Up against the bulkhead, June-July 1973


[This text is machine generated and may contain errors.]





INSIDE: Watergate, Enlisted
POWs Charged With Collabora-

tion, How To Fight Article 15s,
Duluth Crew Protests Floating

Deathtrap, Article 134 Thrown
Out, and more .

UP AGAINST THE

BULKHEAD

Number 15 / June-July 1973

98 Chenery Street, San Francisco, CA 94131 Free to Gls

This paper cannot legally be taken from you. According to DoD Directive 1325.6, oPossession of unauthorized material may not be prohibited.�

Pat Chenoweth Does

Ten Months Brig Time
For An Act He DidnTt Do

After ten months of torment in the stockade at

Treasure Island, Fireman Patrick Chenoweth, accused of

sabotaging the aircraft carrier USS Ranger has been
acquitted of all charges and honorably discharged from
the Navy.

The 21-year-old sailor from Puyallup, Washington,
was charged with having inserted a paint scraper and two
12-inch bolts into the RangerTs reduction: gears last
summer in Alameda, California. This paralyzed the
carrier for three months and cost the Navy almost a
million dollars to repair.

lt was one of approximately 30 acts of sabotage
which crippled the Ranger all thru last summer.

NO EVIDENCE
From the time he was jailed last August 2, the Navy
seemed almost desperate to convict Chenoweth.
Attorneys and others who had spent time observing
military injustice said that they had never seen the

military so eager to put someone away.

The Navy had no evidence, but only two witnesses
who reported hearing Pat claim credit for the sabotage.
No witnesses said they saw Pat throwing bolts into the
gears. The prosecution was unable to establish when,
within a ten-day period, the bolts were thrown. There
was no physical evidence, such as fingerprints, that
linked Pat to the act. The defense showed that over 600
other sailors had access to the area where the gears are
located. Even the NavyTs star witness said that he
thought Pat was ~o~jokingTT when he made his comment
about the sabotage. That witness also stated in court
that he did not believe that Pat had done it. Finally, the
defense showed that many others on the ship had made
similar boasts, including the Executive Officer!

On this evidence, they charged him with sabotage in
time of war, a charge used only once since WWII. It

Continued on page 7






Let's

History

B-52 CREWS PROTEST CAMBODIA BOMBING

Washington, D.C. (May 2) " At least a dozen crewmen
who are flying B-52 raids from Guam to Cambodia, have
written members of Congress protesting the raids. The
staff workers who received the letters for Senators
Fulbright, Kennedy, McGovern and Hughes, said the
letters were especially heavy. One from a navigator said:
oWe are no more than a mercenary army fighting solely
on the discretion of our President.T Another said, oI
enlisted to defend our nation, not to fight for some little
countries that cannot settle problems in its own
government.TT A common theme was that the bombing
should have ended after American prisoners were
released by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
(usually called oNorth Vietnam�). One letter from a
co-pilot read, othis plea isnTt a one man show. The
majority of the crew force presently engaged in these
operations are tired and fed up with the entire affair.�
But other pilots have done more than plea. In
November 1971, fighter-bomber pilots aboard the carrier
Coral Sea -turned in their wings and refused to fly at a
time when the enlisted crewmen had an active Stop Our
Ships (SOS) movement going. As recently as December
1972, a B-52 pilot named Michael Heck refused to fly
the Christmas raids over northern Vietnam. These pilots
were at least guided by the history of enlisted peopleTs
resistance. They knew that they had the power to stop
the bombing because they were the ones who flew them.
As the Cambodian bombing nears its one hundredth day,
maybe some of those fliers will stop writing their

Congressmen and start taking some action themselves.
(Source: Camp News)

VETS EJECT MARINE RECRUITERS

San Francisco, Calif. (February) USMC recruiters
came to the City College of San Francisco, and were
greeted by an un-welcoming committee of students,
most of them vets. A white captain and a black sergeant
walked on campus and set up a literature table in front
of the cafeteria. Someone told them that students were
coming to picket them, and asked if they intended to
stay. o~Hell yes!� replied the sergeant. ~~WeTre staying.�
But then a group of veterans came, told the recruiters
that their presence was an insult to the vets studying
there, and told them to leave. Within fifteen minutes,
the recruiters had packed up and split.

Veterans interviewed by Dan Borgstrom ex-L/Cpl,
USMC, had a lot to say. ~~We might as well have Meyer
Lansky here recruiting trigger men for the Mafia.� oI eat
chow in that mess-hall and lifers spoil my appetite.�
oItTs like having the KKK burn a cross in your yard.�
Several vets also referred to Maj. Gen. Smedley ButierTs
famous quotation: ~Recruiters are professional liars.�
(Source: Camp News and The Veteran Newspaper)

EXPLOSIVES FOR VIETNAM

Travis AFB, Calif. (May) " An airman told. staff
members of the Travis underground Gl paper,
oTravisty,� that he had loaded explosives onto C-141s.
Most were tagged for Thailand, he said. But others in
that shipment were also tagged for Cambodia and
Vietnam, in direct violation of the ceasefire agreement,
signed January 27. Since the big-money mass press
hasnTt- exposed these American violations of the
cease-fire accords, we feel itTs our job now to do that.
Any other reports you send to us about transporting
weapons, ordinance, planes, or advisers to Vietnam, will

be reported in the oBulkhead� as we receive them.
(Source: Travisty) :

WHO STOLE MY HAT?

Lemoore NAS, Calif. (May) " An admiralTs hat, a $50
gold-braided cap, was the object of an intense search at
Lemoore NAS near Fresno, after Rear Admiral Clyde
Van Arsdale reported it missing. The search delayed the
weekend departure of hundreds of sailors and caused a
mile-long traffic jam at the gate as all cars leaving base
were searched inside and out. The hat was never found.
This Van Arsdale character is the man whoTs head of the
7th Naval District! (Source: San Francisco Chronicle)

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO
ARMED FORCES DAY?

USA (May 19) " May 19 was Armed Forces Day, but
you'd never know it. Only three years ago the brass was
having air shows, weapons demonstrations, opening their
bases to the public. A real heavy snow job. But this year
was a real retreat for the brass, though. Years of public
disillusionment with the military, and contempt for the
war theyTve been so hot to fight, have added up to
almost no official Armed Forces Day at all this year. At
Hamilton AFB, California, a sergeant summed it all up in
an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, saying, o~l
guess itTs not the most popular thing in the world today,
is it?TT (Source: San Francisco Chronicle)

DONTT BUY FARAH PANTS

In May of 1972, the people who make Farah pants,
walked out of the factory in San Antonio, Texas.
Workers at plants in El Paso, Victoria, Las Cruces and
Albuquerque soon joined the strike. They walked out
because they wanted to have some control over the work
they did. The company wouldnTt even talk with the
strikers. Instead, the company responded by issuing guns
and patrol dogs to plant guards, surrounding the plants
with barbed wire and telescopic cameras, and illegally
rounding up citizens of Mexico to do the work the
strikers refuse to do. 1500 people have been arrested in
14 months. Still the strike grows stronger. The following
letter was sent by the strike committee to'GI papers all

over the country. ItTs a Chicano vetTs view of what the
strike is about.

Dear Brothers & Sisters in the military,

! am a Chicano worker. | worked until May T72 in the
Farah Pants Company in Texas. | am now out on strike
for the tenth month. 3,000 workers are struggling for
dignity, better living conditions, and the end of

discrimination,

/ write to you, my military brothers and sisters
because | was in the military not so long ago. Many of us
are veterans, so we know what it means to be inside
there, and why we think you'll understand and support
Us.

We went and served in the military, many believing in
serving this country. One of the main reasons was that as
Chicanos, most of us were working people and we
couldn't find a job when we got out of school. The
military was the way to survive. Many of us got killed in
unjust wars, We were about 20% of the casualties. Those
of us who came back to Texas with machinists,
mechanics, and radio operators experience started the
painful and humiliating task of seeking jobs that were
reserved for white people. | looked for a mechanic job
for six months; | was refused in many places, given
ridiculous tests in others, Money started to run low and
my family couldnTt wait for changes in this society in
order to eat. So | got a job at Farah, the largest
manufacturer of pants in the country. There you donTt
need a trade. They train you as they like. You get a
place to sit at any machine they acquire, and all that is
expected of you is work; maybe | should say slave!

We are not supposed to talk with each other, or to go
to the washroom. We are required to say, ~Yes, sirTT at
all times and to o~mind our own business�... . that is, not
talk about the working conditions,

Any human being has a limit and a demand. The limit
of our patience was over. We started feeling strong
together and now our demand is the sky! We want not a
raise but we want a future for our families. We want a
decent society. So we started to organize and we found
the bitter truth, The whole establishment was against us.
Arrests, unlawful strike breaking and harassment faced
us. So we turned to our friends. Workers all over the
country are helping us with money, with solidarity, and
with the boycott.

Now we turn to you. Where you are on the military
bases Farah sells many pants in the PX. And those pants
sold to you are hurting all of us.

Many times soldiers have been used against workers.
But now, it comes to a time that we know more about
each other than ever before. We now ask you to not buy
Farah pants in your PXs!

We ask you to do whatever is possible to help us step
toward self-determination for you and all other workers
faced with the same threats and oppressive conditions.

DONTT BUY FARAH PANTS! VIVA LA HUELGA!

TWELVE SAILORS ON NIXONTS YACHT
CAUGHT SMOKING POT
AINTT THAT HOT

Washington, D.C. (May 26) " Twelve sailors assigned to

the unit that operates Tricky DickTs yacht, the Sequoia,

have been transferred after some of them were

discovered smoking marijuana. The incident marks the

second time in three weeks that Navy men assigned jobs

near the President have been investigated for smoking -
dope.

UP AGAINST THE BULKHEAD / JUNE-JULY 1973 / PAGE ONE







_ LETTERS

[A WORD FROM THE STAFF]

These two pages of letters donTt include even half the letters we
receive for publication. DonTt get pissed off if your letter isnTt
here. WeTre holding the rest over to the next issue. So keep those
letters coming. Because of space limitations, weTve been unable
to print the complete text of every letter. When we have to edit
them, we look for the parts that would be of interest to other
readers. Letters are not edited for political content. If we run
your letter, it will say just what it said when you sent it to us.

[USS CORAL SEA]

Dear Friends / Hi, how is it in the land of the free and
the home of the brave? The Captain dropped into JoeTs
compartment this morning and was horrified because the
lights were out! Heck, half the division is on 6 & 6 [six
hours on duty, six hours off /, and itTs Sunday besides,
All snipes die in their bunks on Sunday, except for the
card players.... Oh, | almost forgot. That black guy |
put in a good word for at court-martial is out of the brig
now. He could have gotten over a month and super
restricted, but he got ten days and thirty days restriction
with a $196 fine. ThatTs real rough, but he could have
gotten worse. HeTs a cook now and seems real happy. |
talked with him and he said he was sure glad | put
myself in the picture at his court-martial. You can
imagine how good that made me fee! !

Well, ITve got to go relieve Terrible Tom the Lifer for
awhile. Peace, goodwill, and FTN. K eeping on "B.G.

[FROM EXILE IN CANADA]

Dear People at Bulkhead / | was very impressed with
your article which argued that now is not the time for
the Gl movement to shrivel up and die. As an Army
deserter | know that the racism and oppression that is
the lifeblood of the military hasnTt disappeared. | know
also that American imperialism has not changed its ways,
and that since the military is the tool by which policies
of this imperialism are implemented, the struggle against
US imperialism cannot end. Hence, you will find the
enclosed donation.

Just as the struggle against imperialism cannot /et up,
there is another struggle which is just beginning " the
one for universal, unconditional amnesty for war

resisters. By no means should the struggle for amnesty
imply that US imperialism has ceased to exist, but rather
that now is the time to win back the rights and freedom
of Gls, ex-Gls, and draft resisters so that they can fight
again, and so that in the public eye it will be seen that to
resist US imperialism is correct and proper.
Yours for universal, unconditional amnesty,

"J.C.

va
sisal 74

The catapult crew of the USS Coral Sea collapsed asleep in between raids during the cruise of 1971-72.

[FORT LEAVENWORTH DISCIPLINARY BARRACKS]

Dear Bro S. {| Some dude got beat up and they are
charging me for the assault. They want to court-martial
me again, you see, by me being black, they donTt want

to let me go. They want to bust me. Also, these guards
in the base assaulted me when | came down here. About
eight of them worked me over. But ITm alright now.

The inmate was beat up pretty bad in the morning
when everyone was asleep. He claims he thinks | was
there but canTt be sure cuz the guys were all wearing
masks. | should have my trial in three weeks. | donTt
trust these military lawyers, since | am facing five to ten
years.

/ donTt know whatTs happening here lately, but ITm
living in sixteen hours a day of fear because they keep
threatening me. | am going to send you an article that |
would like you to type up and send to my parents and as
many papers as possible. We, the black people, have to
stop these swine before they kill even one of us, They
did kill a brother in 1969 when they hung him. But the
case was closed in five minutes as a suicide case which
was a bunch of bullshit.

They won't send a man back to jail when the public is
aware whatTs happening. They just canTt afford that.
Because they want to hide the truth from the public.
They have done that for too long. We've got to show the
people whatTs really happening to our black brothers in
this prison. Once these people find out the public is
aware of the truth, things should cool down. . . .

Yours in the revolution -R.R.
[EditorTs note: These are selections of letters from Ray
Rasak, a black inmate at Fort Leavenworth Disciplinary
Barracks. He is from Los Angeles, and was due out in
October. But in early May of this year, he found himself
framed on an assault charge, and almostTframed on a
drug possession charge. The best way to show support

for Ray is to write him at this address: Ray Rasak,
Drawer oA�, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Daryl! Larrabee, one of seven sailors off the USS Constellation
who refused to deploy to Nam with the ship.

[USS WESTCHESTER COUNTY]

Brothers | My morale is at a peak not because of Navy
efforts, but because of the truths you print. | do not
oppose just the American government, but all
governments because they deny freedom. | am for the
people and some day the people will rise and crush our
capitalistic government. | believe myself to be a socialist
anarchist. ITm not new to the movement. ITve had
contact with it for many years now. The Navy was just a
curiosity. Power,

PAGE TWO / UP AGAINST THE BULKHEAD / JUNE-JULY 1973

The entrance to the Fort Dix stockade.

[A WOMAN FROM PLEASANT HILL, OREGON]

Hello | To whomever reads this first, let me introduce
myself: Mrs, Pat Jacobson, 42 years young, mother of
four (three boys) and a former member of the average
flag-waving, apple-pie baker, housewifery conglomerate
that makes up the put-together of this country. Thanks
to the oeducation�T my oldest son is receiving in the USN
ITve presently evolved into a radical nervous wreck that
is slowly becoming unglued. Maybe ITm unique, but |
LISTEN to my kids. If they have a better answer or
solution to a particular problem than | do, it receives my
attention. If | agree with them, ITm with them all the
way; if | disagree, | respect their opinion and shut up!
Information about SOS was brought home by our son
Jeff (presently aboard the USS Coral Sea) last
November, along with pictures he took at the
demonstrations before they deployed to TNam
November 12. His choice of enlisting in the Navy

(beause of a low /ottery number) was not the smartest
thing heTs ever done.

Peace, -Pat Jacobson

[TREASURE ISLAND BRIG]

Bulkhead / In your April edition you said that Pat
ChenowethTs trial was going to the Philippines [see story
on page one], The people out there that are fighting for
Pat are wonderful people. It really helps Pat here in the
brig Rnowing that there are people behind him. To say a
few things about Pat, he is a beautiful person. He knows
what he wants and he really has his head together. This
brig changes most people, me included. But Pat stays
Pat, through the strength of the people behind him |
suppose.

! personally have been locked up for 74% months
without a trial so | think | know how Pat must feel. It is

quite a weight on your mind 24 hours a day. Peace
through love "W.M.

[USS FOX]

Dear People / First of all | would like to describe life
aboard the Fox (DLG33). Morale is very low. I, a
radioman, am standing port and starboard watches while
catching only four hours sleep a night. But my sympathy
isnTt for myself. ItTs for the BTs [boiler technicians]
aboard the ship. It has come to my attention that they
are also standing port and starboard watches with four
hours sleep. But their warking conditions are
unbearable. Many are losing weight from skipping meals
to get 45 minutes of extra sleep. Our minds are numbed
and our body functions are retarded by constant fatigue.

Why not join forces to stump the enlistment rate of
the Armed Forces. Picket recruiting offices!! Warn your
younger brothers!! Many come into the service from
lack of jobs. Give those brothers jobs so they won't have
to sell their self-respect for a few dollars and a pack of
lies!

We can make it happen. -T.A.






[MARINE VET GETTING SHAFTED]

Dear Bulkhead / This is just to let you know how things
are going with some of us ~~vets,TT | have been hounded
by the Marine Corps off and on ever since | finally got
out. At first | ignored them because | donTt feel that |
owe them anything more than theyTve already gotten
from me " my life for eight years with the great possibi-
lity of the supreme sacrifice. My father thought that this
was an unfair action as it had also happened to my
brother-in-law (former Sgt. Ed Snodgrass, US Army, of
Spencer, West Virginia " spent his time in helicopters in
Vietnam).

I've heard from some friends that you are running
short of cash now and I'm not able to help you out any.
I'm busted too. The good old V.A. just isnTt taking care
of its own, Everyone told me that you have to pay the
government when the say you owe them something. But
/ guess you really donTt. They just do what they can to
screw up the rest of your life. Well, 1Tm not paying and |
wish that all the other ex-Gls would take the same stand.
Most of the guys | know have gotten letters [from mill-
tary credit unions] demanding them to pay back some
alleged amount of money that they are supposed to owe.
Once | finished that job | feel it should be over and any
mistake that may have been made is their fault.

[EditorTs note: The following letter was sent by Dan to

the Marine Corps Finance Center. They claim he owes
them over a $100. ]

To anyone concerned at the Marine Corps Finance
Center / As you may know from reviewing my service
record, | spent a little more than eight years in the U.S.
Marine Corps in good standing. Three of those years
were spent in direct involvement in your ~~beautifulTT war
in Viet Nam and the other five in direct support.

/ lost a home at a loss in San Diego in 1968 and a wife
and two children while on my second tour in your Viet
Nam war. | gained no money fortunes while in the
service of my country and will probably not recover for
many years if ever from the mental state in which it left
me. | am very destitute at this time and see nothing
better for quite a period in the future. | ama full time
student trying to make a better future for myself. | have
started into my second semester of college and have still
not received a check from the veteransTs administration
for education. No money or time for any social activity

at all, and you expect me to pay the richest government
in the world for a mistake that it made while in full

control of my person and records. | couldnTt pay if |
wanted to.

If it pleases you to try and mess up my future by
screwing up a credit reference and adding a detrimental
post-mortem to my service record, then so be it. You
already ruined the last ten, so why not have a hand in
the next. With no due respect, "D.M.

[USS CONSTELLATION]

Sympathizers | Here | am a patriot in the eyes of many
Americans, setting out on yet another seek and destro IY
errand in the name of opeace with honor.TT And their
favorite slogan is oLove it or leave it!� Well, wake up
you patriots with the white canes, for | have left it. And
your idea of olove� is leaving your homeland to do
battle with people who are truly willing to die for what
they believe in. You wonder why | offer my utmost
respect to the NLF and NVA ... 1 wish American had
something worth dying for.

During the transit over to P.1. [the Philippines], four
main machinery room had a fire that put it out of
commission for about two and a half weeks. Then two
mainTs reduction gears and turbines lost lube oil and
were odeemed�T non-operational#or the remainder of the
first line period and much of this one. And we have real
evaporator troubles. Had to turn off the water for a day.
Salt water showers were open. So far, one man has been
killed " sucked into the intake of a F4.

The pilots havenTt hung any more planes over the
side. | guess ESO ran out of USAFI courses on anarch ',
But the pilots, with their neatly cut moustaches, pear!
white teeth, and shiny golden wings are getting nervous.
Nothing to kill and boost their egos for days. Could
create a serious personality conflict.

It is good tidings to hear of Billy D. SmithTs freedom
[not guilty verdict in a fragging case at Fort Ord]. But
this outcome puts an even greater strain on Jeff Allison
and Pat Chenoweth [both charged with sabotage] for
the military is now more than ever hungry for the blood
of the heroes of the working class. So everybody, write
to the heavies. The most powerful revolutionary weapon
that anyone and everyone can possess is easily found in

A Marine double amputee in the Oak Knoll Naval
Hospital, California.

[29 PALMS, CALIFORNIA]

Dear S. / By the way, you know that book oAsk A
Marine by David Osborne? Well, do you still have
contacts with him? Cause my brother read it and has
even started writing up a follow-up to it, and we want to
know if D. Osborne would mind if we put it in print!
ITve read and helped a bit here and there, and | think itTs
far out! When we finish it | will send you a copy and let
you think about it, and let us know what you think. By

the way, my brother was in the suck for three years, so
he knows what itTs like.

In peace and freedom "Richard & Chris
[EditorsTs note: the book referred to was written by a
Marine named David Osborne, while he was in the
Pendleton brig awaiting a general court-martial for

desertion. The pamphlet is available from the Bulkhead
for fifteen cents. |

[GERMANY]

Dear Bulkhead | Remember us, okay? Those small units
scattered through the German countryside. Twenty of us
poor captives wardened by a handful of osuperiors.TT
Nowhere to go. Nothing to do. We can hybernate our
way through our tour, or we can stand up to a
totalitarian hierarchy of self-centered pigs. We sit and
stagnate while the command speaks of the high morale
of our unit and our brother units. | for one refuse to sit
still and rot. If you could send me a dozen copies of the
Bulkhead, maybe | can use them to get people together.
lsolation is one of our big problems,

Keep truckinT. "T.M.

Members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War in a demonstration at the Republican National Convention in Miami, Florida in

August 1972.

[CUBA]

Sirs | Please send me info on a way to get out of the
Navy by legal means. | joined the Navy because the
Army was after me. ITm stationed in Gitmo
[Guantanamo, Cuba ] and these lifers are dri ving me
crazy. Any assistance would be appreciated. -}.F.

[SOUTH KOREA]

Bulkhead / Incidents? Several fights between blacks and
whites on the nightly buses that travel around the
different posts. Two infiltrators murdered in the Korean
sector of the DMZ. The G-2 pictures were gruesome.
Two Yongsan soldiers (Americans) took over a police
station on a hill in Seoul and held hostages with much
ammunition demanding to be released from the Army
and returned to the states. They gave in and the weapons
and ammo that were captured still has not been
officially accounted for. Where would one gather
together enough weapons for an entire company?

Black marketing is some of the worst in the world, |
suppose, since | have never run into such corruption and
outright stealing as | have seen over here. The million
dollars in aid poured in here annually is only a pittance
compared to the amount of government property and
PX items that are stolen and turned over on the market.
ItTs a book in itself, but the people involved in stopping
it are probably on the take also, because it never seems

The USS Constellation deploying for Vietnam in the Fall of
ae 1971.

any store: a pen and paper. to make a significant change.

"C.M.
UP AGAINST THE BULKHEAD / JUNE-JULY 1973 / PAGE THREE







What Is An Article 15?

An Article 15 is described in the Uniform Code of
Military Justice (UCMJ) as non-judicial punishment. This
means that it is punishment that can be administered
without a trial or a judge.

The Army and Air Force call it Article 15. The Navy

calls it CaptainTs Mast. The Marines call it Office Hours.
ItTs all the same thing.

What Can Article 15s Be Given For?

Article 15 can only be given for acts or omissions that
are against the UCMJ. Like refusing an order, drugs,
uniform violations, etc. Article 15s are always given for
acts that could be punished by a military court. It is
used to intimidate the troops and keep them under
control. Because there is no court involved they do not

have to prove their accusations! It is much cheaper and
takes less time for them.

Who Can Give An Article 15?

Only the commanding officer (squadron commander/
AF) of a unit, or a person who has been given the
authority under the proper regulation (like a platoon
leader in the Army) can give an Article 15. He must be

in your chain of command. No NCO can give an Article
15.

What Punishment Can Be Given
With Article 15?

If a CO who is Captain or below gives the Article 15
(more likely in the Army and Marines) the maximum
punishments are: (a) if imposed on a person attached to
a ship, confinement on bread and water or diminished
rations for not more than three consecutive days; (b)
correctional custody for not more than seven days; (c)
loss of not more than seven days pay; (d) reduction of
one pay grade, if he has the authority to promote you to
the grade you are now; (e) extra duty for not more than
fourteen days; (f) restriction to a specific area for not
more than fourteen days.

If given by a Major or above, the maximum
punishments are: (a) custody up to 30 days; (b) loss of
not more than half your pay for two months; (c)
reduction to lowest pay grade, unless you are E-5 or
above, then reduced two grades; (d) extra duty up to 45
days; (e) restriction up to 60 days; (f) holding of your
pay, 50% maximum, up to three months worth, and

they donTt have to give it back to you for one year,
unless you get out earlier.

Can They Give All These Punishments At Once?

No. Some punishments can be combined. For
example, they can give 30 days custody, reduction to
lowest grade and a fine. They canTt combine restriction
for 60 days, 30 days custody, and 45 days extra duty as
punishments. They also cannot give a fine and hold pay

f

,
;
;

at the same time, unless they give an apportionment (see
pages 26-7 and 26-8 of the Manual for Courts-Martial).

Does An Article 15 Have To Be Accepted?

No! If someone feels that the military doesnTt have a
really good case, they can refuse to sign. There are two
ways someone can refuse: a person can call the militaryTs
bluff by refusing to sign and not requesting a
court-martial. If the military didnTt really have any
strong evidence, they might drop charges. Or if a person
wants to fight, they can request a summary or a special
court-martial. If you simply refuse to sign, the brass can
convene any of the three kinds of court-martials,
depending on the offense you are charged with.

If you are on board a ship you do not have the right
to refuse a CaptainTs Mast. This is unconstitutional, but
it has not been tested.

There is much debate as to whether Article 15s
should ever be signed. A strong GI movement on a base
can hamper the BrassTs power to_ inflict arbitrary
harassment on Gls by waging a widespread campaign of
massive refusal to sign Article 15s. This will clog up the
military courts, since they could never handle that many
court-martials, and force COs to hand out fewer Article
15s.

However, an individual GI should consider the
different possibilities before refusing to sign. Many
times, Article 15s are given for offenses that could
warrant a much heavier punishment than an Article 15
could give. For example, many people are given Article
1Ss when caught with a lid or some joints. If it has been

a legal search and they have the evidence, it would be
crazy not to sign.

If You Accept An Article 15

The DoD has recently issued new provisions on

Article 15s that give you a few more rights when you
face your CO. The new rules are:

harrassment to one of fairness and justice.

PAGE FOUR / UP AGAINST THE BULKHEAD / JUNE-JULY 1973

PETITION TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES
REGARDING ARTICLE 15, UCMJ

We, the undersigned Gls of [name of your base, ship, or duty station] demand that Congress
completely change Article 15, UCMJ, taking the power to impose punishment out of the hands of
Commanding Officers and putting it into the hands of enlisted people.

We propose that a board be established composed of three EMs, grades E-1 thru E-9, who would
be elected every ninety days in company-wide elections. That board would decide on all cases that
are now decided by commanding offivers. The board would hear both sides of a case, allowing the
accused to defend himself before making its decision. , |

Article 15 is now used to intimidate and harrass Gls. It violates the Constitution of the United
States by denying Gls due process of law. It is used in a racist way against Third World Gls. It gives
company commanders absolute power to punish EM under their command who they donTt like.

A democratically-elected board would change the present system of intimidation and

Know Your Rights And Learn How To Fight Non-Judicial Punishment
Stop The Railroad

_Fight

(Taken from oTurning The Regs Around,�T a book on your legal rights and how to use them]

Article 15 punishments are not to be carried out until
after an appeal has been decided upon. Previously, the
punishment was carried out immediately, and a person
probably would have paid his fine and served his time
before an appeal decision came down. Under the new
rules, you can appeal any sentence given you under
Article 15 no matter what it is. This is especially
advisable if you feel that any part of the proceedings or
sentence was unfair.

You must receive ~~adequate legal advice� before
action can be taken by your commander. It is not clear
yet whether this means that they have to provide you
with a lawyer for advice at your hearing. But you should
always ask for legal help, and if you donTt get it,
mention that fact in your appeal.

You must have the chance to make a full presentation
of your case in front of your CO oincluding but not
limited to the right to call witnesses, present evidence
and to be accompanied by a person to speak in your
behalf.� This gives you an opportunity to make a whole
case for yourself both in challenging the specific charges
and in showing harrassment, discrimination, etc. Also it
probably allows you to have a friend, counselor or
anyone else speak for you even if they arenTt lawyers.

Article 15 proceedings will be open to the public
except when security or ~~military exigenciesT forbid
publicity. Bring your friends! This can be a great way to
educate people about the true nature of military
injustice. A lot of people interested in what happens to
you can have an effect on your COTs decisions. Our
strength is in our unity and numbers.

Finally, they must advise you of your right to appeal
nonjudicial punishment.

How To Appeal

An appeal has to be filed within 15 days after you
sign the Article 15. You have the right to talk to a
lawyer or legal officer to get help writing it. This appeal
goes to the next superior authority through the legal
office.

Remember, they canTt give a worse punishment just
because someone appeals it.

Once you have accepted an Article 15, you will get
some kind of punishment from your CO. With that in
mind, you should do everything psosible that helps your
case. If you use these regs you can improve your chances
and force the military to make an effort to appear fair.

If you accept Article 15 punishment, it will be on
your military records but not on any civilian records.

Nonjudicial punishment has no legal standing outside the
military.

Fighting Article 15s

As of May 1973, groups of Gls at several bases were
circulating this petition. Its purpose is to take away from

the brass one weapon they use to intimidate people into
submission.






ary

Washington, D.C. (May 24) " Eight anti-war POWs have
been charged by a senior POW with refusal of orders,
collaboration with their Vietnamese captors, acceptance

ce

of ~~privileges,� and making anti-war broadcasts and
statements. The Gls who have been. charged are all
enlisted men " three Marines and five Army. Two are
black, and one is Chicano. These eight are supposed to
have been part of the ~Peace Committee� while
confined at the ~Plantation,T a prison camp in the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam (what we call ~~North
Vietnam�). The ranking officer in the camp, an Air
Force Colonel named Theodore Guy, is the one who is
pressing the charges.

If the Dept. of Defense had its way, Col. Guy would
never have been able to press charges. As far back as
January, the DoD said that no POW would be punished
for having made anti-war statements while in prison.
After all, the DoD got what it wanted from the POW
return: all that oGod bless America, and God bless our
President� stuff was just what Nixon needed to mask the
fact that he got his ass kicked in Indochina.

What the DoD doesnTt need is a series of
court-martials which would show that many POWs had
deserted to get out of combat; that some had defected
because of their opposition to the war; that their
anti-war statements reflected their real feelings about the
war, and were not a play for privileges; and that the
American POWs held by the Vietnamese in the north
and the south were treated ten times better than the
soldiers of the National Liberation Front (the so-called
oVietcong�T) held by ThieuTs prisons in south Vietnam.
Court-martials would also encourage more anti-war
POWs to speak their mind. Up till now theyTve been
encouraged by threat of court-martial to make no public
statements. Once court-martials begin, the Pentagon
would have no more threats left to make.

ENLISTED POWs SPEAK UP

Some anti-war POWs have already spoken up. Sp/4
Richard Springman of Cottonwood, Arizona, got off the
plane wearing beads and a large peace symbol. When he
was restrained by MPs for talking to the crowd at the
airport, he smiled and gave the-crowd a clenched fist
salute. SpringmanTs grandmother, Mrs. Carroll Dagget,
said in an interview, ~~He served his eleven months until
he became so sick of the bloodletting, and the stuff he
Saw and the things that were going on that it turned him
sick unto death and he couldnTt go on with it.� She also
said the Springman had told his parents that he
purposely gave himself up to the National Liberation
Front during the Cambodian invasion because he was
~tired of killing, sick of it.TT

Sp/6 John Sparks, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, was at

{Taken from the Santa Barbara News & Review, this
is a description of the release of National Liberation
Front and ~~North VietnameseT? POWs]

oUnlike their American counterparts, these POWs
were in shockingly poor physical condition. Wrapped
in bandages, almost every figure missing limbs, they
hobbled on crutches and carrying each other, yet
took the time and effort to pull off their clothes their
captors had given them. As these men were, for the
most part, quite recently captured, one could only
speculate on the fate of the long-term inhabitants of
the oTiger Cages.TT Although they seemed pitifully
weak and on the verge of collapse, when the group
reached a border checkpoint marked by the flag of
the Thieu government, they stormed the flagpole and
tore down the flag. Then, as the cameras whirred, the
POWs stripped away their bandages, forced open the
wounds, and used their own blood to spell out:

oVietnam is one country!TT This was the new flag
they left behind them.�

o| no longer want to fight for
you or anyone like you. In fact,

| won't ever fight for your kind
of American people. ... 1 cannot
support the killing of innocent
Vietnamese men, women, and

children, or the destruction of
their beautiful country.�T

[Army Special Forces SSgt. John
A. Young, of Waukegan, IIlinois]

the ~~Plantation�T prison camp, and knew members of the
oPeace Committee.� He was quoted by the Washington

Post Service as saying that, ~~It was at a time when there
was a lot of bombing going on and. some of the men

disagreed with the way the war was being conduted.TT He
went on to say that he felt their actions were based on
disenchantment with the war, not a self-serving play for
privileges.

Sp/4 Michael. Branch, of Highland Heights, Kentucky,
told the Associated Press that, ~~When the war was
coming to an end, and this is my own opinion, Colonel
Guy and the other officers started making a show of
order.TT Staff Sergeant James A. Daly, Jr., said that
Colonel Guy filed his charges to cover his own ass.
Nobody in the prison camp received packages from
home unless they did something for the Vietnamese, said

Daly, and nobody in the camp received packages from
home except Colonel Guy.

ANTI-WAR OFFICERS

Even though Col. Guy filed charges against the eight
enlisted men, no charges have been filed against those
officers who made anti-war statements. At least a dozen
officers made anti-war statements while held prisoners
by the Vietnamese. Three defended their statements
after their return.

Navy Capt. Walter E. Wilbur, in anti-war boradcasts
over Radio Hanoi, said, ~~l was always for peace. | felt if
we were going to wind it down, why donTt we stop it
now?� When asked on his return as to why he made
these statements, Capt. Wilbur said he was trying to
inform the American people about the war.

Air Force Capt. Lynn Guenther also made anti-war
appeals on Radio Hanoi. He defended those statements

Gung-Ho Colonel Charges Eight Enlisted POWs With Collaboration

when he returned to the states. oYou know as well as |
do, we allow free speech in this country. ... | have my
own personal views on the war.TT When asked what he
thought of the anti-war enlisted POWs, he responded,
oThey took a lot of heat and stood up for what they
believed in.TT

Marine Lt. Col. Edison Miller defended his anti-war
statements to newsmen by saying, ~~l did what | knew to
be right, what my morality told me was the correct thing
to do.�T ~

Some officers, angered by the floor show staged by
Nixon and his crew, spoke out against the war when
they returned. Air Force Major Hubert K. Flesher, a
fighter pilot, said after his return that the U.S. obutted
its nose into somebody elseTs business ... | donTt think
we really won the war at all.... It was a conflict
between the Vietnamese people, and whether you like it
or not, it should have been theirs to decide.� Major
Flesher also supported amnesty for war resisters. And
Army Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Maslowski of
Chicago told the Chicago Tribune of his reaction to
radio broadcasts of anti-war demonstrations in the U.S.
oFrom the broadcasts it seemed like the anti-war
movement was getting stronger and | was really happy
the American people were trying to put an end to the
war. It didnTt hurt my morale at all.TT

WHAT CAN WE DO?

ItTs typical that the wheels of military injustice turn
only against enlisted people. These eight did what Gls do
every day. They stood up for their beliefs, and refused
to follow the orders of their commanding officer. The
fact that they are POWs may not protect them from
prosecution.

Our job is to support these brothers, demand that
charges against them be dropped with no recriminations,
and demand no further charges against any anti-war
POWs. ItTs men like Col. Guy who should be charged
with war crimes and tried by the people of Indochina.
We suggest people write the eight at their home
addresses which follow below:

Sgt. Abel L. Kavanaugh
7340 N. Dakin St.

apt. B-308
Westminster, COL

Sp/4 Michael Branch
2302 Wilson Road
Highlands Heights, KY

SSgt Robert P. Chenoweth
c/o Crown

7227 SE Flavel Street
Portland, OR 97206

SSgt King David Rayford, Jr.
c/o Lovie May Rayford

3547 S, Federal

Chicago, ILL 60609

SSgt. James A. Daly, Jr.
532 Madison St.
Brooklyn NY 11224

SSgt. Alphonso Ray Riate
6075 Priory St.

Bell Gardens, CA 90201

Pvt. Frederick L. Elbert, Jr.
471 Mayflower
Brentwood, NY 11717

SSgt. John A. Young
302 E. Belvedere
Grayslake, ILL 60030

UP AGAINST THE BULKHEAD / JUNE-JULY 1973 / PAGE FIVE







Watergate

If they held a poker game every four years to settle which set of thieves
get to rob the people for the following four years, that would not be
much different than the way presidents are elected now.

Of course, there has to be a gentlemenTs agreement about the rules of
the game. What Watergate shows us is a severe case of gentlemanly
disagreement and what happens when cheats catch each other in the act.

The result is more spectacular than any Hollywood extravaganza. And

why not? These producers are playing with a national budget of some two
hundred billion a year or so.

But why? Why are they at each otherTs throats right now?
The sources of Watergate are deep in this sick society that we live in.

People who feel that itTs not just this special problem, but one real big
smelly mess, are right.

At the surface, floating right on the top is Richard Milhouse Nixon,
President of the U.S. His career is a product of our times. The rise and fal!
of Tricky Dick is the scummy froth, not the tide. It does show the motion
of the ocean, though, and reveals that something is happening underneath.

Right now not only Democrats, but even some of NixonTs heavy
backers are debating whether the Nixon government can be cleaned up
and salvaged or whether it should be written off as a failure. Some

politicians are even worried about people losing faith in the Presidency
itself as well as the two party system.

Press and tv coverage and the Senate hearings give some idea of the
action. But there are still heavier crimes and charges to be exposed and
understood. How does the lawlessness of the Nixon government exposed
by Watergate relate to heavier social crimes that were presided over not

just by Nixon, but were going on under Lyndon Johnson and others
before him?

ONGOING SOCIAL CRIMES
A SUBJECT NEITHER NIXON OR HIS CRITICS
WISH TO TALK ABOUT

Racist and genocidal wars have been waged against Red Indians, Black Africans,
Brown Filipinos, Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Arabs, Mexicans, Cubans,
Puerto Ricans, and more.

Now no-weapon-is..too. horrible to use in Asia. Atomic and ordinary bombs and
guns and fire and napalm, and within the ghettos and reservations and resettlemen:
camps of the U.S., cold and starvation and disease and humiliation, oppression anc
discrimination and ill-treatment in prisons, courts and hospitals, and heavy drugs, clubs
and tear gas on the streets.

Within the U.S. there is always exploitation of poor and working people, but the
most intense exploitation and oppression (and the greatest profits) comes when loot-
ing the raw-materials and resources of weaker countries, and by flooding their markets
with worthless commodities and by cheap labor.

There is also systematic looting of culture; our museums are full of other peopleTs
art. In return, we give them Coca-Cola.

There is persecuting the young for wanting something better; turning schools and
the media into a brainwash and a big lie factory for the system.

There are the frame-ups and false justice coming down on the people from the same
courts that excuse and reward the powerful and the rich, the officer corps, and the
racists. There are special persecutions of political opponents and protesters of court
martials and the brig for people who acted for GI rights or against the war.

There is the sexist system that degrades and oppresses and exploits women as a
prime condition of the power control of the men who run things. At Watergate so far
women have appeared only as powerless un-political shit-workers.

There is militarism " using people in mercenary and impressed armies and police
and prison forces. Bribing and corrupting some to oppress and control all.

Even just on wire-tapping, Watergate scratches only the surface. The government
jealously keeps things from the people which we need to know, but it claims the right

to pry into all our private affairs " in the name of onational security, 600,000

conversations have been ~o~legallyTT wire-tapped in five years, and 300,000 more were
illegally tapped on Presidential orders.

WHY NOW?

Dismal conditions are not really new. Why is there a crisis just now? Watergate itself
is not the crisis. It is a symptom of it. In order to put the overall crisis in perspective,
we have to backtrack through history. We need to examine sixty years of defeats
suffered by NixonTs class, the defeats which made Watergate appear so spectacular.
These years are made up of more than big and little wars. Our times are also full of
great and small resistances and revolutions and successful wars of liberation, of up-

risings and rebellions of people, of oppressed Classes, sex, race, nationality. Old classes

and groups and ways are losing power and new ones are gaining power. Nixon repre-
sents a losing cause.

PAGE SIX / UP AGAINST THE BULKHEAD / JUNE-JULY 1973

erry,

The Nixon-Republican elephant wire-
tapped the Democrat donkey.

Big campaign money was secretly
raised and spent. Offices were burgled.
Phoney names and ID were used. Bribes
were offered and taken, payoffs made.

Criminals were protected and witnes-
ses were silenced. Evidence was concealed
and destroyed.

The Congress was ignored and humili-
ated. Congress fiddled while the White
House broke its laws and decisions.

Watergate revealed White House bur-
gary in an effort to punish Ellsberg-
Russo for exposing the Pentagon-White
House lies to the people about the war in

up crimes,

The President is charged with stupidly
claiming to know how to run the whole
country and the world but not seeing the
caper right under his nose.

Questions are being raised about the
President's rags to riches personal for-
tune, about his real-estate deals, his mil-
lionaire, Mafia, and Teamster connec-
tions, and about their phoney stock and
pension deals.

Important figures in the CIA and the
FBI and former Cabinet members are
deserting Nixon and badmouthing the
opinions and the acts of their former
boss, It seems that at this moment, about

Indochina.
The President is suspected of instigat-

ing illegal and dirty deeds and accused of
knowing about illegal acts and of covering

we

all Nixon can count on is part of the mifi-
tary Brass, Wm. Randolph Hearst chain
newspapers, and the POWs,

THE 20TH CENTURY

In the 1920s, the U.S. as a victor of World War |, became one of the big financial
and economic and military world powers. As such it joined 13 other countries, sending
troops over to try to reverse the Russian Revolution of 1917 and restore the old
system. They failed in that.

In the 1930s the U.S. had the worst economic crisis and depression ever experi-
enced by an industrial nation. People began to question the system.

In the '40s came World War II. The U.S. used it to expand its world power. After
the war it supplied and backed Chiang Kai Sheck against the Chinese Revolution. U.S.
failure in this effort was followed by a big debate about why we o~lost�T China (as if it
was Ours to lose in the first place).

Many other Third World revolutions and wars of liberation. Civil war in Greece, aid
to Turkey, the Marshall Plan, intervention in Cuba (Bay of Pigs), supporting U.S.
puppet dictator Singman Rhee in Korea, the French puppet Bao Dai, and then Ngo
Dinh Diem in Vietnam, Moise Tshombe in the Congo, Trujillo in the Dominican
Republic.

For a time in the Congo, Greece, Dominican Republic, the U.S. had some success in
its efforts. Elsewhere, direct counterrevolution failed. In Korea, the U.S. suffered its
first major military defeat of the century.

Inside the U.S., the T50s were marked by reaction, repression and witch-hunting,
McCarthyism and the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, framed as atomic spies
for the World War II ally, the Soviet Union. Liberal and left movements were in retreat
and disarray.

In the T60s and early T70s, new resistance began to develop partly in response to
Third World successes, the failures of the cold war to solve anything, and the decline
of the ored scare.�T Black and Chicano movements for liberation when frustrated and
repressed led to riots and uprisings from Watts to Detroit. Students and youth move-
ments gave support and found their own causes. The growth of intervention in Viet-
nam tended to pull everything together into a militant anti-racist, anti-war, anti-empire
opposition. There began to be draft resistance, desertions, a GI resistance within the
Armed Forces. There were huge demonstrations and police riots. Washington, D.C.,
Chicago, Berkeley, San Francisco State. Government terror at Augusta State, Kent
State, the murder of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, hundreds of frame-ups and trials.

After World War II, the U.S. bid openly for world leadership and control. In spite
of organizing 2000 military bases around the world and an initial nuclear monopoly,
this effort failed. In part the failure was also marked by loss of clear technological and
economic superiority. But this failure was also marked by the similar failure of Ameri-
can air and naval power to make up for the weakness of unmotivated soldiers when
fighting against men and women from ~~smaller, weakerTT countries with a just cause.






The Rise
&3

Fall of

Tricky Dick

THE RISE

Nixon clawed his way into Congress; he red-baited
New Deal Congressman Jerry Voorhees to get elected to
the House, later did the same to Helen Gahagan Douglas
to make it to the US Senate.

To Nixon, all his opponents were Soviet spies or
dupes. o~National security� already appears as his first
and best loved racket. Once in the Congress, he worked
with Whitaker Chambers, a one-time friend of Alger
Hiss, to frame Hiss as a spy by planting micro-filmed
documents in a garden pumpkin. The oPumpkin Papers�T
were a sensational part of building up the red-scare and

cold war witchhunts of the T50s. Hiss was convicted of .

perjury, not spying, but the damage was done.

THE. FALL

Once re-elected he backs out of Vietnam truce and
horrifies the world with one of the most criminal acts
ever " the December 1972 bombing of northern and
southern Vietnam.

There is international revulsion against his terror
bombings. Sweden, West Germany, the Pope, Australia,
and much of the socialist world all protest. The allies
have pulled out of Vietnam. Never was the U.S. so iso-
lated.

The air offensive flops, the National Liberation Front
(oVietcongTT) do not collapse. Nixon makes an uneasy
and grudging peace. But Nixon goes right on bombing in
Cambodia dn denouncing the Vietnamese and denying
responsibility for Watergate.

He calls for re-instating the death penalty, for death
to saboteurs, more power, total. power for himself and
his cronies. He sees himself not simply as Commander in
Chief of the Armed Forces, but of everybody.

As Malcolm X once said, the chickens do come home
to roost. The MyLaiTs, the invasions of Laos and Cam-
bodia, and their failure, the growth of disunity and dis-
sension spreading to all sections of the population, refu-
sal of the government to respond to peopleTs needs and
things like the assassination of John and Robert
Kennedy and Martin Luther King all go to show that this
Crisis is not just at the surface and it wonTt be solved by
putting a few underlings in jail.

It seems clear already that Nixon has over-reached
himself. His grab for total personal power and rule by
the Nixon gang is not going to come off. There are some
such as Hearst, with his newspapers who are still trying
to save Nixon. Many former supporters are now
concerned that Nixon just canTt make it.

At this moment the most popular position with
traditional democrats and republicans is that Nixon is
damaged but not the Presidency. The Democrats want
mostly to see Nixon crippled but not removed. They use
the excuse that they donTt like Agnew, but what they
really donTt want is for the probing and exposure to go
deeper, to the underlying crisis, which involves both
parties and the entire system. For on the issues of power
and control they are much like Nixon, they want power
too, but they want it more widely held. They fear that
openly crude and bloody exercise of personal power is
too visible, too vulnerable.

Nixon will be removed only if the people force it.
And if his removal seems unavoidable, there will be an
effort to substitute some other reactionary hero. Agnew
doesnTt quite fit. Their trouble is after all this heavy
going, they are very short of heroes.

For people, heroes are not the problem. The problem
is to get through all the flack to ask the right questions
so there is a chance to find some real answers. Changes
are going to happen " but people have to do their own
pushing. No one with their investments in the same

places as Richard M. Nixon is going to do any real favors
for the rest of us.

News...

Gl MOVEMENT SHOOTS DOWN ARTICLE 134

Washington, D.C. (May) " Article 134, the catch-all pro-
vision of the UCM], was ruled unconstitutional by the
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. This article is the one
which covers ~~disorders and neglects to the prejudice of
good order and disciplineT and ~~conduct of a nature to
bring discredit.T This civilian court decision applied to
all branches of the service, and was put into action on
the spot.

The court ruling wiped out Article 134 because it was
too broad. It was used to prosecute people for anything
from passing bad checks to making ~disloyalT state-
ments. The only reason the court made this ruling was
because four different enlisted people fought for years in
the courts to have their convictions for violating Article
134 overturned. Howard Levy, Ken Stolte, Don Amick,
and Mark Avrech were all busted for GI movement acti-
vities. Levy, a doctor, refused to train Green Beret
medics, and spoke publicly about this refusal. Stolte and
Amick distributed leaflets at Fort Ord to other trainees
about the Vietnam war. And Mark Avrech was busted
for ~~attempting to publish a statement disloyal to the
United StatesTT while a Marine stationed at Da Nang in
1969. All four have already served time. But because
they continued to fight to have their convictions over-
turned, no more Gls should have to go to trial for viola-
ting Article 134. (Source: Travisty and Camp News).

DESERTERS NO LONGER WELCOME
IN SWEDEN OR CANADA

USA (Winter-Spring) " If youTre planning to leave your
chains behind and head for greener pastures in another
country, read this first. American military deserters can
no longer expect automatic asylum in Sweden. Kjell
Oeberg, general director of the Swedish Immigrant
Board, announced that ~o~Sweden has no reason to accept
deserters now that the Vietnam war is over. .. .�� Oeberg
apparently hasnTt read the newspapers or talked to any
of the enlisted people applying for entry. SwedenTs new
policy is that deserters now in Sweden can stay, but new
deserters will be stopped at the border and turned over
to MPs.

This move follows a Canadian immigration authority
policy change last November which said that no person
can apply for legal landed immigrant status from within
Canada or at its border stations. Since Gls can hardly be
expected to write ahead for reservations, this move
blocks what has been a legal way of leaving the military
for tens of thousands of Gls and their families. If you
have questions about these changes in Sweden, write to:
oUp From Exile,� Birger Jarlsgatan 27, 3 tr., 11445
Stockholm. For information about ~the Canadian

changes, write to: ~oAmex,TT P.O. Box 187, Station D.,
Toronto, Ontario M6P 3]8.

Subscribe!

rank and name

military number

military address/unit

"_"
branch of service release date

4

| am a captive of the US Armed Forces
and want to gei this free.

[ ] | will distribute Bulkheads on bese.
Send me (5) (10) (25) (50) (100)

HereTs the name and address of a friend in the
service who ought io be getting this paper:

Chenoweth...

Continued from cover

could have meant 30 years in jail.

After the court-martial started getting a lot of publi-
city in newspapers across the country the Navy decided
to move the trial to the Philippines. It was the first time
in anyoneTs memory that the prosecution had requested
a change of venue. Had they succeeded, it would have
given the military a precedent for sending any contro-
versial trial to one of its strongholds in another area of
the world. The military and federal courts agreed with
the Navy that the trial could be moved. But luckily, all
the appeals and motions took several months and the
military judge was hospitalized for chronic alcoholism
and retired. By the time a new judge was selected the
Ranger was already on its way back from Asia and the
NavyTs official reason for transferring the trial (to be
closer to witnesses on the Ranger) was no longer valid.

Both the Navy and federal courts denied Pat his right
to release from pre-trial confinement. Because of this, an
innocent man spent ten months behind bars.

THE NAVYTS PROBLEM

Why was the Navy so anxious to make an example
out of Pat Chenoweth? It should be rembered that in
July, 1972, the U.S. was engaged in another all-out
attempt to save the government of Thieu in Vietnam.
With most U.S. ground troops out of Vietnam and
ThieuTs own army demoralized and defeated, the Nixon
administration escalated its savage bombing of Indochina
to unprecedented levels. The Navy was anxious to send
the Ranger for the attack. They couldnTt afford more
ships out of action because of ~~discipline problems.�T

RESISTANCE

While ther were dozens of law students, lawyers, and
others who worked hard to free Pat, the people most
responsible for the victory were the Gls who withstood
the brassT attempts to force them to fabricate evidence
against Pat. Testimony in court from people on the
Ranger and at Treasure Island brig documented that
Naval Intelligence and brig personnel had threatened and
bribed over a dozen people to turn against Pat. Five
people in the brig told Pat that they had been offered
reductions in sentence (one was even told heTd get a
medal) if they would get a confession from Pat.

In his victory statement Pat said, ~~First, | would like
to thank the people aboard the Ranger and in the brig
who did not knuckle under to the NavyTs attempts at
intimidation. | know that the pressures they faced were
tremendous and that it took great courage to overcome
them.�

He said, Today | feel we have won a great victory
against the most dehumanizing machine in the world. At
a time in history when the United States military is the
major genocidal force around the globe, it is particularly
gratifying not only to be free, but to have beaten the
Navy in its attempt to frame me.

Unfortunately military prisons are still brimming with
people imprisoned unjustly, with flimsy evidence against
them and little access to lawyers and others to work in
their behalf. And their numbers will probably grow"
because armies involved in fighting racist and imperialist
wars will, by their nature, have to continue repressing
their members.

To my brothers and sisters in AmericaTs jails around

the world I say. .. keep struggling. . . soon we shall all be
free.

Power to the People.

TURNING THE
REGS AROUND

Military Law asa Tool For Organizing

Available for one dollar from: P.O. Box 40614
Station C

San Francisco, CA 94110
98 Chenery Street, SF, CA 94]3] f

UP AGAINST THE BULKHEAD / JUNE-JULY 1973 / PAGE SEVEN






hz) Ww 12 ecopy w ple eesti
UNITED FRON PRESS:

C
4043

"The people who run this country have one cold lesson from Vietnam staring them in
the face: You can't fight a war a Latin an army." --from the Introduction,
g y

ee eR a pe eR re ON ca tee Le a

Gl resistance was one of the major forces behind the withdrawal of U.S, ground forces
from Vietnam, GI Revolts contains two eyewitness accounts of resistance to the war and

the Army. One is about a Black medic, fed up with racial harrassment, who shot his top
sergeant.

The second Is about the mutiny of a company of infantrymen near the Cambodian border
in 1971. The revolt was triggered when 15 men were ordered out on a suicidal night patrol
against regiment sized NLF~NVA forces, War reporter Richard Boyle was on hand to slip
out an anti-war petition and a tape recording from Pace,

The pamphlet's conclusion analyses stateside Gi resistance, the recent rebellions in the
Navy, and the frapact of GI revolts on the Vietnam war and future U,S, intervention abroad,

Order from:
The Breakdown of the : :
UNITED FRONT PRESS

U.S. Army in Vietnam P.O. Box 40099
San Francisco, CA 94140

40¢ each

BULK RATES

20% off on 10 or more copies
40% off on 50 or more copies

By Richard Boyle

Also available from United Front Press

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INTERNATIONAL RUNAWAY SHOP: Why U.S. Companies DETROIT TO DURBAN: The Big Three Auto Companies in

Are Moving Their Plants Abroad, by Mitch Zimmerman and South Africa, by the Black Workers Organizing Committee
the United Front Press staff 40¢ 25:

WAGE By ROLS AND HOW TO FIGHT ~EM, by th






Six On and Six Off, Plus Watches, Makes Even Chief Go UA

Free Duluth

[Thanks to oUp From The Bottom� for this story]

San Diego (June) " Sailors on the USS Duluth have
started a campaign to expose conditions on the ship, and
to keep it from sailing until the ship is made safe for its
crew.

Conditions on the ship are so bad that even a Chief
went UA, and men have been sent TAD from other ships
to get the Duluth ready for its next WESPAC cruise,
now scheduled for early June.

Several months ago, the Duluth got a new Captain,
one of the most decorated Captains around. Evidently,
he want the crew to boost his reputation another notch
" all the way to Admiral.

Capt. Hill is responsible for the crewTs extra load of
harassment and overwork. HeTs decided that the crew
had to work six hours on and then six hours off, stand-
ing general quarters when they were off, so they
couldnTt get much sleep, even when they werenTt work-

ing.

AMPHETAMINES

This all work and no sleep policy led a lot of guys into
speed, just so they could stay awake when they were
working. The command has been using urine tests to
deal with this ~~drug abuse.�T

One guy was ordered to do a lot of work in a short
period of time. His division officer knew he was eating
speed to stay awake the extra hours it took to do the
work. After the job was over, the division officer had
him busted for speed!

A lot of guys were recently transferred off the ship,
leaving a lot of inexperienced guys in their places. The

work load and harassment have made things worse for
them.

LEADERSHIP

If all this wasnTt enough, the officers on the ship have
shown their own incompetence. For example, the
Duluth hit a sailboat coming into the harbor and
knocked its mast off! In a real crisis decision, a junior
officer managed to foul up the boilers with salt water.

This kind of leadership by the command has led some
of the Chiefs, who were observers for refresher training,
to say that even they were afraid to sail with the ship.

POOR REPAIRS
Equipment on the ship is in bad shape. The crew of
the Duluth put in a lot of extra hours during its yard
period, but it was all under pressure to get out of the

yards on time. Since it was the first ship to get out of
the yard on time in two years, that may look good on
the CaptainTs record. But it means that the ship was not
adequately repaired. With an inexperienced crew and
incompetent officers, more and more of the faulty
equipment is failing.

So much has been going wrong with equipment that
thereTs been a lot of talk of sabotage aboard the Duluth.
It seems that the command wonTt admit to any mistakes
of its own so theyTre looking around the ship for sabo-
teurs. TheyTve even had new locks installed in the engine
room compartments.

The CaptainTs low opinion of people other than him-
self comes out in other ways. ThereTs a Navy regulation
1121.1 that requires contaminated oil to be dumped 50
miles off shore. The Duluth dumped part of a 17,000
gallon tank of contaminated oil while at the pier at 32nd
Street. One guy was told to pour some soap overboard,
and turn a hose on it, to cut the oil. Finally, when all the
water around the ship turned black, they stopped dump-
ing the oil.

FIGHTING BACK

All these things piled up on each other, and men on
the Duluth decided to fight back.

When a Chief went UA, one guy was harassed because
it was said that he knew where the Chief was. So twenty
other guys in the division signed a petition saying they'd
all seen the UA Chief while he was gone.

At the end of April, a newspaper appeared on the ship
called the oFree Duluth.� The paper points out what's
happening on the ship, and shows some ways to fight
back against the conditions that exist on the ship.

A bulletin as we go to press tells us that right after the
second issue of the oFree Duluth� came out, the ship
had a change of command. The new captain immediately
promised to correct the poor conditions on board. He
also promised to deal with all grievances within 24
hours. But he also promised to bust anyone caught dis-
tributing the ~Free Duluth.T�T Some crewmen thought
this new captain was an ally, while other thought he
smelled fishy. The argument was resolved when the more
active crewmen in the movement were either discharged,
or put on restriction pending CaptainTs Masts or sum-
maries. But as soon as one set of guys were ripped off,
another group went to the Center for ServicemenTs
Rights to talk about ways to continue the movement.
The Duluth sailed June 4 on its WESPAC cruise, with
the movement still growing.


Title
Up against the bulkhead, June-July 1973
Description
Up against the bulkhead. Number 15. June-July 1973. Papers were handed out to sailors leaving the Norfolk Naval Base in Norfolk, Virginia.
Date
1973
Original Format
newspapers
Extent
29cm x 44cm
Local Identifier
DS559.62.U6 U6 1970/75
Subject(s)
Spatial
Location of Original
Joyner Hoover
Rights
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