Oversize Material, Undated

CCCO
News Notes

Covering War, Peace and Conscience Since 1949

Volume 45, No. 1

ISSN: 008-5952

Winter, 1993

Israeli Resisters
Challenge
Special Forces,
p.3

Stripping the
Streets,

by Robert A.
Seeley

p.4

Focus: Junior
ROTC

Special Section
begins p. 8
“Operation
Exposure”
Encounters
Recruiters,

by Allen Nelson
and Robert A.
Seeley,

p. 14-

Report from
Germany,
by Bill Galvin,
p. 15

COs Face Continued Postwar Problems

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has up-
held the Marine Corps’ denial of conscientious
objector status to a Gulf War objector who was
adopted as a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty
International. In a February 2 decision, Larsen v.
Commandant, United States Marine Corps, the
Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s refusal to
reverse the Marine Corps’ negative decision in the
case of Erik Larsen.

Larsen’s case became famous during the Gulf
War because then-Attorney General Dick
Thornburgh called for the application of the death
penalty if he was convicted. The Marine Corps
was considering charging Larsen with “desertion
in time of war,” which can be a capital crime under
military law. Larsen was ultimately charged with
desertion and “missing movement,” neither of
which carries the possibility of a death sentence
under current law. He was convicted by court-
martial and sentenced to six months’ imprison-
ment.

“Basis in Fact”

In his application for discharge, Larsen had
cited the influence of a fellow Marine whom he
could not identify. Denying his claim, the Marine
Corps Conscientious Objector Review Board
(CORB) cited “the inability of Larsen to identify
the ‘unknown Marine,” along with the timing of
his claim, his excellent performance prior to filing
for CO status, and “the fact that Larsen’s applica-
tion failed to mention his experiences at Dugway
Proving Grounds, where he later claimed to have
made the final decision to seek conscientious
objector status.” The lower court held that there
was a “basis in fact” for the Marine Corps’ denial.

‘The so-called “basis in fact” test is “the narrow-

est review known to the law.” In applying the test,

[The court “search[es] the record for some affirma-
tive evidence” to support the authorities’ overt or
impli finding that the applicant “has not painted

pl accurate picture of his activities.” Koh

see “CO Woes Continue,” p. 16

Friends Military
Counseling Closes

With deep sadness, we must report that Phila-
delphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) of the Religious
Society of Friends has closed its military counsel-
ing office and will no longer offer military counsel-
ing services. The closing resulted from PYM bud-
get cuts and changes in program priorities. The
Friends Military Counseling Committee will con-
tinue as a volunteer committee without staff.

Founded in 1974 bya group of Friends located
near Fort Dix, N,J., Friends Military Counseling
was one of a very few agencies in the U.S. which
provided full-time professional military counsel-
ing. FMC’s peacetime caseload, approximately
500 cases per year, amounted to one-quarter of the

d national military ig caseload of
2,000 cases per year.

“The loss of Friends Military Counseling is a
major blow to the national military counseling
network and to efforts to preserve the rights of
conscientious objectors in the military,” said
CCCO Executive Director Robert A. Seeley.
“We are sorry that Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
was unable to continue this vital humanitarian
service. We urge the Yearly Meeting to give its
most earnest and serious consideration to alterna-
tive ways of meeting the very great need for
military counseling, both now and in the future.”

“CCCO/An Agency for Military and Draft Counseling

Philadelphia

San Francisco

“Operation Exposure” Visits Local Recruiters

For the last four years, the Friends
Peace Committee, a program of Phila-
delphia Yearly Meeting, has been of-
fering students at Friends schools in the

Philadelohi:
& F

aeaan opportunity to visit
local military recruiters along with
former FPC and current CCCO staff
member Allen Nelson. Titled “Opera-
tion Exposure,” the program was origi-
nally developedas part of Friends Select
School's efforts in education for
nonviolence.

‘The object of the program is to ex-
pose young people to the language of
military recruiters and the claims that
recruiters make about military service
and military life, while giving them a
chance to ask questions of the recruit-
ers. The encounter between the stu-
dents and the recruiters may include
discussion of topics like military voca-
tional training, college financing pro-
grams, and what kind of life prepara-
tion the military can offer. It is an
information-gathering excursion, nota
chance for students to confront the
recruiters.

How the Program Works

The ideal age group for the program
is sixth through ninth grades. Students
at this age tend to be less intimidated by
recruiters and much more free with
their opinions and questions than are
older students.

Students may visit as many as three
recruiting offices, preferably from dif-
ferent military branches. The Army,
Navy and Marines, and Air Force all
have recruiting offices in downtown
Philadelphia. Peace Committee staff
have found that it is most effective to
visit all three.

An essential part of the program is
setting up appointments with the re-
ctuiters in advance. This avoids defen-
siveness on the part of the recruiters.
Peace Committee staff usually follow
three steps:

W Introduce yourself to the recruit-
ers as someone who works with youth;

V Ask whether they have someone
available to speak to a group of students
from the school which is arranging the
visit;

v Explain the age range of the stu-
dents who will be visiting.

Most recruiters are more than happy
tomeetwith studentgroups even though
sixth through ninth graders are well
below military age.

“Debriefing” and Class Bias

Following the series of visits, a Peace
Committee staff member “debriefs” the
students, talking with them about how
they saw the recruiters, what they
learned, and whether they believed the
recruiters’ claims. Most recruiters dis-
tribute promotional materials such as
T-shirts, brochures, and pencils to the
students. Students are often willing to
trade these materials for counter-re-
cruitment leaflets or T-shirts. This gives
Peace Committee staff the opportunity
to collect sample recruiting materials

hile giving students i ion about
the disadvantages of enlisting in the
military.

Over the years, Peace Committee
staff have observed that students from
private schools like Friends Select re-
ceive different treatment from other
potential recruits. Recruiters generally
present information to these young
people as if the students were potential
officers. Potential recruits who. come
from public schools are generally given
information which would be applicable

by Allen Nelson
and Robert A.
Seeley

to enlisted soldiers.
Peace Education Without

Propaganda

Although the goal of “Operation
Exposure” is to give students informa-
tion and help them to form their own
judgments, its results are often the op-
posite of what the recruiters would like
to see. As parents of young teenagers
are well aware, students in the sixth
through ninth grades are often skepti-
cal about the claims of adults and are
working hard to form their own values.

A visit to a recruiting office gives
them a chance to explore their own
values concerning war and peace. Few
accept without question the claims of
the recruiters, and for many, the pro-
gram has been the beginning of a jour-
ney away from war and toward peace in
their own thinking.

“Operation Exposure” has been a
very popular program among Friends
schools in the Philadelphia area. Some
students sign up for it year after year. It
could provide a model for youth and
militarism work in other areas and other
schools. For more information, contact
Allen Nelson of the Philadelphia
CCCO staff. o

Among the first to flee the war in
former Yugoslaviaweremenwho re-
fused to be soldiers in one of the
armies. Many fled to the Nether-
lands, where they helped to form a
new peace group, “Mi Za Mir.”

Established in October, 1991, Mi
Za Mir consists of about 120 people
from all groups in former Yugosla-
via. It aims to stop the war and to
support resisters who have fled to
the Netherlands, It is supported by
groups ranging from local churches
to the Dutch Union of Conscien-
tious Objectors.

For more information, contact
Vereniging Dienstweigerwaars,
Postbus 4802, 1009AV Amsterdam,
the Netherlands.

14 News Notes


CCCO

News Notes

Covering War, Peace and Conscience Since 1949

Volume 44, No. 4

ISSN: 008.5952

Fall, 1992

Unfinished
Business,

by Robert A.
Seeley,

p.4

Defense Bill
Analysis,

by Terry Kessel,
p.6

New Gl Bill
Disappoints,
by Alex Doty,

p. 8

€O Denied
Discharge
Because He
Kills Germs,
by Sam Diener,
p. 13

High School
ROTC Gang
Accused of
Murder,

p. 14

CCCO Founding Member
James E. Bristol Is Dead at 80

by Robert A. Seeley

James E. Bristol, a founding member of CCCO,
died October 26 at his home in Chestnut Hill. He
was 80. He had devoted his life to the causes of
peace, racial justice, and conscientious objection,
serving as staff member for the American Friends
Service Committee for over 25 years and as a
Board member for numerous organizations,
CCCO among them. CCCO honored him at a
special event held in 1988, and at his death he was
Co-Chair of the CCCO Board.

Thats the short biography of Jim Bristol. The
long form would include his 18 months in prison
for refusing to register for the World War II draft;
his hosting Martin and Coretta King on their
1959 trip to India; his many books on peace and
nonviolence; his work as Director of the AFSC’s
Southern Africa program; his work with the Na-
tional Council to Repeal the Draft in 1967 and
1971; and his nearly 45 years of service on the
CCCO Board.

Tt is an impressive resumé, but the mere recital
of it does not quite get the measure of Jim Bristol.
Hewas mentor to not one but three generations of
men and women in the peace and social justice
movements. He was a profoundly spiritual and
original thinker about peace, nonviolence, and
God. He changed thousands of lives directly and
hundreds of thousands indirectly. He was a center
of common sense and wisdom, and he could keep
his head when all about him was chaos and tur-
moil. He was, if anyone could be, the living
embodiment of the CCCO ideal: giving each

person the power and knowledge to choose, with-
out prejudging the choice or judging the chooser.
For more than fifty years, in one way or another, he
‘was a support in time of trouble for anyone who
needed help; and his spirit animated the peace
movement even in places where no one had met
him.

Even this list of his qualities, impressive as it is,
does not quite get Jim Bristol. They make him out
to be a saint or a superman, when he was not.
Those who knew him knew him first of all as a
quite ordinary person with a life not too different
from that of most Americans. Hewas a homeowner
with a family. He drove a modest automobile. He
ate an ordinary diet. He loved sports—he had been
a first-rate football player in his youth—and sup-
ported his favorite teams, whether professionals or
the teams from Germantown Friends School,
where he served on the School Committee.

It may seem odd to talk about how ordinary Jim
Bristol was, but it is not. I knew Jim as friend and
mentor for over twenty years. We were thrown
together in good times and bad, particularly dur-
ing the last five years when both CCCO and were
going through difficult transitions. The more I
knew him, the more I treasured his unassuming:
approach to life. He imposed no values on others,
preferring to lead by example. He did not fuss
about what was, at bottom, unimportant, but held
to what was central—again, without pomposity or
fuss. One did not stand in awe of Jim Bristol; one
loved him and stood in friendship with him.

One can pay no higher tribute to anyone.

ECEO/An Agency for Military and Draft Counseling

Philadelphia

| News Roundup |

i

“Tide:

Those who refuse
te fight

Written and produced by Judith
Ehrlich/Insight Productions

This 90-minute program pro-
vides an inspiring history of con-
scientious objection in the
United States in a lively and in-
formative fashion. Aired on hun-
dreds of radio stations in three
half-hour segments, “Against the
Tide” includes stories and voices
of Roger Baldwin, found of the
ACLU; Muhammed Ali; Erik
Larsen, U.S. Marine and Gulf
War resister, and other
hero(ines) of peace.

Part one covers conscientious
objection from the American
Revolution to World War II (find
out what George Washington
said about COs). Part two. fo-
cuses on the Vietnam War era
(1960-70s). Part three deals with
resistance to current Selective
Service registration and consci-
entious objectors in the military.
Great for use in the classroom,
counselor training, car stereos,
and walkpeople. It’s a valuable
resource for educators, activists,
and like-minded individuals.

“Against the Tide” is available
onaudio cassette for $6.00 (post-
age paid) from:

CCCO-Western Region
P.O. Box 422249
San Francisco, CA 94142-2249
415-464-3002

High School ROTC Student Gang
Members Accused of Murder

The dead body of Alex Giraldo, a
16-year-old student at Long Beach
Polytechnic High School, was found in
a ravine on February 1, 1992. Accord-
ing to police, Giraldo had been killed
“execution-style.” Alex and the four
students who are accused of murdering
him were members of a paramilitary
gang that emerged out of the Junior
Reserve Officers Training Corps
(ROTC) program at their school.

The gang, called “The Ace of
Spades,” was apparently named after a
possibly apocryphal story about a U.S.
Special Forces unit which executed Viet-
namese civilians and left playing cards
on their victims’ bodies. The gang mem-

b ithe: black

P
and green, donned camouflage cloth-
ing, and played war games in a local
park. But, police say, they soon gradu-
ated to burglarizing cars and commit-
ting other crimes, including a paint-
ball attack on a gay bar, as part of
“military mission(s)” designed to “see if
they could get away with it.” Each mem-
ber swore a loyalty oath to the gang.
Gang Members Arrested

In December, 1991, Alex Giraldo
and another member of the Aces were
arrested by Long Beach police for break-
ing into cars. Under questioning by

District Attorney dropped the charges.
In series of five separate night-time
attacks, the tires on the Giraldos’ car
were slashed and the windshield
smashed. Each time, the police dis-
missed the Giraldo family’s fears about
these threats.

No Arrests

Long Beach Juvenile Detective Bob
Lane said that Alex’s family was angry
that no one was prosecuted in those
cases. Further, Alex’s father went to see
HJ. Green, the principal at Polytech-
nic High School, and told him that his
son was being targeted by members of
the Ace of Spades. Green, however,
said that the assaults occurred off cam-
pus, and thatthe only evidence of crimi-
nal activity by club members was that
one student had been expelled in 1991
after being accused of theft, and an Ace
symbol was painted on a building in
September. However, other school of-
ficials admit that they suspect that Aces
often carry firearms in school, and be-
lieve that Aces were involved in setting
a bomb that exploded in a field on
campus last year. The Giraldo family is
now suing the school district and the
city for their failure to respond to the
family’s pleas for protection.

Major Mike Carpenter, the head

police, Giraldo allegedly impl d the
other member of the Aces ina string of
burglaries. It seems that members of
the Ace of Spades believed that Alex
had violated their loyalty oath.
Shortly after his arrest, Giraldo was
attacked and beaten, twice, by mem-
bers of the Ace of Spades. The suspect
in the second assault was a graduate of
the JROTC program at Polytechnic
High who was on leave from the Army
when the assault occurred. However,
he denied knowing Giraldo. None of
the other Aces would talk, and the

instructor of the school’s JROTC pro-
gram, told a reporter from the Los An-
geles Times that, “They wanted to learn
the tricks of the trade and graduate as
some kind of warrior. They were not
interested in doing it with me, because
theywouldn’t get to do what they wanted
todo.” One 19-year-old member of the
gang agreed, saying, “We loved the way
the military works. Allofusjust wanted
to take it a little farther.” (Material from
the Los Angeles Times and the Long Beach
Press Telegram; this article originally ap-
peared in The Objector)

14° News Nores


CCCO >
News Notes

Covering War, Peace and Conscience Since 1949

1 ISSN: 008-5952

Spring, 1992

90,000
Russian
COs Await
New Law,
p.3

The New
Youth
Outreach
Program,
by Robert
A. Seeley.
p.4

Bill Would
Lift Military
Gay Ban,
by Terry L.
Kessel
Dis
Proposal
Would
Restrict
Legal
Rights,

p. 13

ACO
Returns to
Germany,
by Jeff
Schutts,
p. 14

CCCO Launches New Youth Program

On April 30, 1992, at a special event attended

by over 150 people, CCCO formally launched .

its Youth Outreach Program. The event hon-
ored heroes of conscience from the twentieth
century. Keynote speaker was internationally
known human rights activist Ramsey Clark.
Staff coordinator for the Special Event was
DianeSmith. David Gelzer of the CCCO Board
served as head of the planning committee.

Among those honored wereHoward W.
Moore, a World War I resister; Daniel Seeger,
whose Supreme Court case paved the way for
hundreds ofthousands

CCCO’s new Youth Outreach Program, over .
and above CCCO’s regular budget. Goal of
the project is $50,000.00; net proceeds from the
Special Event were approximately $19,000.00.

The Youth Outreach Program will be a
national project designed to reach African-
American/Latino/Asian and other minority
groups as well as working class youth gener-
ally and women. The search for a new Youth
Outreach Director has already begun.

The new program will focus on establish-
ing positive contacts, through churches,
grassroots organiza-

of unorthodox COs;

Michael Simmons, "7

Cong. Ron Dellums (D-CA), along with

tions, community cen-
duced the || '@S; activists and

head of the American
Friends Service Com-
mittee’s East-West Pro-
gram; and Yolanda
Huet-Vaughn, a Gulf
War resister recently
released from prisonat
Ft. Leavenworth, KS. In
all,21 menand women
were honored.
Honorary Co-

f this issue.
Chairs for the event ZEEE

P has now i
Military Conscientious Objector Act of
1992, HR 5060. The bill is designed to
reform all processing of conscientious
objectors in the military and to prevent a
recurrence of the problems which COs
faced during the Persian Gulf War, when
the military first froze all discharges and
then modified this “stop-loss” order with
a series of confusing changes. Detailed
coverage of the new bill appears on pp. 8-

schools, with each eth-
nic group, to assist and
train them to become
pre-enlistment, draft,
and military counselors.
High Schools
Thanks to court deci-
sions like Searcy v. Crim,
a case argued in part by
former CCCO Staff At-
torney James Feldman,

. were Stephen G. Cary,

Rosemary Cubas, James Farmer, Homer A.
Jack, Barbara Smith, and Rev. Matthew Wil-
liams.
Program Goals

The Special Event was part of an on-going
special project to raise startup funds for

Jr., which held that coun-
selors in Atlanta could enter the high schools
on an equal footing with military recruiters,
the opportunities for outreach to young people
have never been greater. Many groups are
already working to get peace information into
their high schools. CCCO’s Youth Outreach
Program will try to build on these efforts. 1

eC € CO/An Agency for Military and Draft Counseling

Philadelphia

San Francisco

CCCO
ews Notes

Covering War, Peace and Conscience Since 1949

Volume 43, No. 2
‘eeeenueonendre

ISSN: 008-5952

‘Spring, 1991

LeJeune COs Face Courts-Martial

by David Stoler

Saudi Arabia.

3 Focus The Gulf War is over. Most Americans are Unwilling to violate their consciences, some
on th e celebrating what they believe to be a massive _ of the Marines caught in this dilemma went
victory for the United States. While the absent without leave (AWOL) after their CO
Schools Pentagon and the White House have been claims were not accepted. They turned
proudly proclaiming the low American themselves over to military authorities after
casualties, there is a whole group of victims we _ their companies left for the Gulf. Fifteenarenow
f group Pi
A Storm o are being told almost nothing about. These are. being held at Camp LeJeune, N.C., facin,
3 S 8 'P 8
War, a | the people who for reasons of conscience _courts-martial on charges of unauthorized
Whisper of refused to participate in Operation DesertStorm absence and desertion to shirk hazardous duty.
Pp and are now facing serious consequences. During their stay at LeJeune they have been
Peace, Many were inthe IndividualReady Reserves, subjected to much abuse. Two have been placed
by | They had already in solitary con-
Howard peeved hee tour Readers who wish to support the COs at Camp ao aoe
Lisnoff anal ged and “thew LeJeune may send letters to Congress has. suffered two
. bers or local Pp Contrit on
Dp. 6 ane d suddenly |) are also needed for their defense. For more nervous h b
- on ere aa serve |! information contact HANDS OFF, 111 East h fe. 4 5 ENG Deen
Talking | again. Ticy were || 1th St, Room 132, New York, NY10003.Phone|| 00°" i separate
About recruiters that hey (712) 809-2466 veoward” ‘parracks.
Peace in | would never go into They have Been
combat. When faced with the prospect of goin; ordered to assemble in formation and shout
the prospect of going
School to war they began to reflect on war and peace in _ obscenities about themselves. They have been
CNOo!s, waysthey hadneverdonebeforeandfoundthat offered plea bargains contingent upon
by their consciences would notletthem participate. *’ dropping their CO claims, renouncing the
James Atthis point many of hose who applied tobe —_ advice of their civilian attorneys, and turning in
discharged as conscientious objectors ran other Marines likely to go AWOL. Some
Feldman 5 : dae
e 1 | straight into Stop-Loss. “Stop-Loss” is the accepted this offer, and some did not; all are
Jr. | colloquial name given to an Executive Order, being court-martialed.
p 8 | signed by President Bush in August, 1990, Several of the courts-martial have already
which ordered the various branches of the taken place, resulting in sentences as long as
P 8 9
Resource military to restrict voluntary discharges,extend _ four years (although this will be reduced by pre-
- tours of duty, and postpone retirements. Under _ trial agreement). This is longer than sentences
List ty, postpo. 8) 8
IS Stop-Loss, the military often refused to accept __ for armed robbery or manslaughter and longer
p. 13 | CO applications until the applicant reached his _ than those given to servicemembers who went
or her final duty station, most frequently in | AWOL without making CO claims. o
GGGEO/An Agency for Military and Draft Counseling Philadelphia San Francisco

The Persian Gulf War
brought flags, yellow

ribbons, letters to the troops,
and resurgent militarism to
our schools.Can the voices of

peace be heard?

A Storm of War, a Whisper of Peace

“neither shall they learn war any more.”
~—Isaiah
“,.. a vision of eternal peace, of universal disarmament,
of abolishing the teaching and learning of war.”
—Menachim Begin, 1979
erhaps-you could call it naivete, but I have
P always held an idea about public schooling in
the Unites States. My hope has been quite
simple: that even in the worst of economicand
politically conservative times as in good times, the
schools would be a place where all children would
receive an even break:
that schools, would
function asa great “lev-
eler,” providing a safe
environment, a learn-
ing environment of in-

ity, and a civic ideal of
what citizens could as-
pire to within the con-
text of a republic. To say
that these hopes were
dashed by the response
of the vast majority of
schools across the coun-
try to the war in the Persian Gulf would be a gross
understatement.

Nearly every teacher’s contract has a clause,
usually found under the heading of academic free-
dom, which states that teachers presenting contro-
versial viewpoints will make a good faith effort to
identify conflicting points of view which are at odds

creasingly better qual-'

dom of expression for teachers and the students in
their charge, allowing students to hear points of
view with which they may or may not be familiar.
Second, it protects students from any state- or indi-
vidually-espoused view or “party line.” Onall of the
criteria considered above relating toa balanced pres-
entation of ideas on the war in the Persian Gulf, the
schools fell woefully short. In fact, they presented
what former CIA agent John Stockwell calls a “ro-
mantic, idealized” view of war (Stockwell, 91).

nam Syndrome—the hesitancy of the people
of the U.S. to support a ground war in a
distant land—point out that one element of
the “syndrome” served to inhibit leaders from Rich-
ard Nixon through Ronald Reagan from declaring
all-out war against countries such as Cambodia or
Nicaragua. Part of the “syndrome” was created from
educating the public, which in turn led scores to
demonstrate against U.S. policy, which culminated
in limitations being placed on our leaders as to the
extent to which they would wage war. History pro-
fessor Howard Zinn’s observation about the Viet-
nam protest movement and the course of that war is
instructive: “In the course of that war, there devel-
oped in the United States the greatest antiwar move-
ment the nation had ever experienced, a movement
that played a critical part in bringing the war to an
end” (Zinn, 460). .
Education, or teach-ins as they came to be com-
monly known in the Vietnam context—or at the very

G ritics of what has come to be called the Viet-

with the teacher’s opinion. This
contractual clause has a dual
purpose. First, it guarantees free-

by Howard Lisnoff

least a balanced approach to
the historical, cultural, and reli-
gious context in the case of the

6 News Notes

Persian Gulf Crisis—were nearly universally miss-
ing from the public school setting. If there had been
any meaningful dialogue during the sanction phase
of the crisis, it almost totally evaporated in the near-
mass hysteria to rid the world of the so-called new
Hitler, and the near-frenzy of militaristic patriotism
which filled the media and the schools as the war
began.

Perhaps a quick synopsis of the experiences I’ve
witnessed since the onset of the crisis in the summer-
fall of 1990 can best illustrate the problem presented
by the war in the schools. Discussing a protest which
I planned to attend after school in mid-January, an
irate teacher accused me of undermining the troops.
In other words, even talk about peaceable assembly
or the hint of criticism of the government “line” on
the war was to be considered a treasonous action.
Whata lesson to teach children ina society dedicated
to rational debate of controversial issues!

mmediately following the initiation of hostili-
ties in mid-January the schools were adorned.
with ribbons, banners, and displays which glo-
tified a military solution to the crisis and war.
Assemblies soon followed exalting the role of sol-
diering, cookies were hurriedly baked to send to the
troops, and letters were written.to. members of the
armed forces exalting the use of force. In not one case
do I recall a single educational endeavor to assess
why soldiers were being asked to give up their lives.

No letters were sent to political leaders asking
them why Iraq was not warned to keep their troops
out of Kuwait in mid-summer. No politicians were
queried as to why sanctions weren't extended past
mid-January or why a cease-fire could not have been
instituted after the massive air strikes against Iraq
and Kuwait which left perhaps over 100,000 military
and civilian casualties. Even a single balanced state-
ment supporting the soldiers as human beings while
criticizing their orders for air strikes and combat
would have been a welcome departure from the “We
Support Our Troops” chant.

Toward the end of the war I was struck one
morning, upon entering a public school, by a new
display which filled a hall showcase usually used to
highlight educational activities. The display case
had been transformed overnight into a photo-
graphic exhibition of soldiers serving in the Gulf
who were related to staff or students or who were
former students themselves. One photograph
showed a soldier in battle fatigues with his face
blackened for combat.

These above illustrations of armchair patriotism

leave me wondering where we are heading as a
society in terms of debate on crucial issues, and in
particular what the role of public education is in a
republic in times of conflict.

Must any person critical of the “party” or media
line remain silent in the fact of the war frenzy which
has just passed? It seems in the reality of the conduct
of this war that the far right has achieved two of their
goals which they have been working toward over
the past decade. The war has served to stifle the
humane democratic role of

the schools in our society.
They have also made sol-
diering a most desirable
product of public educa-
tion, while creating a cli-
mate in which a balanced

Assemblies exalted
the role of soldiering,
cookies were baked

approach to the debate on to send to the
world and domestic issues troops, and letters of
is no longer the appropriate support were written

domain of public schools.
Controlling the content
of school programs, cutting
school budgets, reducing
the federal role in creating
equity for all students in
schools has been the agenda
of the political leadership
over the past decade, while
going on the biggest mili-
tary buying spree in our

to members of the
armed forces. In not
one case do | recall
an attempt to assess
why soldiers were
being asked to give
up their lives.

nation’s history. Children

deserve more than this! They require an education
which teaches them the historical heritage from
which they come. They need environments which
foster, not squelch, debate on significant issues.
What have we taught our children through the bel-
licose rhetoric of the one-sided views heard during
the Persian Gulf War? What ideals have we given
them?

Bibliography

Quotations of M. Begin and Isaiah in Bartlett, John, Bartlett's
Familiar Quotations. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1982.

Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. New York:
Harper and Row Publishers, 1980.

Stockwell, John. The Praetorian Guard: The U.S. Role in the New
World Order. Boston: South End Press, 1991.

Goodlad, John, editor. The Moral Dimensions of Teaching. San
Francisco: Josey-Bass, Inc., 1990.

Howard Lisnoff has been a classroom and reading teacher for twenty
years.

Copyright © 1991 by Howard Lisnott


Erie Peace Activist Wins School Access

A group led by long-time Erie, PA,
anti-war activist Laurie Quiggle will
be allowed to distribute peace-ori-
ented materials in the Erie publichigh
schools, according to a settlement
filed on April 25 at the Erie federal
court house.

CCCO Executive Director Robert
A. Seeley had submitted a statement
in support of Quiggle’s effortand had
been scheduled to testify as an expert
witness if the case came to trial.

The decision ends a four-year legal
battle in which Quiggle argued that
the Erie School District violated her
constitutional right to free speech by
prohibiting her from providing stu-
dents with information on the draft,
conscientious objection, and peace.

“Justice has prevailed,” Quiggle
said after the settlement. “The issue
‘was important. Maybe the students
will now have the choice to educate
themselves on the issues.”

The settlement was agreed upon
by Quiggle and school district solici-
tor John Beatty during a hearing in the
chambers of Chief U.S. District Judge
Maurice Cohill. Quiggle was repre-
sented by Erie attorney Richard T.
Ruth, who had volunteered to handle
the case on behalf of the American
Civil Liberties Union.

Beatty declined comment outside
of what was written in the settlement.
Settlement Provisions

Under the settlement, members of
the Erie Peace Alliance and other
peace activists will be allowed to:

¥ “Leave information on consci-
entious objection in the offices of Erie
School District guidance counselors.”

v “Present peace-oriented educa-
tional and career opportunities to Erie
public school students by placing lit-
erature on school bulletin boards and
in the offices of school counselors”;
and

¥ “Present peace-oriented educa-
tional and career opportunities to Erie

public school students (or similar
programs) within the city of Erie
school system.”

The settlement also states that
members of the Peace Alliance and
other similar groups “will have the
same access to school newspapers
through paid advertising as military
recruiters.”

If a disagreement on any of these
issues arises between the peace
groups and the school district, the
settlement states that before going to
court the opposing groups must try to
settle the dispute between them-
selves. The school district and
Quiggle cannot appeal any provision
of the settlement.

School Board Denies

The Erie School District had de-
nied Quiggle access to the schools ina

May 12, 1987, resolution providing
that “Access to the schools shall be
limited solely to bona fide employers
or bona fide representatives of educa-
tional institutions.” The resolution
followed more than five months of
negotiations between Quiggle and
the School District.

According to court records, in the
fall and winter of 1986 Quiggle called
principals and counselors at Erie’s
four public high schools “for the pur-
pose of placing information on con-
scientious objector status and draft
registration in the copnsclors’ of-
fices.”

The School District denied
Quiggle’s request. Quiggle protested
the decision, arguing that the School
District already provides counselors
with information on military recruit-
ment.

Learn Withou Registering

training and your c

The Fund for Education And Training can help!
@ Four national organizations have set up a fund to help those who want job
training or a college education, but cannot register for the drait in good conscience.

@ if you or someone you know is in this situation we may be able to help. (All
inquiries are confidential.) '
For further information contact:

FEAT a: a
1601 Comnectient Ave., NN Suite 750

Fe 8383-4559
Financial contributions are needed and welcome

News Nores 15


VOLUME 8, NUMBER | $1.50

OF THE WAR RESISTERS
: SPECIAL ISSUE HONORING DAVID McREYNOLDS’ THIRTY YEARS AT W

AN INTERVIEW =» THE CHILDREN NOTES FROM THE GREETINGS, “ANOTHER LOOK AT RESISTANCE AR
WITH DAVID OF BAGHDAD: FBt AND CIA FILES GREETINGS, AND SOLIDARITY. —_—_ AT. THE NEVADA
McREYNOLDS : ‘ MORE GREETINGS ORGANIZING ——_ TEST SITE


CONTENTS
AN INTERVIEW. WITH DAVID
McREYNOLDS . : BABS Z
NOTES FROM THE Fal
“AND CIA FILES, pera.
THE CHILDREN OF BAGHDAD. . 1B
GREETINGS, GREETINGS, i i
GREETINGS... es
ANOTHER LOOK AT SOLIDARITY. £
ORGANIZING . 34
RESISTANCE ART AT THE NEVADA
TEST SITE 35
MIDDLE EAST UPDATES/NEWS-
NOTES #2. 2 36

PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE
RUT ENN (EDITOR)
RICK BICKHART (DESIGN) Bees
BILL BARRETT, DAVID McREYNOLDS,
MATT MEYER, JOHN MILLER,
SUSAN PINES, WENDY SCHWARTZ
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
JUDY KOWALOK

y:

RI ie fs
“CECELIA KIRKMAN, JUDY KOWALOK,

_ MICHAEL MARSH, CRAIG ‘SIMPSON,
IRA UNGAR :
NATIONAL OFFICE: STAFF

RUTH BENN, KARL BISSINGER,

RAL H DIGIA, LISA HARPER,
MIGHAELA. GIUSTI.-MICHAEL-MARSH,—.

DAVID McREYNOLDS, IGAL ROODENIO, a

DORE WILSNACK
VOLUNTEERS: :
_ VIRGINIA: EGGLESTON, MAUREEN. GILROY,
GAR McARTHUR, MARILYN MEYER

_NEW ENGLAND REGIONAL STAFF

| MER, Ce SHEEHAN -

to 1 by Robert joyce, Ed:

H ce Hane Tae and
Ed Hee coe S Bee
PUBLISHING STATEMENT

“The: Nonvolent Activst & publighied eight times @ yea by
the War Resisters League, 339 Latayett et, New York,
NY ee (22) 228 0450. Peaceneti
MANUSCRI

Manuscripts wall not-be returned unless onpned & a
‘sekaddressed stamped envelope
LETTERS

Lee ae the right to select an edt al subms-
sions. Please b: :
RESOURCES
Resources may'be sent to The
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SUBSCRIPTIONS
Subscript

icin Activist to be con

i pon-members of WRLSIS per year =

: SPECIAL ISSUE 30 YEARS AT WRL i

FOR DAVID

Now, as David his thirtieth y as a War
Resisters League staff member, it is time to acknowledge that he made a big

again as a Conservative. His skills as a political strategist and his talents as. a
writer and public speaker, would have catapulted him to a dizzyingly high
» place in the decision-making sector of our country.

If David worked with the Republican Party instead of us, he would not have
had to keep interrupting his development of position papers to type calendar
labels and stuff envelopes, or struggle to accept collective process against his
natural inclination to lead, or try to live on an annual salary equal to one
day's éarnings of a corporate lawyer with good connections. There would be
flunkies with crewcuts and uniforms eager to cheat and steal for him, instead
of colleagues. to challenge sub-clauses in his Nonviolent Activist articles. He'd
have advisors to help him nip in the bud disturbing progressive tendencies,
instead of WRL National Committee el a third of his age, to chide

And

expensive gift instead of just an issue of this ‘magazine produced
But, sadly for him, and happily for the rest of us eee avid did not

a pacifist and a Socialist, ir
and social justice. For all the years ate David |
been our chief policy maker—the person with the knowl
recommendations who challenges the rest of us to learn and thi
enough to be able to decide if we agree with him. He has help
~yational political programy out of the concept of pacifism, previous

~ swell the WRL membership yanks, inspired radical nonviolent actions | around ~
the country, and gotten good publicity { for the organization. And if, occa- -
sionally, David has also incited a member or two to resign, or provoked a

honest.in the expression of his beliefs. :

Those of us personally ‘close to David have also benefitted from ‘his varied
and exceptional abilities. We have been entertained by his talent as a
raconteur (complete: with devastatingly accurate mim cry) and. very well-fed in
his home (meat and despite his pri position against the

ship, and, hopefully, we have learned by David's example to be. ‘Kinder and
more loyal ourselves.

In addition, we have had the unique privilege of experiencing. fall tilt the
power of the written memo—the high that results from reading his erudite
blasts at those we, too, would blast were we so eloquent and brave; the fear
that we will be the butt of one of his political blasts; and the anxiety. ay

mistake. During his move East so many years ago, he should have been born-

ae
as a wish of the good-hearted naive. His speeches and writings have felbed oe

nasty article or editorial, it was because he was unflinchingly direct ae totally :

latter). We have also seen how much loyalty and kindness enhance a friend-

SPECIAL ISSUE 30 YEARS

1990. Photo by Ed Hedemann,

Susan Pines: Zell us about your political evolution. What were
the influences on you?

David McReynolds: | started out as a member of the Prohibition
Party. I was raised in a fairly fundamentalist Baptist church that had
a temperance group which I joined in about 1946. They had what
they called a Traveling Temperance Talking Team where I got good
training in writing and giving speeches.

OVERCOMING
CAPITALISM WITH
"NONVIOLENT CHANGE

AN INTERVIEW
DAD MeREVNOLDS

BY SUSAN PINES

In high school, I was in the World Friendship club and had moved
left and become critical of U.S. policy. As the high school valedic-
torian in 1947, I remember giving a peace speech the principal didn’t
want me to give, but I guess he was overruled by the teachers.
Were there other people you knew at the time who shared your
political theories?

Not many. I was “corrupted” by a high school teacher who gave

Iwas about sixteen or so when I joined the Prohibition Party. It
had many radical links; many of the people who led | the abolition
moved into the after the end of

accompanies receipt of a memo, aware that it will be long and ple:
will require more of our time than we have available, But with all the soto

has ever admitted to being able to discard one unread.
_ As David begins his second thirty-year cycle as a WRL staff member’ 01

5
an additional $15 ber year
ADVERTISING POLICIES

remote violence
ly WRE endorse-
de

wish :
ee as we all have Bolten fo our relationship with him.

voce grousing about the appearance of yet another m mo by David, no one

ee
that he get as much from his relationship with the -

: en Setar .

ISSN 8755-7428 VOLUME 8 NO. |

slavery. They viewed drink as a curse of the working class and as
oppressive to women, an interesting radical more than reactionary
basis. The irony, of course, is that I became an alcoholic in due
course, but that’s another story. [In 1974 David entered a program
for alcoholism and since 1975 has not had a drink].

Susan Pines worked on WIN Magazine and served on the WRL staff
from 1980-1985. She is a member of the Executive. Committee and
the WRL to War Resisters Ir

Lincoln Steffans’ autobi It was a dly radicaliz-
ing book. So was Grapes of Wrath which | read at that time. ©

Iwent to UCLA, and the college paper rana piece I wrote attack-
ing the Cold War. The Socialist Party on campus looked me up and
invited me to join their luncheon club. That’s how I ely with the
Socialists.

In 1948 I was in Kansas working for the Prohibition Party and
the draft was passed. I got involved in the Fellowship of Reconcilia-
tion (FOR), and in May 1949, [ heard Bayard Rustin speak. Bayard
had a decisive impact on my life. His personality was charismatic.
His thinking was brilliant. I heard him that night. I went to hear him
at a weekend retreat, I went to hear him in church on Sunday and
again in the evening. I listened to Bayard’s every word.

2°THE NONVIOLENT ACTIVISTANUARY-FEBRUARY. 1991

THE NONVIOLENT ACTIVISTIJANUARY-FEBRUARY 1991 3


"1956. Photo by Doug Pomeroy.

cutting a cake at Clifton’s Cafeteria in Los Aneel aruded a6 fellow youths of the Youth

of Martin. oe (on David's right).

_ Bayard talked about nonviolence as the way to deal with conflict.
He saw struggle as inevitable. He was the one who really convinced
me to become a pacifist. Later I read Gandhi and other pacifist
tmaterial. After that I became an ideological spokesperson for youth

in the Los Angeles area. Bayard and A.J. Muste were the two decisive —

factors on my political life.

By 1951, I realized that I no longer belonged in the Prohibition
Party, and I joined the Socialist Party. I'd say by 1952 my politics
were set, and they really haven't changed, although my views on-cer-
tain issues have shifted. On h lity, the gay ha:
surprised me, I never thought it would come out; I never thought
more than a handful of us like Paul Goodman, Bayard, Allen
Ginsberg, or myself would be open.

Within the pacifist community, your openness was key. The arti-
cle you wrote in WIN Magazine (1969) was one of the first openly
gay articles in that kind of publication.

‘That was dramatic. It had a major impact within the pacifist move-
ment, and it did change a number of other people's lives who then
felt they could be open. It also changed people because they real-
ized you weren't going to be thrown out,

‘Temperance Council and mature leaders of the sponsoring Women's Christian Temperance Union. Courtesy

Lets go back to your activities in the 1950s.

In 1948, the question of whether I could be a conscientious objec-
tor (CO) came up. I was bitterly opposed to the U.S. foreign policy,
and I had already decided I wouldn't go fight. Then I found out that
you couldn't get an exemption unless you were religious. Such is the
confusion of the mind that instead of saying to myself, “David, you
haven't been religious for years, and if you can't get a political ex-
emption you should go to jail;’ I began to look at the New Testament
to see if I could qualify as a religious objector. That’s the first time
Thad read the New Testament, and in fact it was very ' radicalizing.

I decided I could be a CO, and I applied for my status and got it.
Not long after, the draft board abolished all the existing classifications
for reasons known only to them, and all CO’s had to reapply. The
second time around I couldn't persuade them I was a CO; I wouldn’t
answer the question about believing in a supreme being, because I
felt it would be a piled exemption” not available to friends who
were atheists.

Twas classified as 1-A and arrested for refusing induction in 1952,
but the charges were dismissed on a technicality, There were about
twenty similar cases. Our defense had asked for our FBI files, but

1952. David with his sister and mother. Photo by Martin McReynolds.

the government wasn't Willing to release them. The government
moved to dismiss rather than reveal the files, so I didn’t go to prison
during the Korean War period, although most of my friends did.

What else were you involved with in the late 1950s before coming

to WRL?

T was active in the Bohemian community in Los Angeles. As a
kid who really had no social graces, who was increasingly aware of
being queer and didn’t know what to do about it, and who was
politically nonconformist and didn’t have friends, it was a very lucky,
wonderful thing. I remember Margaret Phair (then as now an im-

portant person in my life) inviting me to an anti-ROTC ‘party in Ocean
Park, and it took all the courage I had to go. I assumed that
everybody would be into heavy drinking and necking, and they would
make fun of me.

Margaret met me at the door and said with her special social grace,
“David, some of the people coming don’t know anybody here, so
Tm going to ask you to stand by the door and introduce people as
they come in?’ That put me at ease, and as it turned out, instead
of heavy drinking there was foll-dancing in one room, actual discus-
sion of real issues in another room, and a small group listening to

YEARS AT WRL

Edith Piaf records in the last room.

Iwas also involved with the Youth FOR. ‘They were afraid of te
ing “confrontational” and just wanted to have discussion ‘groups
about nonviolence and how to be loving. I got them to have a
demonstration on Armed Forces Day and that really changed their
lives. They were Quakers and Methodists, quiet people. They had
never been called communists before. Marching through middle class
areas, people would shout “Go back to Russia, you Commies” Then
I got the demonstration to go by the working class area -of Union
Market in Los Angeles, and people would ask for an extra leaflet.
One man rushed out to see if there was a strike; he: was worried he
had crossed the picket line:

Getting people out to demonstrate was one of the techniques I used
in organizing, It may not change anyone else's mind, but it changes
the thinking of the people who demonstrate. For me and those who
took Bayard’s position, pacifism was a ‘confrontational engagement
with society. For other pacifists, it’s to lay greater stress on reconcilia-
tion, on dialogue and discussion. I think both have their role.

Say a little more about the basis of your politics.
The main thing i is that there is a fundamental conflict raging in

“4 THE NONVIOLENT ACTIVISTIANUARY FEBRUARY (991

THE NONVIOLENT ACTIVISTJANUARY-FEBRUARY 1991 5


SPECIAL ISSUE

MeReynolds. Photo by Robert Joyce.

society that isn’t going to be resolved without institutional changes.
_ The Socialist Party taught me that. Then the question is, what
: method do you use to change the institutions. You never trust the
g institutions, they are there for the ruling class and function for its
__ defense. You never really trust the state or believe the president. You
: know. the Supreme Court is influenced by mass demonstrations no
matter what is said. Even though I do believe in the law as an in-
stitution, I know it was created by one class. I believe that the law
needs to be used and expanded.
5 jueer was very ence il b me; it gave me an insight into soci-

don't ce ae to the WRL.
\ ased group. Then I came to the east coast
}, partly to take a job with Liberation magazine and partly
fo put a love affair i in ae ae behind me. x

December 19, 1964, David speaking at a demonstration against the war in Vietnam, New York City.

rights actions at Madison Square Garden and the Prayer Pilgrimages
to Washington D.C. For a while I worked under Ella Baker, a tough,
Busty woman; I was sone for! her when Chaney, Schwerner, and

Th 1960, the War Restos League needed a Field Secretary to
reach out to students. I was asked to work for them, and the idea

of getting $70 a week seemed an incredible luxury. I had serious

questions about whether I could hold up under the tensions of
trying to organize on campus, but I took the job and started to work
with Ralph DiGia, Bayard Rustin, and Jim Peck who was a fairly full
time volunteer. We worked out ef a crowded large room at 5 Beek-
man Street.

Talk about the beginning of the antiVietnam war era,

My brother sent me a memo the other day from 1964 or 1965.

Tt was a statement on the Vietnam war I had drafted and given to.
A.J, Muste to co-sign and make changes. He didn’t make many
changes even though his style was much gentler than mine, That
became the definitive statement for WRL. It was the earliest to say
that whatever else happened the Americans must withdraw uncon-
ditionally and didn’t have the right to negotiate anything but. general

THANUARY-FEBRUARY. 1991

November
Square, NYC.

J Muste stands to the right.

withdrawal. At that time it seemed completely off the wall, but, unless
the U.S. was going to exterminate the Vietnamese, we didn't see any
other way of ending the war.

Unconditional withdrawal was _ very hard for people to

{—that there was thing Americans couldn't solve.
What WRI did was crucial. From the beginning we also called on
youth not to serve in the military.

Tt was not until late in the game that I became overtly sympathetic
to Ho Chi Minh. I think that would be true of A.J. first and then
of me. For A.J., support of Ho Chi Minh was really a difficult pro-
blem. When A.J. came back from his trip to the north, just before
he died, he felt that Ho Chi Minh had the spiritual atom bomb. It
wasn't just that the U.S. shouldn't have intervened: it was more com-
plicated. Ho Chi Minh had hold of something. I also moved in the
direction of supporting the communist side and not supporting the
violence. But that was never the policy of the organization.

You travelled to Vietnam in the 60s and a few times since then,
didnt you?

Once in the 60s, once in the 70s, once in the 80s. I'd been invited
in 1966 to a conference in Japan, and I said to Charlie Bloomstein

1965. Tom Cornell, Marc Paul Edelman, Roy Lisker, David McReynolds, and Jim Wilson burn their draft cards at a rally in Union

(member of the Executive Committee) and Ralph DiGia, “As long
as I'm going'to Japan, why don’t I go on to Saigon. It'll be better
when I’m speaking to say that I've been there!’ Charlie said, “David,
Vietnam is nowhere near Japan...but it probably is worth our send-
ing you to Saigon.”

_ I went to Sn in 1966, and Peggy Duff, wha feprecehied

for Di Peace, decided
es go with me. I a t know what I would have te if Pd gotten
off the plane alone in Saigon. Peggy was ; wonderful, a very tough
British Labor Party person and non-aligned socialist. She didn’t have
too much love for pacifists because they tended to wobble in times
of crisis. I knew she always thought I was a little naive about what
she would call “David and his Buddhists in Vietnam.’ She was not
afraid of the communists; she was very well informed. She got along
well with Bayard and A.J. If | was to pick a group to belong to, it
would be as’a lieutenant with those three people.

We got off the jet in Saigon with no local currency—we'd assumed
we could change money at the airport, but of course there were no
tourists coming to Saigon, and they had no provisions at all for
changing money, The Vietnamese police at the airport didn’t even

THE NONVIOLENT. ACTIVISTIANUARY-FEBRUARY (991 7


NOTES FROM THE FBI
AND CIA FILES ©

ao organizations th teach ¢ )
Ib to Serve in the Armed
a Jone war material.

refu:

August 17, 1958

__ Dave MC REYNOLDS spoke and gave his platform for the SP pro-

viding he was able to get on the ballot for the 19th Con-
gressional District.
“He outlined his platform as:

1) Halting H-Bomb tests; :

2) Civil rights for all citizens;

3) National omership of the means of production;

4) better homes; .

5) Stop buying arms - distribute ‘this money to the poor
and Bung:
12/19/63

. the American Nazi Party 4 a pro-civil rights

gathering held at the Washington Fellowship House, Wash-

ington, D.C. David McReynolds, field-secretary of the WRL,

_ was attempting to deliver a speech entitled ''Civil Rights
Through Nonviolence, ' | when he was hindered and harassed

Sascha

The pacifist meeting

ce SPECIAL ISSUE 30 YEARS AT-WRL

41/14/68

FBI is
McReynolds made a plea for funds to help support the work
of the WRL and urged the FBI and the Bureau of Special Ser-
vice, New York City, Police Department, agents in the au-
dience to contribute. He said that the FBI agents were
eloser to the Resistance than to J. Edgar Hoover, since ‘they
were at so many demonstrations.

1968

David was among those caene. in this subversive act: ''At
the height of the activity, 80 demonstrators were observed
engaged in picketing, carrying palloons, and es
flowers to passers-by.''
FBI Pe 3
1 1 'The Village Voice! of February 20; 1969, ...Beported
that organizations, identified with the current peace
which had been located on the tenth floor at 5

tly after

/becau e he had
previous day that Negroes would engage in
il disobedi against the Federal

af the eivi rights bill was not passed by ee

6 June 1967

CIA, CHAOS files Z : -

~The WRL participated in the April 1965 protest in

“Washington, D.C. against U.

nam war. Reportedly, the WRL has been infiltrated by Com-

some ‘Socialist | os
soctan st Democrat: Fe eration members were against MC
REYNOLDS! candidacy for Congre: would give

- the Party a bad name, but that MC REYNOLDS: was chosen

because he was competent to cone aey a campaign.

think twice about us, even if we looked a bit off: a nubs middle-
aged Englishwoman and a tall, bearded, youngish American: In those
days the only people coming to Saigon were military, journalists, or
CIA, and they figured we had to be CIA or journalists. A nice woman
at the Taiwan airlines counter changed soe money for us: so that
we could get a taxi to d here we
were going to stay, so we retreated | ee to the air-conditioned
bar on the top floor of the Hotel Caravel to relax with gin and tonics
(in those days I was still drinking).

Peggy finally had the idea of getting on the phone and calling the
US. based. religious groups. We got hold of one with a dorm room,

and they said they could show us around a bit. We listened to the -

thunder that began about eight o'clock and asked what that was.
“Saigon thunder, the night artillery barrage” they said. The govern-
ment was firing on the outskirts to protect the city from attack. One
of the nights we were there a guerrilla mortar shell fell about 100
yards from our compound.

‘We went around to the Buddhist temple and saw y them, They didn't
know why we were there, and they were uncertain because they were
under guard. ‘We wanted to see Thich Tri Quang, the voli) Bud-

munist inspired ‘individual . However, there have been no
reports or strong indications that it is Communist
dominated. It has not been cited by Federal or State
Government.

dhist leader who stirred up demonstrations in the early 1960s that
nearly overthrew the Saigon government. He was under house ar-
rest, and we couldn't get an interpreter to go with us. Finally, the
Buddhists found a young woman who had the nerve to go with us.
We all had to pass through the secret police and sign in with the
regular military at a desk outside Quang’s room. I was frightened
the whole week we were in Vietnam.

What did you observe on your next trip to Vietnam?

I went back in 1971, this time to the North, along with Joe Urgo
who is now in Revolutionary Communist Party (sad to say) and Judy
Lerner from Women Strike for Peace. We were to fly from Moscow
to Hanoi. G lly, Pd have been idered an anti
in the old left so in Moscow I kept expecting to be turned back, but
that didn’t happen.

We landed in Hanoi, and I asked the Vietnamese if I could take
pictures. They said yes, so I was taking pictures very fast, and one
of the Vietnamese said, “You're a very good photographer’ I said
Twas just an amateur, He said, “No, we've seen your pictures in WIN.
Magazine” Here we are in a place where the mail comes in once
aweek on the courier plane, and they knew exactly who I was. They

8 THE NONVIOLENT ACTIVISTJANUARY FEBRUARY. (991.

participation in the Viet-.
“July 16, 1975

Beekman St, NYC, since the space was first occupied by the

WRL in 1944, had been notified by the owner of the building :
to move to some other location because other tenants in

this commercial-type building had been complaining about
''long hairs'! and people with strange clothing who had
been frequenting the lobby and the: elevators of the
building.'! Z a8

Obtaining the files. .

To the FBI:
.1 appreciate your entice in netting me know ap-
Broce costs of obtaining copies of my file-or partial
copies or parts of the file, since I realize massive dele-
tions are made.
I think you, in turn, will appreciate that I have some

had read the captions on the photos, and they must have read the
article on gay liberation.

Once Judy came back from a meeting and said, “The Vietnamese :

women wanted me to tell you they're so glad you changed your posi-
tion.’ They had on file a letter I had written five or-ten years earlier
asking them to make some kind of compromise, because the anti-
war movement was not strong enough to stop the U.S. government
from paving Vietnam from one end to the other.

Of Hanoi itself I have very fond memories. When we asked if we
could go for a walk, the Vietnamese said “Of course, but please try
not to get lost” As we walked, children gathered like a flock of birds
and trailed after us; both Joe Urgo and I had beards which amused
them. We often saw young men holding hands, and young women
holding hands: culturally the people were so gentle it was painful
to realize they were at war with our country, killing and being killed
only a few hundred miles South.

What changes did you see in your last trip to Vietnam?

I went back in 1981 to see the reunited Vietnam. We went from
Hanoi down through Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). Hanoi
‘was suffering food shortages, and we were embarrassed by the food

penalty of paying for them....

hesitation just now to commit myself to sending the check

: as a deposit, since you compiled the files originally with

my money, and the money of other tax payers. We do not, of
course, agree philosophically on the matter of whether
such files should exist, but if you are going to compile
‘them I have'a feeling I should have copies without the heavy
Sincerely,
February 2, 1976 David McReynolds
‘To the CIA: :
'1Tt was...! the American way of life', that caused people
like yourself to enlist in the C.I.A. It ought now to cause
you to leave it. For increasingly, with events around the
world, it is clear you do not serve the cause of freedom
but of General Motors, General Electric, and the Chase
Manhattan Bank. Many of you still believe in the slogans
by! which you were recruited. But I know some of you have seen
oe these slogans to the reality.'' Sincerely,
David ieee
february 10, 1976
2 National Security heenoy/Central Security Service:
given the fact that NSA is the primary intelligence
oe ‘considerably more important than CIA, and con-
sidering that the CIA reported that a record which
originated with you and refers tome and the War Resisters
eo T feel it is urgent that our appeal be con-
d and that is classified documents be released.
Sincerely,
David McReynolds

pss. Enclosed is a Call to the Continental Walk. Members
of the security forces will be monitoring this, of course.
We also urge you to leave the security forces and join the
walk as active supporters.

‘we were served. We went as tourists so they made some money off
that, but they were feeding us food they couldn't afford themselves,
In the south I didn’t sense fear, but it was a different city, much
cleaned up. They had lost a lot of population (the boat people). A
lot of things were on sale by refugees in the Chinese community. But
it wasn’t total order. There were drunks asleep in various places and
other things you wouldn't see in a totalitarian state. The people were
pleasant and friendly, but this time I couldn't see Thich Ti Quang
although we had a real set-to with officials about that. I warmed them
I would report that he is under arrest, but I never saw him anyway.
About this time we had a real fight in the pacifist international.
Vo Van Ai, a WRI council member, hadn't been to. Vietnam in years,
but he was painting this picture of terror in the streets of Ho Chi
Minh City. He was talking about the city as if it were deserted. I'd
just been there and it wasn’t empty. He really felt I was an agent
of the devil, and I felt he was giving a simplistic anti-communist line,
I think where I really get angry with the Vietnamese is over what
they did to the Chinese population. These were Chinese people who.
had been i in Vietnam for over two generations and thought of
V They. Dp from the party, from

THE NONVIOLENT ACTIVISTANUARY-FEBRUARY 1991 9


ere 1973. Speaking at the

iversary con-
oe in Asilomar, CA. Photo by
Grace Hane Hedemann.

1978. Detivery of petitions on unilateral disarmament to U.N. officials. Bo Wirmak and Peggy Duff are to
David's left. Photo by Karl Bissinger

the government, from jobs, so they fled into Chinese territory, That"
was really unforgivable and racist and has to be confronted.

» We also travelled to Cambodia, and at that time the city of Phnom
Penh was still half deserted. It was just being resettled, but every
fourth building had a bomb hole. it was a very strange city, The heart-
breaking thing, one of the only things that made me cry, was to go
through the hospital in Phnom Penh where other countries were
sending in medicine and doctors, but there was nothing from the _
US.I Soule see any ee for the American blockade. -
You l Was it about this time
that you got involved with War Resisters International (WRI)?

No, that goes back to 1964. A.J. couldn’t go toa conference in
Belgium which was being held by the WRI and World Peace Coun-

T enjoyed the time on the council very much. I ended up with a
network of friends, and I think I was helpful within the WRI. With
Michael Randle, I drafted a:statement on wars of liberation at the
Vienna council meeting in 1968. I helped to define some positions
and certainly helped to maintain an independent position from the
Soviet Peace Council and U.S. State Department. I was one of the
people who could be counted on to serve on subcommittees and
work until midnight.

After the Vienna Council meeting I decided to see what a
“Socialist” country is like, anti-Communist that I was. I flew into

_ Prague for what I thought would be a week of tourism and found

myself trapped for several days by hundreds of thousands of invading
Warsaw Pact troops. As an outsider, to live through an invasion is

cil. He wanted to send he had political in, and
Bayard couldn't go, so I was sent.

After my 1966 trip to Vietnam, I went to the WRI Triennial in
Rome where I made a speech urging that WRI section

an i that, once you've had it, you wouldn’t want to miss,
but I certainly wouldn’t have gone to Crechostovalia if Td known
what was coming!

American troops to desert and to offer aid to deserters. WRI coun-
cil elections were being held, and the Americans had made several

; nominations; I was the only American nominee there so Iwas elected,

One thing that has set you apart from other WRL activists is your

involvement in electoral politics. Tell us about your campaigns.
There were only three. One was the write-in campaign for Con-

gress in’ 1958 which turned out not to be very important. Second

DAVID MCREINOLDS

FO PRESID DENT
CONVICT iat

was the campaign for Congress in 1968 which was fairly dramatic;
I was ona ticket headed by Eldridge Cleaver for President. It was
officially the Peace and Freedom ticket and very left. That was an
exciting campaign.

Tworked very hard on the 1980 Presidential campaign, but I never
look back on it as a major achievement. I wanted to run and per-
suaded the Socialist Party to run me. I viewed it as a chance to talk
to the public about democratic socialism, nonviolence, and unilateral
disarmament. I campaigned very hard in 25 states, was on the ballot
in ten, and got less than 5000 votes. Talking to all those people on
the radio and in person was valuable, and I hope did something to
change attitudes here and there.

The thing about presidencies which I think T want to write up
sometime is that I wish we could abolish them; there is an incred-
ible mystique about the person who is running for president which
I didn’t understand until I accepted the nomination. I didn't realize
that from the instant I became a presidential candidate people would
think it was something important. That's a very real problem, because
it leads people to believe the president knows what he is saying. Very
often I knew I didn’t know what I was saying, but I was listened to

SPECIAL ISSUE 30 YEARS AT WRL

A Proposal to the WRL National Commit-
tee in 1980 that, if carried out, mi, é
made the difference in the McReynolds’
for President campaign. .

In 1920, Eugene Debs of the Socialist Pai
President and received one million votes. Wh:
memorable about his achievement is that he was, at
the time, serving a Federal prison sentence as a result
of his anti-war witness...

In 1980, exactly sixty years after Debs' stunning
defeat/victory, the Socialist Party has again offered a
candidate for President: our own David McReynolds.
Obviously, David has scant likelihood of overcoming —-
the momentum behind the two major parties: However,

the Disarmament Task Force has devised a plan by

- which we may use David's candidacy to focus atten-

_ tion on the issues suppressed by the other candidates
_—not by supporting David's i but | by :
sure that by election day, he is, like Eugene Bs
securely locked behind bars...

‘We will have to take precautions against the
possibility that David might be released before the
election. David might have to be prepared to non-
cooperate entirely with his arrest and imprisonment _
and refuse release under any conditions as long as

ain other demands remain unmet: freedom for all

pe tical prisoners, fund human needs, zero nuclear
weapons, etc.
It would also probably be effective if David began a

hunger Sue before the election. .

ran for

anyway. When people ask a atecion, it becomes easy to give them
an answer—when you have no. answer, you start to make one up.
I think that the British have it much better; oa have ‘queen who
can take the burden of lism, and the pe yell at
prime minister. : :
Now, after 30 years, WRL has created a ye status for You, So.
you can do more writing and speaking. What is ahead for you?
‘Some people think Pve retired, so I want to make clear I don't think
that. There is an ideological tension between myself and where I think
the League is at now. 1am more of an old leftist, and I'm not apologetic
about that. I guess where I differ from the WRL at this point is on
questions of lifestyle, and I don't think I’m in much agreement. —
I view my job—and in a sense Twish that more pacifists also viewed.
it as their job—to be involved in a movement that would be non-
violent since violence is an obstacle to deep change, but where the
emphasis is not on the it t but on social change. Most p
ple will never see nonviolence as anything other than a tactic even
though I believe in it personally as an ideology. I dor’t think it will
work unless there are people in the movement who believe in it in
adeep way, and to the best of my ability I do believe in it in that way.

10 THE NONVIOLENT ACTIVISTJANUARYFEBRUARY 1991

THE NONVIOLENT ACTIVIST/ANUARY-FEBRUARY 1991


SPECIAL ISSUE 30 YEARS AT WRL

THE CHILDREN
OF BAGHDAD tt

_BY DAVID McREYNOLDS

Ed’s note: David McReynolds was a mem-
_ : : oy ber of a peace delegation which travelled =.
| Sa . to Iraq last October. The trip was organized = : - . FO
| _ by the Fellowship of Reconciliation. The : .

: twenty-person team spent two days in Jor-
_ dan and a week in Iraq.

1 WHEN think ofthe time in Baghdad
North Vietnamese : : E |. in mid-October, I think of the children. It is

| said pacifists are sentimental. Someone must
| : : = be. I know the realists end by killing peo-
rt g i . : > ~ ple; on our trip as we talked about how the

_ “experts” said we had to “stop Saddam now,’ -
someone noted, “The problem is that when
: ‘war comes, it doesn’t call on the experts,
| | who are always curiously immune to com-
FE ese ° bat, it calls on the youth.” i
: ‘ ; : = T oppose Saddam Hussein's invasion of.
Gr : 2 <  Kuwait—as does virtually every Arab state
| 5 = including Libya. I’m also against the govern-
i ood " j _ ment that was in Kuwait before the invasion,
i 2 _a government which was virtually a family
; ‘ : : corporation that had dissolved parliament
a : > Z ‘ } . | and outlawed a free press. The administra-
I F 9s x med tion rages against invasion, but after the
i . & a ~ Panama invasion, we didn’t see Bush send
troops to place himself under house arrest
for violating (a) the Treaty of the Organiza- P cee s :
tion of American States, (b) the Panama * : i ee .
_ Canal treaty, (c) the U.S. Constitution, or@ 3 : : ‘~
the U.N. Charter.
For the moment though, I Gavan > o me
look at the politics. I want to look at the gl ee :
children, because I'm a sentimentalist. Last : : : : i
- year in Tripoli, I remember looking at the : : - :
: house where Gaddafi had lived; I looked at : : : : ? |
E00 Mota Oy Ea Hedena his bedroom shattered by a “smart” Ameri- e : |
S ae ca ae Le 5 can bomb which couldn't tell the difference
my continuing work will be spent where it has been spent, strug: cialism is the transform: between a child and a man and killed . : :
ling somehow to shift the power away from the centralized capitalist it if youre going to ston aes Cae Gaddafi’s adopted daughter. Child of Iraq, October 1990. Photo by David McReynolds.
Stine: wich eas} in us needs for things that we don’t need and Tf you're asking what I see ahead, I’m excited at the moment by : The problem for the “realists” is that :
that is going to destroy th i the political changes that | think may open up. Unfortunately, in some children are the same everywhere—in Ger- many under Hitler, in Moscow under Stalin, "call in even one child—let alone a thousand
ment “el Te structure dehumanizes us, alienates us from each ways the whole Iraqi tragedy makes me feel more useful because Tm or today in Israel under Shamir, in Iraq —and shoot that child in cold blood. No,
other and from the products we produce, and it debases our culture. _back on solid ground. Watching the goverment mobilizing to wage es under Saddam. Why is it that if you tell a. Bush isa civilized man..so he will entice a
Those are the things which I have always seen as both a Marxist. a war, WRL and I are needed to help build a ‘movement to counter David wrote a political analysis after his man the bombs he drops will ill evil, he will working class that canft find works into a
and a pacifist. I've never really understood why people thought it was this current crisis. gs isit to Iraq for a December WRL mailing. drop them, but if you tell him the target is military machine that promises drama and
aad ~ strange that I was both a socialist and a pacifist. If the object of so- : ‘ If you are not on our regular mailing list, largely made up of children he will have excitement and a trade, and he will have
li : : E : : t : _ We will send you the analysis on request. qualms? | doubt that Bush could personally _ those men do the killing.

12. THE NONVIOLENT ACTIVISTJANUARY-FEBRUARY. 1991 :
THE NONVIOLENT ACTIVISTJANUARY-FEBRUARY (991 13