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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
Object Description
Title | Amnesty -- the three-faced problem of satisfactory redress |
Publisher | Vietnam Veterans Against the War |
Publication date | 1972 |
Language | English |
Country | United States |
Digital Format | XML |
Publisher-Electronic | Wisconsin Historical Society |
Publication Date-Electronic | 2017 |
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 | FBI FOIA VVAW Collection |
Type | Text; Image |
Digital identifier | giEphemera1203000 |
Description
Title | p. 1 |
Language | English |
Digital Format | JPEG2000 |
Publisher-Electronic | Wisconsin Historical Society |
Publication Date-Electronic | 2017 |
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 | FBI FOIA VVAW Collection |
Full text | 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 |
Type | Text; Image |
Digital identifier | giEphemera1203001 |