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BLACK CI. FRAMED ON FRAG RAP FREE BILLY SMITH On March 15, 1971, at 0045 hours a fragmentation grenade exploded in ah officers barracks in Bien Hoa, Vietnam. Two lieutenants were killed and a third was wounded. Captain Rigby and First Sgt. Willis, who usually slept in these barracks, were not there. When thay arrived on the scene they decided that the fragging was meant to kill them, and that the guilty party could only be Private Billy Dean Smith, a black GI they consided a "troublemaker". They informed the CID (Criminal Investigation Division) officer of their verdict, and called all the men in the battalion into formation. Without a single scrap of evidence, Billy Smith was called forward to the front of the formation. A heavy CID hand slapped his shoulder, and Billy was told that he was under arrest for murder. To the two murder charges were added two charges of attempted murder--against the Captain and First Sargent, and one count of assault on another captain and two counts of resisting arrest, all for when he was arrested. Once they had a theory, the Brass never asked whether someone else might have done the fragging, or what the reasons for it might have been. Instead, the military worked night and day to fit the facts to the theory — to build a tight case against Billy Dean Smith. No Evidence The only direct evidence consists of one item. The Army claims that they found a grenade pin in Smith's pocket when he was arrested. This grenade pin has nothing linking it to the grenade that killed the officers. In addition, none of the six "witnesses" against Billy were anywhere near the fragging incident. No one even knows why they will be testifying. Almost all GIs hate the war, the Army, and their commanding officers. Most believe in fragging, and BILLY SMITH OUTSIDE OF FORT ORD COURTROOM have access to fragmentation grenades. Billy's unit was a combat unit. The officers in his unit were so afraid of their own men that they locked up the grenades every night. The fact that there is no special evidence against Billy Smith is not important to the Army. In their eyes Billy is guilty. Who is Billy? Billy Dean Smith was born in 1948, tenth in a family of twelve. He grew up in Watts, and was arrested during the 1965 insurrection in the city-wide dragnet for curfew violations, in 1969 he was drafted into the Army. He was opposed to the war and the Army even then, and wanted to resist induction, but respected his family's desire that he not go to jail. He tried to appear too dumb to be drafted, but found that next to impossible, and spent his time in boot camp at Fort Ord, California. He underwent AIT (Advanced InfafÄry Training) in artillery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and was sent to Vietnam in October of 1970, where he was assigned to the command of Captain Rigby.
Object Description
Title | Free Billy Dean Smith : black G.I. framed on frag rap |
Place of publication | East Palo Alto, California |
Publisher | Venceremos |
Publication date | 1971 |
Language | English |
Country | United States |
Digital Format | XML |
Publisher-Electronic | Wisconsin Historical Society |
Publication Date-Electronic | 2016 |
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 | Brünn, Harris Watts Collection - Ephemera Soldiers Movements, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam |
Type | Text; Image |
Digital identifier | giEphemera702000 |
Description
Title | p. 1 |
Language | English |
Digital Format | JPEG2000 |
Publisher-Electronic | Wisconsin Historical Society |
Publication Date-Electronic | 2016 |
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 | Brünn, Harris Watts Collection - Ephemera Soldiers Movements, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam |
Full text | BLACK CI. FRAMED ON FRAG RAP FREE BILLY SMITH On March 15, 1971, at 0045 hours a fragmentation grenade exploded in ah officers barracks in Bien Hoa, Vietnam. Two lieutenants were killed and a third was wounded. Captain Rigby and First Sgt. Willis, who usually slept in these barracks, were not there. When thay arrived on the scene they decided that the fragging was meant to kill them, and that the guilty party could only be Private Billy Dean Smith, a black GI they consided a "troublemaker". They informed the CID (Criminal Investigation Division) officer of their verdict, and called all the men in the battalion into formation. Without a single scrap of evidence, Billy Smith was called forward to the front of the formation. A heavy CID hand slapped his shoulder, and Billy was told that he was under arrest for murder. To the two murder charges were added two charges of attempted murder--against the Captain and First Sargent, and one count of assault on another captain and two counts of resisting arrest, all for when he was arrested. Once they had a theory, the Brass never asked whether someone else might have done the fragging, or what the reasons for it might have been. Instead, the military worked night and day to fit the facts to the theory — to build a tight case against Billy Dean Smith. No Evidence The only direct evidence consists of one item. The Army claims that they found a grenade pin in Smith's pocket when he was arrested. This grenade pin has nothing linking it to the grenade that killed the officers. In addition, none of the six "witnesses" against Billy were anywhere near the fragging incident. No one even knows why they will be testifying. Almost all GIs hate the war, the Army, and their commanding officers. Most believe in fragging, and BILLY SMITH OUTSIDE OF FORT ORD COURTROOM have access to fragmentation grenades. Billy's unit was a combat unit. The officers in his unit were so afraid of their own men that they locked up the grenades every night. The fact that there is no special evidence against Billy Smith is not important to the Army. In their eyes Billy is guilty. Who is Billy? Billy Dean Smith was born in 1948, tenth in a family of twelve. He grew up in Watts, and was arrested during the 1965 insurrection in the city-wide dragnet for curfew violations, in 1969 he was drafted into the Army. He was opposed to the war and the Army even then, and wanted to resist induction, but respected his family's desire that he not go to jail. He tried to appear too dumb to be drafted, but found that next to impossible, and spent his time in boot camp at Fort Ord, California. He underwent AIT (Advanced InfafÄry Training) in artillery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and was sent to Vietnam in October of 1970, where he was assigned to the command of Captain Rigby. |
Type | Text; Image |
Digital identifier | giEphemera702001 |