AMNESTY  - THE THREE-FACED .PROBLEM
OF SATISFACTORY  REDRESS
STATEMENT
Over the period, of the last twelve years, the United
States has been engaged In war with the people of
Indo-chlna, notably Vietnam» and among the majority
of the citizens of our land, there was little or no
question of why; and opposition to the presence of
American military forces there was in its infancy.
h\
Vietnam
Veterans
Ag-aihst
TU
*M&~-
~~*i~
Now, at almost every echelon of our central
government, the involvement of the Liniteè
States in Indo-chlna has been recognized as
mistake of the highest order,.and a stunned nation is faced with the
task of correcting that mistake.  It is a painful task to count our
casualties from a decade of losses, for there is little our people
can do to repair those losses.  Eut there exists another kind of
casualty, and he is a casualty who can be reclaimed and restored to
our:, notion,, for he is yet alive.  Eut today he is, under our lews,
an outlaw.  He lives in exile outside the borders of his own country
or within the confines of a federal prison,  Ke stands convicted only
of having been true to his own conscience.  It was he who stood in the
face.of a nation blinded by fear, racism, Ignorance, and deceipt, and
had the courage to cry "foul." In its blindness, our nation charged
him and drove him Into exile. As we now struggle to make right a
decade of wrongs, as our leaders one by one admit the sacrifices, and
as we all strive to learn the truth, let us not forget those who were
first to recognize and oppose the brutali-ty witnessed in' Indo-china.
The concern for American prisoners of war in Indo-chlna has received
maximum attention in this country, and it stands as e major excuse
for the perpetuation of our involvement there.  The government of
Hanoi Is attacked for its refusal to release those men, while our
own government holds fellow Americans In bonds for no greater crime
than the refusal to participate in the killing of their Asian kin.
There has been little concern expressed In our nation and Its government toward these victims of the war.  This embarrassed silence must
Jiow end, and the problem must be addressed in due haste with the appropriate legislation.  It Is to this end that we,, as citizens of our
llted States of America,.do herein seek to enlist the aid of the
ilghest offices available to us. We do not seek what men call amnesty,
^r amnesty Implies guilt for which forgiveness Is off erred. .The
?ggtiilt belongs not to those who sought exile or sufferred imprisonment,
"but to a nation which dictated those consequences.  Th«» plea contained
fn  this address Is, Instead, a demand for redress for wrongs done to
•t^ose men and their families, A swallowing of another bit of national
•RTlde Is in order in the consideration of this redress.
|t is further evident that until this redress is officially enacted,
until an official commitment Is made by both major political factions
of this nation toward the execution of satisfactory redress, the concern for social reconstruction expressed by candidates and current
government legislators, Judges, and executive members must \f  viewed