the right doctors" received medical
deferments. For several years college campuses
offered haven to young men often beyond their
academic interest. Some with no prior or permanent intention to teach, were able to use this
occupation as an escape from military service.
National Guard ranks and reserve units of the
military services were swelled by young men
avoiding the draft and the war. Of the draft-age
I Continued Page 2-A)
The Politics of Amnesty
by Carl D. Rogers
Although President Nixon would hardly suggest
the term, he is asking for himself exactly what the
war resisters want: amnesty—a word derived
from the same Greek stem as amnesia, meaning
oblivious, intentional overlooking, a "general
pardon of past offenses."
While some of us believe the President has
committed high crimes and misdemeanors, polls
indicate a majority of the American people are
willing to forget—to overlook Watergate,
Cambodia, and the rest for the good of the nation.
It now remains to be seen whether they will grant
the same degree of public pardon to those whose
Carl Rogers was a Chaplain's Assistant in
Vietnam with the Army's 1st Logistical Command.
He was a Co-founder of the Vietnam Veterans
Against The War in 1967.
resistance activities have brought them into
conflict with the law.
Although the war—along with so much else—
has been overshadowed by Watergate, our intervention in Indochina continues, and tens of
thousands of political prisoners remain in Saigon
jails. As we begin to talk about amnesty let us
acknowledge the existence of a "post-war" atmosphere—created by the release of our POW's,
the return of American fighting men, and the end
of bombing—but let us not talk of amnesty as a
post-war issue until there is no more war.
And let us be aware of the tremendous task
before us in educating the American people about
these other victims of the war: the young men
who refused to wage it. Though the public may
well believe the war is over, that has not seemed
to make them more open to amnesty, at least an
amnesty as presented to them so far. In fact,
pollster Lou Harris' surveys indicate a hardening
of attitudes on amnesty for war resisters over the
past two years.
Harris Polls
Favor
Oppose
Not Sure
June, 1972
38
53
9
August, 1972
27
60
13
March, 1973
24
67
9
A New York radio station (WNEW) sampled
sentiment in the greater metropolitan area and
found 79 percent saying "No" to the question of
whether "some sort of amnesty" should be
granted to those who avoided the draft by leaving
the country. Amnesty for deserters brought an
even higher number of "No's."
When the issue is spelled out or dramatized,
however, as in the case of a recent hour-long TV
program sponsored by the National Council of
Churches, the response is quite different. Viewers
M. Margolis