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v(M .V £.-:. VoL.l tt£. I • CUV Sis ^6 ftO qO\':mUft£tit \S6\ik • JUU 3,Wfc«t .vnf>v aa "What does k-I-l-| spel'?" "Kill," wtss the c'jvioua, thotifih not to- loud, reply of nOnt of th« tr«ii,i?es bcend i ah i ;is bayonet:. "^sCfc "What does L-i-l- "KH ! !" This time, "What?" "Kill!" 'I can't hear you!" "K\ I I !" A deafening 'Kill! Kill! Kill!... tp^ I !"" Soud*.r i •-■■C;. •it , '■* cha.it bnfien: We Won't Go - "• a ' %m. .*": - *$&£>#>;__ *>*■■_**-■' :v' •v-• * , ~ . _. "^ - *«C $ssTar_ce rnov *.- • <V *' ' V Koveasnt petn.se uve >nly recently become award that tr.c current of disaffectior trl th Army life ^r.or.-' servicemen is making them open to outside political contacts. SI organising projects are a little -sore than a year and a i n %|i 1 of then are only now goin;. through the process of eval- ".ost USting the affects of their first contacts With soltiie-'S So*a are still in the planning stage. Of the different political approaches that groups era) •to- cloying to reach the 31 constituency, the type most visible •includes h« very similar programs of th* nar r.osis'cero' League :r.a the Resistance. Although the WRL and the fcjii- tar.ee have ver:< different origins, their political programs ana the problems they have encountered witn them are so similar that we can discuss the two group... together. it first glance it appears that URL and ;iesistar.qe work with ul's has beer, extremely successful. In the last year, the trickle of solder.-, coming to their offices has grovr. to & floou which threatens svamo tr.a.Tu is very success with SI counseling has raised serious problems f r ooth organization.; because their political ideas so Infrequently appeal to the Interests and understanding of their constituency. The problem stems from the fact thac the nost typical soldier who gets in touch with th-3 two groups, the sVMDL, is also the raost difficult to deal with politically-. Ihe c_jor~ ity of soldiers consciously opposed to their military duty (Including some AWOL's) have a fairly clear understanding of wMt Uiey can and can't do in the service to lisdt its demands cr. tl.em. They rr^y be ambitiour and try to get a cis- otaarge] they nay aim to avoid coxba.;; cr they uiy slr.ply want to get an easier Job or cuty station. Whatever it 1^, though, thej have a plan, & calculation of how good it is, and generally soae control over their oituation. Not so the harccore A'.'CL's. These Mn haven't beer, able to handle their r-ilitary experier.cu froa the beginnings It is not just Vietnam that lakes them this way. Many CiVs get homesick and don't recover or they are upset by the brutality of training and discipline, viciour. sergeants and officers. They- become den&ralizea by their inability to "adjust" to the military and start using drugs as an escapa. "Vyir.^ to pull themselves together, they gc AWOL once or twice for short pc-riods and get thrown in the stockade for their trouble. Jirially they have had it and decide to split for j;ood „ In nary cascs thasa guys were clearly ''unfit" for military duty even before they enlisted. Thev are usually lb to 20 years old, working or lower riddle cjjils kids a They come from broken hor.es and are often high -ichool dropouts, /lost are r.ot frcn the big cities, but the small towns of the .•id- west, Great Plains and Far West, and have had in this previous, perhaps sheltered, backgrovnd, nothing to prepare then for the shock of army life in wartiiea. When they final- ly froak out and leave their bases, they have no real plans in Bind or anyone to -urn to for help, family, friends, clergymen are usual?^,- far away aiV.d perhaps uneynpethetic. If they show up at the WRL and Resistanco counselors, it is probably becauao they have heard tnty can gat help fttw then* About thair politics or those of the ;-'<oven»r.t in general Ihese are ths .t^.-'. t/KL and nesistanoe had oee.". hoping to initiate into the "cotasunity of open resistance." k dKt or- ganiaing panphlet says "The hope for any resistance _»veMnt 1^ that each individual soldier must beooae aenre of the \n- portanoa and responsibilities c:' his life, and must realise the neaning of nhat this country is attempting to do to and witn hirs." Ihis is a Large ordei', asking a young nan, pushed headlong in a few short nsnths from high school student to fugitive from ths nilitary, to see the social questions raised cy his experience, ae ."~.s .xway: soon his diletna as a personal or.s anc one or two contacts with a counselor under n't ;hlig lor hia its crisis circuir.star.ces probably political eontexta a well-p ibiielsed and draaatio oonfrontation between soldiers ana the nilitary in wiiich irfRL and the .esistar.ee wero Involved highlights the probleas inherent in "resistance" tactics. Inst July 9th, ^-'s representing all the servioe branches publioly resigned from the nilitary and chained themselves to clergymen Lr. a 2ar. .-Vancisco sanotuary. lo far 7 of the 9 have been ecurt-anrtialeda some of them receiving up to four years in jail. Ihe soldiers and the two organisations were prepared 'cr the sentences aver, before the sanotuary, but ir. the wake o: t.-.j trials they wore disappointed by the lack of response to the well-publicized case- among locally based servicemen. GI's around the lay Ar< a followei the proceedings at tne sanotuaiy closely. 3ut while oust of the troops who volunteered thi information said they had to admire tVio guys ?c? their stand, they coulu?.» t sec then- selves doing itt Others, less Impressed, felt it Uas Jui t foolhardy. '.he difficulty with -iesistanco and URL politics is that they denand, In theory at lea3t, too much of their 01 constituency. It is not fair for their, as a croup out-jide the nilitary and isolated from the soldiers' eirouastances to "rejistar.ie" to its fe "ope., resistance" involve define for then the terms of their ir.iny Glss public demonstrations of too large and unrealistic a comitnent to take seriously. To others, even those personally opposf-d to military duty, their political Meaning totally escapes them. While there have in fact beer, only a few cases of open 01 opposition to the military, the Resistance and WRL insist these are, nevertheless, important because of the publicity they t^et. A decisive par" of encouraging troop initiative to become Involved is the knowledge spreading through the ranks that othor soldiers ±.r<. opposing the nilitary system. The impact of Howard Levy's activities and the publicity about his trial, for instance, had very powerful repercussions throughout .lis post, Fort Jaokson, ana was a clear encoui —- ageaent to troops to take more aggressive stands toward Army authority or. their own behalf. Internal publicity about resistance and opposition is an important factor in -ievelopirj anvon.; soldiers the personal 3olf-cor.fider.c8 and political comaitaer.t to becor-o active. The necessity for outside support and assistance in generating this kind of publicity is obvious, out outside supporc basing its strate/y or. e.\ o g troops to oppress their personal discontent with military dut: in explicit political and ethical actions is currency premature, hora likely the 31•s are going to find a level of oppostion to the service better suit. . • theii | •■ experiences, interests eapabllitiss, : cvlath».n
Object Description
Title | Military issues |
Place of publication | New York, New York |
Publisher | War Resisters League |
Publication date | 1969 |
Language | English |
Country | United States |
State | New York |
Digital Format | XML |
Publisher-Electronic | Wisconsin Historical Society |
Publication Date-Electronic | 2015 |
Rights | Copyright belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited. |
Owner | Wisconsin Historical Society |
Type | Text; Image |
Digital identifier | giNewsletter092000 |
Description
Title | p. 1 |
Language | English |
Digital Format | JPEG2000 |
Publisher-Electronic | Wisconsin Historical Society |
Publication Date-Electronic | 2015 |
Rights | Copyright belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited. |
Owner | Wisconsin Historical Society |
Full text |
v(M
.V £.-:.
VoL.l tt£. I • CUV Sis ^6 ftO qO\':mUft£tit \S6\ik • JUU 3,Wfc«t
.vnf>v aa
"What does k-I-l-| spel'?"
"Kill" wtss the c'jvioua, thotifih
not to- loud, reply of nOnt of th«
tr«ii,i?es bcend i ah i ;is bayonet:.
"^sCfc
"What does L-i-l-
"KH ! !" This time,
"What?"
"Kill!"
'I can't hear you!"
"K\ I I !" A deafening
'Kill! Kill! Kill!...
tp^ I !""
Soud*.r i
•-■■C;.
•it
, '■*
cha.it bnfien:
We Won't Go
- "• a '
%m.
.*": - *$&£>#>;__ *>*■■_**-■' :v' •v-•
* , ~ . _. "^ - *«C
$ssTar_ce
rnov
*.- •
|
Type | Text; Image |
Digital identifier | giNewsletter092001 |