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Number 15 jvfOG ç,-/0! /?<£y fm THE OLD MOLE PAGE NINE GI'S HIT BACK A new mood of disillusionment, disaffection, and defiance is spreading in the Armed Forces. AWOL rates have risen sharply. Reenlistment rates have fallen, especially among the blacks. Thousands of servicemen have deserted and settled in foreign countries. "Incidents" occur wherever troops are stationed; black GIs have refused riot duty; actual insurrections have broken out on several domestic bases and in stockades at Long Binh and Danang in Vietnam. More than 30 underground papers for GIs have appeared. Five are edited by veterans and circulate internationally; the rest are produced by active-duty GIs and circulate on the bases where they are written. GIs have marched in anti-war demonstrations. Movement coffeehouses are active outside of five major bases (and more are being organized). Disgust with an unpopular war of conquest, disgust with the degrading conditions of life in the service, these experiences are eroding morale and discipline, and turning men against the military. Excerpt from an interview with one of the Ft. Hood 43, reprinted from the Fatigue Press. Were you in Vietnam? Yes, I was there a full year as an infantryman. Did you receive any medals? I got a few besides the three usual ones. I got two purple hearts, a good conduct ribbon, an air medal, bronze star, and an army accomodation medal. I used to say, "I'm going to make it." Don't get me wrong, I said I'd do my two years and get the hell out, but I figured, while I'm in, I'll do my best 'cause I know the Army's fair. You know I was actually brainwashed. I have a perfect record, military and civilian. It was only after I came back from Vietnam that things began to affect me. What affect did riot control training have on you? -Conversation with a Pfc, FLGordon,Ga. "Well, I went through high school and I thought I'd taken a lot of shit. You know - the usual — stupid punk, do this do that why don't ya study, why don't ya make yourself useful, blah, blah, blah. Cops always telling you to move on. So I couldn't take it at home and I went down to my friendly neighborhood recruiter. He told me all about fun, travel and adventure, so I signed on the dotted line. Well, I thought I'd turn over a new leaf- try to learn as much as possible — then, you know, I could get some cool job when I got out and be a man and all that shit. WOW - you just could not believe what it's like. You probably hear a lot of bitching, but you could listen for months and you couldn't feel it. ... Anyway so I lucked out and got assigned for training as an electrician. I thought I just had to serve my time and then I would be able to get a job,you know, as an electrician. Well, I'm an expert on one special kind of radio receiver. And the Army is the only place in the whole world they use that radio. Some training — most of it's like that — so specialized that you can't apply their training to any other kind of job. Man: FT A. You seen these underground papers? Yeah, well we were passing the one from our base around a lot. I don't write for it — I'm not so good at that stuff — but my buddy does. Sure they hassle us about it, but hell, they hassle you anyway and we got to do something. Stick together. Like the paper says, you know we got to defend our interests. The Army is scared of guys getting together like that. They tried to split everybody up, but that won't stop it. They can't stop us. Yeah, I know where I'm going. I just got the orders. I'm going to Nam This is something that's hated by both black and white. I came back from Vietnam and don't feel like putting up with that old bullshit. Another reason I hate it is because I know how riots start. They're my people out there and the officer who's instructing a class gets up there and says forget you're black or white, you're Army and you have responsibilities. You know, I'm not going to stay in the Army for the rest of my life and I'll be living with the same people they want me to take up a rifle against. Same as you, I wouldn't expect you to go out and fight your family and friends just because the Army tells you to. As a matter of fact, like at the University in New York, with the students taking over the school, I wouldn't go there either. Those people are defying the system, and the system's a bastard. Dear Ally, Here I am drunk, sick, tired, hungry, mad, lonesome, flat broke, homesick, no mail, no friends, damn few rations, out of cigarettes and I missed bed check last night. I'm in debt, poor character rating, pay all messed up, no clean clothes laundry rejected, leave disapproved, and restricted for a month. I was three days AWOL and I lost my shot record, got guard duty tonight, K.P. tomorrow, C.Q. next weekend, got a mule drivers M.O.S [Military Occupation Speciality] and a "Dear John" letter. I'm thirsty, sleepy, my shoe strings are broken in three places, just gettng over the flu, my watch quit running, I got an ingrown toenail with cold feet, I'm about to shit in my pants and the latrine is off-limits until after the inspection and some son- of-a-bitch just asked me to re-enlist! ! ! ! A 1 C Turkey.... Shakedown, Ft. Dix. When 1 left on the plane for Nam, 1 was half-scared and half-curious. You hear guys rap, but you don't really know what it's about until you hit the jungle. And so there I was fighting to stay alive and man, when you're in that spot, you don't think about morality — what's right and what's wrong. But, when )r»u're alone during those endless nights on watch, questions begin to glow before your mind. What are we doing over here? One minute the peasants are your friend and the next minute, they'll stab you in the back. Who do the people really support? The government is corrupt as hell — everyone's out for a buck. Man, it makes you wonder what we're fighting for. And then one of those guys you've been closer to than any other human being in your life, the guy you told your secrets to gets killed, and you get angry and want to kill every gook in sight. You would hear at home about the protestors and think to yourself, those dirty bastards, shouting off their mouths. Why don't they come over here and see what it is really all about. It's like them telling us, we're fighting for a wrong cause, dying for nothing - and man, that's tough to take. It put me in a bind because, deep inside, 1 knew the war was wrong. The way I figured it out was that my anger was in the wrong place — it should be against our own government for keeping the war going. , From the Fatigue Press, Ft Hood. I went to a gas station in Killeen to rent a trailer to haul some furniture. A conversation sprang up while the attendant was fastening the bumper hitch to the car. I discovered that he is in the military too and stationed at Hood. Quite curious as to how he managed two jobs, I pressed him for further information and discovered that he is a baker. He works for twelve hours seven days a week at the gas station and does his baking early in the morning. I asked how much the gas station job paid a week. The answer was $47.00!. .. This works out to 56£ per hour. After a few more questions, I realized that this is sort of standard rate for unskilled labor in the area.... I learned that a civilian holding the same job receives more money — 75£ an hour, about xh minimum wage. When I asked why he didn't do anything about it, he replied that even though he could get his employer busted by the Labor Board, he would be out of a job and jobs are not plentiful. As I drive thorugh Killeen and see the loan sharks, inflated price car lots, pawn shops, and various gyp joints, frustration buildsinme at the inaction and subservience of the GIs and civilians who are being subjected to this merciless pillaging Towns such as Killeen are the natural product of unbridled exploitation and greed, where the rich are free to ravage , rob, plunder and control the working class. Their filthv fingers pick our pockets and use the money to build more establishments to further steal from us, while keeping our wages low enough to prevent us from breaking from our ugly, obscene, financial binding.
Object Description
Title | GI's hit back |
Place of publication | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
Publisher | The Old Mole |
Publication date | 1969 |
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 | GI Underground Press Collection, Walter Reuther Archives Of Labor And Urban Affairs, Wayne State University |
Type | Text; Image |
Digital identifier | giEphemera1356000 |
Description
Title | p. 9 |
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 | GI Press Project/Private Collection; GI Underground Press Collection, Walter Reuther Archives Of Labor And Urban Affairs, Wayne State University |
Full text | Number 15 jvfOG ç,-/0! /?<£y fm THE OLD MOLE PAGE NINE GI'S HIT BACK A new mood of disillusionment, disaffection, and defiance is spreading in the Armed Forces. AWOL rates have risen sharply. Reenlistment rates have fallen, especially among the blacks. Thousands of servicemen have deserted and settled in foreign countries. "Incidents" occur wherever troops are stationed; black GIs have refused riot duty; actual insurrections have broken out on several domestic bases and in stockades at Long Binh and Danang in Vietnam. More than 30 underground papers for GIs have appeared. Five are edited by veterans and circulate internationally; the rest are produced by active-duty GIs and circulate on the bases where they are written. GIs have marched in anti-war demonstrations. Movement coffeehouses are active outside of five major bases (and more are being organized). Disgust with an unpopular war of conquest, disgust with the degrading conditions of life in the service, these experiences are eroding morale and discipline, and turning men against the military. Excerpt from an interview with one of the Ft. Hood 43, reprinted from the Fatigue Press. Were you in Vietnam? Yes, I was there a full year as an infantryman. Did you receive any medals? I got a few besides the three usual ones. I got two purple hearts, a good conduct ribbon, an air medal, bronze star, and an army accomodation medal. I used to say, "I'm going to make it." Don't get me wrong, I said I'd do my two years and get the hell out, but I figured, while I'm in, I'll do my best 'cause I know the Army's fair. You know I was actually brainwashed. I have a perfect record, military and civilian. It was only after I came back from Vietnam that things began to affect me. What affect did riot control training have on you? -Conversation with a Pfc, FLGordon,Ga. "Well, I went through high school and I thought I'd taken a lot of shit. You know - the usual — stupid punk, do this do that why don't ya study, why don't ya make yourself useful, blah, blah, blah. Cops always telling you to move on. So I couldn't take it at home and I went down to my friendly neighborhood recruiter. He told me all about fun, travel and adventure, so I signed on the dotted line. Well, I thought I'd turn over a new leaf- try to learn as much as possible — then, you know, I could get some cool job when I got out and be a man and all that shit. WOW - you just could not believe what it's like. You probably hear a lot of bitching, but you could listen for months and you couldn't feel it. ... Anyway so I lucked out and got assigned for training as an electrician. I thought I just had to serve my time and then I would be able to get a job,you know, as an electrician. Well, I'm an expert on one special kind of radio receiver. And the Army is the only place in the whole world they use that radio. Some training — most of it's like that — so specialized that you can't apply their training to any other kind of job. Man: FT A. You seen these underground papers? Yeah, well we were passing the one from our base around a lot. I don't write for it — I'm not so good at that stuff — but my buddy does. Sure they hassle us about it, but hell, they hassle you anyway and we got to do something. Stick together. Like the paper says, you know we got to defend our interests. The Army is scared of guys getting together like that. They tried to split everybody up, but that won't stop it. They can't stop us. Yeah, I know where I'm going. I just got the orders. I'm going to Nam This is something that's hated by both black and white. I came back from Vietnam and don't feel like putting up with that old bullshit. Another reason I hate it is because I know how riots start. They're my people out there and the officer who's instructing a class gets up there and says forget you're black or white, you're Army and you have responsibilities. You know, I'm not going to stay in the Army for the rest of my life and I'll be living with the same people they want me to take up a rifle against. Same as you, I wouldn't expect you to go out and fight your family and friends just because the Army tells you to. As a matter of fact, like at the University in New York, with the students taking over the school, I wouldn't go there either. Those people are defying the system, and the system's a bastard. Dear Ally, Here I am drunk, sick, tired, hungry, mad, lonesome, flat broke, homesick, no mail, no friends, damn few rations, out of cigarettes and I missed bed check last night. I'm in debt, poor character rating, pay all messed up, no clean clothes laundry rejected, leave disapproved, and restricted for a month. I was three days AWOL and I lost my shot record, got guard duty tonight, K.P. tomorrow, C.Q. next weekend, got a mule drivers M.O.S [Military Occupation Speciality] and a "Dear John" letter. I'm thirsty, sleepy, my shoe strings are broken in three places, just gettng over the flu, my watch quit running, I got an ingrown toenail with cold feet, I'm about to shit in my pants and the latrine is off-limits until after the inspection and some son- of-a-bitch just asked me to re-enlist! ! ! ! A 1 C Turkey.... Shakedown, Ft. Dix. When 1 left on the plane for Nam, 1 was half-scared and half-curious. You hear guys rap, but you don't really know what it's about until you hit the jungle. And so there I was fighting to stay alive and man, when you're in that spot, you don't think about morality — what's right and what's wrong. But, when )r»u're alone during those endless nights on watch, questions begin to glow before your mind. What are we doing over here? One minute the peasants are your friend and the next minute, they'll stab you in the back. Who do the people really support? The government is corrupt as hell — everyone's out for a buck. Man, it makes you wonder what we're fighting for. And then one of those guys you've been closer to than any other human being in your life, the guy you told your secrets to gets killed, and you get angry and want to kill every gook in sight. You would hear at home about the protestors and think to yourself, those dirty bastards, shouting off their mouths. Why don't they come over here and see what it is really all about. It's like them telling us, we're fighting for a wrong cause, dying for nothing - and man, that's tough to take. It put me in a bind because, deep inside, 1 knew the war was wrong. The way I figured it out was that my anger was in the wrong place — it should be against our own government for keeping the war going. , From the Fatigue Press, Ft Hood. I went to a gas station in Killeen to rent a trailer to haul some furniture. A conversation sprang up while the attendant was fastening the bumper hitch to the car. I discovered that he is in the military too and stationed at Hood. Quite curious as to how he managed two jobs, I pressed him for further information and discovered that he is a baker. He works for twelve hours seven days a week at the gas station and does his baking early in the morning. I asked how much the gas station job paid a week. The answer was $47.00!. .. This works out to 56£ per hour. After a few more questions, I realized that this is sort of standard rate for unskilled labor in the area.... I learned that a civilian holding the same job receives more money — 75£ an hour, about xh minimum wage. When I asked why he didn't do anything about it, he replied that even though he could get his employer busted by the Labor Board, he would be out of a job and jobs are not plentiful. As I drive thorugh Killeen and see the loan sharks, inflated price car lots, pawn shops, and various gyp joints, frustration buildsinme at the inaction and subservience of the GIs and civilians who are being subjected to this merciless pillaging Towns such as Killeen are the natural product of unbridled exploitation and greed, where the rich are free to ravage , rob, plunder and control the working class. Their filthv fingers pick our pockets and use the money to build more establishments to further steal from us, while keeping our wages low enough to prevent us from breaking from our ugly, obscene, financial binding. |
Type | Text; Image |
Digital identifier | giEphemera1356001 |