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BGErTERS TO THE
aks PEOPLE
RETIRING GENERALS LOVE A PARADE
oa
and we peons love ydu. general
BI ANGIANTING
Hi again!
After a six week revamping,
reassesment, vacation, analysis, case
of the blahs, and look around, we're
back with another Bragg Briefs.
Things have gone through some
changes (don't they always?), and things
have stayed the same, but one thing re-
mains the same---in order for Bragg
Briefs to keep on truckin', we need .-
people, :
The people who make this paper
are spec fours, and e-dueces, and
Sargeants, and e-zeros, and mostly
just people from Pennsylvania, and
Arizona, and California, and Iowa and
places like that.
Nobody here knew anything about
making a newspaper before they got here,
and everybody learned something before
they were here too long.
yarborough whoever you are co fanart
a
RET TER
Brothers,
I am a Pfc in the Army now stationsd
in Vinh Long, Vietnam. I've been in the
Army ten short months and in Vietnam
only one month, and I know we're fight-
ing for nothing.
It's getting very ~bag on the:post
now. The olifers* have placed all towns
off limits now due to the drug proplems
thinking in their little army trained ~
minds that this will stop drug treffic,
but not only have they failed to stop
their oproblem"?, they have started new
problem that the Army Manual dosen't
refer to. Now they are faced with a
black vs. white war and people march
ing on the main gate and the guards
now have orders to shoot to "kill" any-
one attempting to getto either side, in
or out. For the last four nights on
the average of 200 people have marched
on the gate. Two nights ago fragment
grenades were thrown and several shots
were fired from small arms in the group
One night ago the gate was wired with
several kinds of explosivesT but the man
attempting to set it off was foiled
and left in a big hurry. I would be
more than happy to keep you informed on
such matters and maybe supply a few :
snap shots to boot.
I -would like accopy of your paper
the Braggs Brief and will send as much
as I can afford after payday.
Thank you
) + PPG Than L. Pishback
P.S. A friend (in Oakland told me about
your paper.
why don't you come down $o Haymarket
Square sometime (like on Tuesday nights
for the GIs and WACs United meetings)
and let somebody know you want to
help. �,�
You wouldn't believe the stuff
& that goes into making an "underground"
newspaper. F
loin: US
9iTs and wacTs united
meetings: tues. 7:30
haymarket square
Bragg Briefs is published by active duty GIs with a little help from some
of our friends. Correspondence should be mailed to P.O. Box 437, Spring
Lake, North Carolina 28390. We can usually be found around Haymarket Square.
Editorial Board for this issue (oh look!!) : Phil Friedrich * 612 QM Co./
Terry Chisley * 12th Support / Dick Olson * 95th CA Gp. / Mark Rovick *
Med Co. / Ed Buck * HHC 12th Support / Dave Hettick * Womack / Bob Woodruff
* ex-JFE / and BS,-and Red, and Fred, and a crummy typewriter, and the
fleas, and everybody else who didn't quite make it to the end.
4
GIs and veterans, sick of being
targeted by ripoff hucksters, virt-
ually closed down a Hay St. Jewelers
for three weeks.
The local success of the nation-
Wide boycott against Tyrrell's Jew
elers has scared the shit out of the
fatecat coalition that runs Fayette.
ville.
The City Council now has under
consideration a law to prevent blo-
cking of the sidewalks. Its flag-
rantly unconstitutional and forbids
almost any kind of activity on the
sidewalks, together or alone, sitting
or standing, linking arms or holding
hands, "organized or unorganized",
The timing of the measure is pretty
transparent. What happened to Tyrr.
ell's could happen to any of the peo-
ple who run this town. They are
running scared.
People of Fayetteville, if they
looked at the ordinance at all, would
feel(correctly) that they have been
banned from using the sidewalk at all.
The Observer noted that walking down
the sidewalk holding hands with one's
spouse is against the law if this one
is passed.
Of course, the ordnance will only
be enforced against those that the
city fathers don't like, such as hip.
pies, peace creeps, godless atheists
and peaceful picketers.
The business community doesn't
want to take the chance that other
Fatalburg businesses could be hurt as
badly as Tyrrell's has beens -�"�--c-
know that most of the merchandise
sold in this town is as useless as
what Tyrrell's sells.
white racism, exploitation, sexism
passes for
"business as usual" in Fayetteville,
they have a lot to worry about.
A JOURNAL:
Considering the
BOYCOTT DEMANDS
VIETNAM ROLL OF HONOR-- a fancy scroll
with the names of Tyrrell's GI. debtors
who unwillingly found the only way of
beating Tyrrell's credit terms-. dy-
ing in an immoral war. A slimy ad-
vertising gimmick and an exploitation
of our dead brothers names. The
DEMAND: Take it down immediately.
This demand has been met, nationwide.
SIDEWALK HUSTLING-- A jolly rap to
a target passing on the sidewalk...
a GI. FORBIDDEN by Fayetteville Code
21-28, enjoining sidewalk solicitation
forthe purpose of getting an indiv"
idual to enter a store. VIOLATED by
ao =-- -"
A practice ceased by Tyrrell�s in res=
ponse to the boycott. The city sole
4citor refuses to prosecute. Try it
and S66.
EXPLOITATION OF GI LONELINESS-~ LEGAL
in every state of the Great U.S. of
A. The boycott showed GIs that to-
~gether they can stop -being exploited.
If GIs don't stay together on issues
that affect them, they will continue
to be exploited.
_ ON THE STREET"WHO SAID IT
A : "yard
A yo GI in Jungle Fats and ~y
aa the 82nd ought to send down a
platoon and level Tyrrell's-- and the
rest of Hay St. too.
An old truck driver from Milwaukee,
Teamster patch on his shirt, gave
us two bills for placards and signs,
and a "right on" from those who have
always been in the struggle.
Hallmark's Jewelers, pig Station
#2: a young Glis trying to excuse
himself from one of their street huste
lers. As he breaks away, two boycott-
ers ask him if he was being hustled
on the sidewalk. Floor manager gets
shook and calls the law on two boy-
cotters, accuses them of harassing
his customer. Takes them to magis-
trate, who tells him to fuck off.
t ine
Young GI, who didn't want to ge
volved at first, gets pissed at Hall-
marks tactics and offers to press
charges. Boycotters inform him from
sad experience that Our Fair City
won't press charges against its own
kind.
Most of the GIs who pass the _
picket line to go into Tyrrell's
are apologetic, but explain rue-
YOUR RIP-OFF STORE!!2
KEL
Killeen, Texas is the home of Ft,
Hood. It is a big base and there is
a Rip-off Alley to match, featuring
one of the outlets of Tyrrell's Jewel
ers.
When veterans active-duty Gis and
civilians began a picket/boycott of
Tyrrell's-- and hurt them the boys
in Ripoff Alley saw the scrawl on the
wall and took action.
Eight GIs and veterans, and two
civilians were arrested under the 1947
Taft-Hartley union-busting act, for
"secondary boycott". a: completely
trumped-up charge. After three weeks
in the slam the brothers and sisters
finally got the bail reduced from
$2200 each and got sprung.
National pressure and intensive
boycott activity(including the succ-
essful boycott in Fayetteville) for.
ced the dropping of the city's (that
is, the business community's) charge
. against the picketers.
Continued on Page 5
TYRRELLTS |
WHO?
Tyrrell's Jewelers is a feature of
nearly every "Ripoff Alley" in GI
towns all over the country-- and in
Saigon, on a PX concession.
If you listen to his PR men,
Mr. Tyrrell was a man of vision. He
was the first jeweler to give credit
terms to the military. It was pretty
smart at that, for in a day when no-
body paid any attention to GIs, after
War Two, Tyrrell secognized the rich
possibilities of ripping off GIs with
fully that they have to pay bills.
Some join march afterwards.
An upright sort of dude who turn-
ed out to be an offduty spook from
the 82nd CED decides to pick a fight
with an ex-Marine pacifist from
Cherry Point. Marine will not fight
the hard sell and "easy" credit. And
rich is what he got.
Tyrrell's salesmen are trained in
a complicated rap(see the excerpt in
neik aad at the lonely GI. The out
fit has pioneered in the kind of
hustling that every Jeweler in Ripoff
Alley uses now-- fella, comere, sign
though he is chased around the street our buddy book and meet frierTs from
and has his glasses knocked off and
stomped. He has about 10 inches and
home, got your free calender yet,
oWHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU THOUGHT
100 lbs. advantage on this particular of youR MOTHER==DONT LET YOUR NEXT
pillar of military justine, but didn't crap pe THE FLOWERS ON HER GRAVE.
waste him tho he could have. P.S. the
This sounds too stupid and obvious
police would not press charges against +, be effective until you think of
this SSG though there were many wit- 1. joneliness, homesickness and dis-
nesses including police.
orientation of your trainee days, or
- Continued on Page. 5
VEREE T
(This story was reprinted from
tht North Carolina Anvil)
A group of civilian and GI
activists went to the rally for
the High Paint 4 in High Point,
Nort#Carolina on July 25.
The High Point ) are four Black
Panthers*who were arrested and
jailed after some 50 police and
sheriff's deputies evicted Panthers "
from the party headquarters in High |
Point on Feb. 10. es
The eviction efided in a shoot-
out between police and Panthers
inside the headquarters, and the
Panthers were charged with. assault
with intent to kill, assault on._
police officers, and abstructing
officers (the added charge of! con-
piracy to kill police officers was
dropped at the preliminary hearing
in April). .
The four Panthers are each under
$15,000 bond and will be tried in
Greensboro later.this year. The
Haymarket Coffeetiouse-s trying to
raise $200.°Atyone interested in |
helping can go down to the coffee-T.
house or call 85-9792.
For a time they were held to-
gether in the High Point jail, the
then put in solitary, and finally
shipped off to Central Prison in
Raleigh to await trial. :
One of the High Point , Larry
Medley, a 16-year old High Point
native who helped set up the Pan-
ther Information Center in High
Point was wounded..;in the..shoulder
by police bullets during the shoot
out. For someT time was thought
that he might be paralyzed as a re-
~sult.
During his first days in:jail,
when his physical condition was "
doubtful, his mother was not :
allowed to oe him. According to a
Panther spoKesman, when she went
to the police to try to see her~so
son, she was told to get out of the
odamned office.".--
"People in-the black community
called the governor's office in Ra
leigh to ask for help but got no
response: ,
} The other three Panthers are
George Dewitt, aged 17 of High
Point; Bradford Lilley of Hobbes- 3
ville, N.C. aged 19; and Randolph ;
Jennings of Winston-Salem, aged 17.
Jennings was a party member in
Winston Salem who was assigned to
High Point to help set up the in-
formation center there.
a
Gilley, a former student at
Fayetteville State College, left
school and went go join the Pan-
thers in Winston-Salem: he was
~also assigned to work in High
Point.
Dewitt, went to Winston-Salem,
oattended Panther political educa-
tion courses, joined the party and
went back to work in his home town.
According to Panther spokesmen,
igh Point police were determined
to get the Panthens. -
: The judge who owned the house
used for the information center ad-
mitted that he did not know who
was, renting from him until the po- .
~l¥ce came and told him that it was�
ome Panthers and they had lots of
~stolen goods there. It was at this
point that the judge decided to e-
vict them. Panthérs asked the judge
to come by and observe everything in
the house, but he turned them down.
Panther leader Larry Little went
by and talked to him the night .
before the shoot-out and offered
to bring and show him all the sup-
p6sedly stolen goods; he turned
that down foo.
: The police went to evict the
Panthers at six o'clock in the
_ morning when it was still dark.
©). At the preliminary hearing they
oS said so many went out because they
o expected something to hevven be. ;
cause the Panthers were "militants"
though they declined to defins
"militants."
They expected a shoot-out they
said. They warned no one in the
%,. black community around the house
that trouble might be� coming, and
* thus took no moves to protect innO-
cent bystanders.
According to the Panthers they
~let no one know because they
o feared opposition from the piack
community.
Many community members had open
jay endorsed the Panther breakfast
w@ program, which was feeding 50 kids,
and Panther political education
courses were packed.
4
ATTENTION BLACK GI'S
IMPORTANT MEETING
WEDNSDAY 11 AUGUST
AT 7:30 PM AT THE
~}HAYMARKET SQUARE
~|COFFEE HOUSE.
SPEAKERS & RAP SESSION
COME OUT AND BE HEARD
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE,
UR IY
After the shoot-out the local
newspaper ran the news that the
Panther house had been full of am-
munition and contained 23 rifles
and 5 shotguns. Only 3 weapons were
found in the house.:
The paper also said the Panthers
had moved several children out of
the house the night before in ex-
pectation of trouble ;
There were never any children
in the house. yao Se ibe
The Panthers 4re mounting a cam-
paign to see that the High Point 4
case is not kept undercover. :
"only the power of the people
can free them," says Panther leader
Larry Little, ojust as only ;
power of the people freed Erica ~and
Bobby." :
The July 25 rally included mugié
as well as political speeches.
After about three numbers by a
local band, a black prother from
Winston-Salem who had been rrrested
147 for doing movement work came
out and spoke to the .crowd of about
1200 to 1500 people. i
He spoke of the sacrifices being
made by the and along with a plea
for support, he told black mothers
to keep their children from @
becoming "grist for the capitalist
bi a Pe
Then the mother and sister of
~one of the ) came out and gave us
their appreciation for the support
of the community.
The state lawyer of the Panther
the trial and said that the
retrials had: been: moved to Greens-
boro. ;
The waifege-sa1 on Robins came
out and sa some beautifully done
revolutionary songs. After the
ake came out and gave a run-down
Minister of Information of High
PointT urged everyone to atténd the
pretrials _. The Robins came back and
sang, .'No Matter How You Try!
ue eee ee community got Tnto ees
Brother Russell of the High Point
Panthers wrapped everything up.
THE HIGH POINT FOUR
NEEDS YOUR HELP
The High Point Four has shown the
people that they are to sacrifice
even to be imprisoned for the
ipeople. ~
Now its time for the people to show
the Four that they are willing to
support them.
The rally on July 25th demonstrated
the power of the people and forced
the PIGS to lower their bail.
Now it's up to the people to raise
the money and FREE the Four.
Show your support by filling in the
coupon and sending a contribution.
DEFENSE FUND
P.O. Box 1312
Fayetteville, N.C. 28301
I enclose for the High point
Four.
I would like to work for the High
Point Four in my community. Please
send more information.
NAME
ADDRESS
~
a
a
1 ig aang =P
oy
1 hy
mete.onsL Y RRELLS
from Page 3
the day you spent before you went to
report at the Oakland Army Terminal
to get the big bird to the bad place.
It is all the more disgusting because
it works, and it is designed to ex-
ploit an already exploited individ.
uale- the GI.
Boycotting Tyrrell's is only a
start, because the men who followed
in Tyrrell's footsteps are still mak-
ing money off GlIs-- with sexist GoGo
bars, pawn shops and hipclothes out-
lets. Easy credit terms look good un-
til the bills come in and the Arny
4s always happy to lend a hand on &
collecting.
It would be a mistake, too, to
think that GIs are the only victins
of the businessmen that run Fayette
ville. Farmers pay pawnshop inter.
est on farm machinery--.or they can't
break ground for crops. Poor people
and workingclass men and women-- ©
black and white-- are ripped off to
almost the same degree by many men-
bers of Fatalburg's capitalist shad-
ow government-- the Downtown Fayette.
ville Association. It is in the
interests of this town's business.
men to keep GIs and the people of
Fayetteville whom they victimize ap~
art and mistrusting each other. For
if GIs, poor and workingcelass men
and women discovered what kind of
enemies they had in common, the boy-
cott of Tyrrell's would only be the
first shot in an economic struggle
that would smash their stranglehold
on the people once and for all.
The boycott is still going on in
California, where the going has been
tough. As in Killeen, there are no
laws to protect GIs from street-hus-
tling tactics. In Killeen, the boy.
cott locally and nationally accom.
(Rete en
The efforts in all GI towns point
to a larger goal-- demonstrating to
GIs that they have the political
and moral muscle together to stop the
ripoff artists who find the individ-
ar. lonely GI an easy mark. No one
of these ripoff artists is immune to
a together GI movement to stop ex-
ploitation. And farmers, poor and
working-class people-who are on the
recieving end of the same shit might
well take a lesson from GI successes.
paris peace .......... ee a
to prohibit reprisals and dis-
soleil aenel against any body having
borated with either side.
oe eaiaaaael prisoners will be re-
leased and the PRG seeks to, "liqui-
date all forms of constraint and
~eoercion so as to permit the
to return to their native places in
complete freedom and to freely engege
occupations�.
= Hideo themselves will solve
the problem of Vietnamese armed forces
4n South Vietnam, "in a spirit of
national concord, equality ei patter
~t. without foriegn interference -
ray wa question of the pouitiestion
of North and South Vietnam, the propos
states that it will be Nechieved step-
by-step by peaceful means", with a re-
establishing of all normal relations
pending reunification.
The PRG proposes that,
WOMACK
FROM TYRRELL'S TRAINING MANUAL
A few Juicy Excerpts from the h
book that tells how to get to
a GI:
"Bill, may I ask you a question be-
fore you leave? What would you do to
any man who insulted your mother? Be-
fore you start sounding off, remember
INDIFFERENCE AND NEGLECT CAN HURT A
WOMAN WORSE THAN CRUEL WORDS.
ow tell me, how long has it been
since you did something nice, I mean
wealy nice, for your mother. Not on
her®birthday, or Mothers Day, or
Christmas, but just out of a clear
blue sky, when did you do something
EXTRA NICE to say, 'Mom, I love you!
(pause a moment to give your prospect
a chance to digest this question, but
not long enough for him to raise any
defenses)
"Now, don't get me wrong! You're not.
the only man who's guilty. In fact,
it's unumual to find a man who can *
easily say, ~Mother, I love you", no
matter how deeply he feels it.
If you're like most fellows, Bill,
you're always intending to do some-
thing, probably, but you never quite
get around to it. Bill, we have som-
thing here that in one moment will
express to your mother all the love
that is in your heart" (Keep. box clos.
ed, but tap it significantly withT
one finger. Speak slowly and rever-
enly)
And so forth.ecee
AN INVITATION TO ALL VIETNAM VETS
Veh eWe
am Vets have you heard? Ve
Hie and moving here in Li ha
ville. All veterns, Active Du yr
Retired, are urged sg ag a
ings Thursday nites at 7:30
are Coffee House.
Be AW ia concerned about you, the
vetern, and your needs. Contact PFC.
Ea puck 396-2277, wuci2th SPT BDE or .
Woody Woodruff 488-6776 or cell
485-5725 for mo
{nformat ion.
zones of the basis of meget ani ane vith.
out foriegn interferenceT. "___-
ognising the proteo-
aap ae military alliance,
tion of any country,
or bloce
fo show its flexability red ©
to have the plan accepted,
secpeeal states that after the end yo
the war, "South Vietném and the a
States will establish relations in the
litpeal, economic, al
veuth Vietnam will accept etmest and
economic aid from any country,
will participate in regional economic
s as long as there's no political
conditions attached. &
- The PRG also holds the United States
v
%
GI !
To the people and to Gen. Hay:
Oh July 20th Gen. Hay started his
program to turn Womack's medic into ok
strack troops. The attack was led by
acting CO 2nd Lt. Clemment and lst Sgt.
Ployd eonag the in ranks inspection
tatic for the first assault. The men
were told by the lst Sgt. that they had
been judged the second worst dressg:
troops on post. This extreme Scuninanes
came from Gen. Hay himself. The GI's of
12th Support took first place in the
generals beauty pagent for the worst
dressed troops at iBraggT.
The good General and Lt. Clemment
need not worry about the moral
medics because we understand thet ~ a
inspéctions are a VOLAR project. Besides Es
this, we medics are happy for the oppor 4
tunity to show that we don't give a 4
damn about the army.
+ SRS Ee
y ee
b
peti lk
to think
1dn't want anyon
eek Meds Co. doesn't have any unaT
pride, we tre not happy being seco
there's
at anything important. ge we medics
this unit pride to think colt ore
3 Gene
issue this wemignty medics of Womack
pons soe) Mba attack. We are marching
fo Ma Be ts unshined and
a our goal with boo
peated usbloused. We are waging our
hats and
t in the sun without our r
with our dirtiest whites flying in the
s
, we i
reeze. We will not stop until
dios are finally recognized 92 the
worst dressed company ©n post. e
3 ? the seven points of the "
posure : and a great effort has been
bijections to earlier proposals.
~~ U.S. position to this time has
set no final withdrawel date, there
been
air and naval power, there have
no indications of aioe t je ae
upper ceiling on po
ert tary aid to Saigon, and there_have.
" been no assurances of the U.S. comba' ;
role in the rest of Indochina. The ;
pages
THE PENTAGON
If you were the American government
then you too would not want the Ameri-
can people to see the Pentagon Papers.
Por they record twenty years of de-
geits and arrogance of the four admin-
istrations from Truman through Johnson.
~ "Few who take the time to read them
will. ever be able to trust the Ameri-
can government again. For the most
likely result of the Papers is not that
the government will change its ways and
become a decent govarnment but that it
will tighten its security to ensure s
that its future schemes are never known
to the American people.
The Pentagon Papers have given us a
unique chance to see the inner workings
of an empire. As we read them we must
wonder what the State Department and
military are doing in Brazil, Greece,
and other countries.
Daniel Ellsberg, the man who appar-
ently leaked these documents to the
American press and people, has stated:
"My role in the war was as a partici-
pant, along with a lot of other people,
in a conspiracy to commit a number of
war crimes, including, I believe,
aggressive ware�
oAggressive war� is a serious charge
and many Americans who have never
looked into the historical background
may find it startling.
Yet it is made by a man who had ac-
cess to top secret materials and who
participated in the decisions of the
sixties that enlarged the war.
We believe that the Pentagon Papers
confirm the view of the war that the
radicals of the Left have maintained
for the last decade. This has been a
war of Western Imperialism against the
ple. Sill tele mial 9 da eae
It has been fought, to a much larger
extent than most Americans realized to
keep the resouree area of South East
Asia available to Western capitalist
countries.
To achieve its ends the United
States government supported éolonial
France from 1950 to 1954 with huge
amounts of money and arms
After 195) the U.S. sought to |
replace France. To do this it inter-
vened in South Vietnamese politics
making and breaking political fortunes.
At every turn it behaved like an
imperialist country and South Vietnam
became simply an American satellite.
The U.S. government: played a direct
role in the breakdown of the Geneva
Accords of 195) which settled the war
between France and Ho Chi Minh. Full
implementation of these Accords would
have brought peace instead of war to
the peoples of Indochina.
The U.S. supported dictators and"
then became in: plotting against them
when they were no longer useful,
When this policy came to the end of
its ropekand the Viet Cong were on the
verge of ousting the hated Saigon dic-
tatorship, the U.S. decided to send
its army.
This army encountered what every
colonialarmy has had to deal with - a
hostile population.
The more frustrated the American
military became the more destruction
they wreaked. The more destruction
they caused the more the Vietnamese
supported the Viet Cong.
This downward spiral is leading to
the first defeat this country has
ever had to bear.
If we are going to have a war
crimes. tribunal, and there is much in
the Pentagon Papers that would justify
such a trial, then werwould have to
call to account hundreds of top offi-
cials from both political parties who
deliberately pursued a policy of im
perialism and aggression.
~They would all be there: Rostow,
PAPERS REVEAL.
THE TRUTH ABC
DANIEL ELLSBERG
FORMER
WAR PLANNER
~My role in the war
Wad ad a pai tivipant
...1n a conspiracy
to commit a number
of war crimes
including, I believe,
aggressive war.T
Viel Vel says
oMY OWN government played me for a sucker�
"If I had known then what I k. -
now," the young man said, I
wouldn't have done what I did.".
What he did was to volunteer for
combat duty in Vietnam as crew
chief and door gunner ongn assaultT
helicopter.
"Then" was 1968 - a year of
heavy fighting when U.S. helicopter
losses often ran as high as six or
seven a day.
The young man was lucky. His
helicopter was shot down twice, one
Once deep in enemy territory, and
he came out alive. Many of his bud-
dies were not lucky. The casualty
rate for his company was more than
SO per cent.
"What gets me," he said, shaking
his head asthough to clear it of
insupportable memories, ois that I
fell for that stuff they were feed-
ing us about Why we were in Viet-
nam.
"I guess it sounds naive now,
~but I really believed that we were
trying to help a little country
the Bundy's, Taylor, Acheson. Lodge,
Johnson, Sharp, Wheeler.
Though John Kennedy is dead, his
place in history will suffer from
what these documents reveal.
For he broke treaties, deceived the
American people about what he was
-doing in Vietnam, ordered secret acts
of sabotage and violence against North
Vietnam, and continued the imperial
attitudes that have characterized
every administration since World War
II. In short, he what Lyndon Johnson
did.
The Pentagon Papers are massive.
he NY Times series ran 677 pages and
t 4s just impossible to condense them.
What we are going to do is to list spe-
cific charges and then refer to the
page these charges are documented on.
All references are to The Pentagon
Papers published by Bantam Books for
$2.25. The book can be purchased at
most local bookstores including the
bookstore in the Haymsrket Equare
Coffeehouse, ~
* Though most Americans still don't
know it, this country (beginning with
Truman) supported French colonialism
in Vietnam. By 195) when the French
were defeated, we were paying for 78%
of French war expenses. (p.10)
* Though the U.S. government has
publicly contended for years that
North Vietnam alone was to blame for
the undermining of the 1954 Geneva
truce, the Pentagon Paper concludes
the U.S. had " a direct role in the
ultimate breakdown of the Geneva set-
tlement.� (pel)
# In 1954 a U.S. military mission
under a Colonel Edward Lansdale ate
tempted to sabotage the new govern-
met OL OY VIL biatnas Pee Sane Lnarhans
as a CIA activity) poured contaminant
into the oil of the bus company in
Hanoi hoping to destroy the engines.
The team also conducted false rumor
campaigns to discredit Ho's new
government. (p.16-18)
* This same Lansdale team was in-
vovled in bribing Vietnamese leaders
tosupport the dictator Ngo Dinh Diem
who was ruler of South Vietnam from
1954. to 1963. (pe. 20)
* The Geneva Accords limited the
number of foreign troops that could be
in Vietnam to the number that were
defend its freedom against an
aggressor.
The young man is out of the Army
now and back in college. He has
read with keen personal interest:
what thenewspapers have «disclosed
aabout the origins of U.S. in-
volvement in Vietnam.
"They lied," he daid bluntdy.
"My own government played me for a
sucker. All the time I thought
they were concerned about the
freedom of the South Vietnamese.
They didn!t really give a damn
about that; they were just
thinking about our ~national pre-
stige'. They even had the cruddv
nerve to worry about the political
effect - the political effect, for
God's sake-- of pulling out of
~Vietnam without a 'victory.!
Perhaps the war planners should
take a few momdnts and ponder what
happens to a country when brave and
loyal young men decide they cant
trust anything their government
says.
SOUT VIETNAM
1S
sh
IM.
2e~
be
�
othere in August 195). In May 1956, in
what the Pentagon account says is an
"example of the U.S. ignoring the Ge-
neva Accords" 350 additional military
men were sent to Saigon under the pre-
text of helping the Vietnamese recover
and redistribute equipment abandoned
by the French. (p. 23
* In July 1955, under the provisions
of the Geneva Accords, the two zones of
Vie tnam were to begin consultations on
the elections scheduled for the next
year. But Diem refused to talk with the
Communists. And in July 1955, he re-
fused to hold elections for reunifi-
cation. (p. 21)
% Eisenhower's Secretary of State,
John Foster Dulles, recognized Ho's
popularity by observing that it was
~undoubtedly true that elections might
eventually mean unification of Vietnam
ounder Ho Chi Minh." (p. 22)
* In 1952 the National Security
Council explained the reasons behind
[NIXON EVADES OFFE
TO RELEASE POWTS
On July first,the Nixon admini-
stration was offered the chance to
show that it's really sincere about "
winding down the war and to prove
it's concern over the American pri-
soners of war. The Provisional Rev-
olutionary Government of South Viet-
nan's ranrasantotivee atthe Parks
Peace Talks presented to the American
negotiating team a new seven point
program for ending the war that Thurs-
day.
This program throws the POW issue
into Nixons lap by agreeing to a re-
lease of American prisoners parallel
to an American troop withdrawal with
a target date set for the end of 1971.
If Nixon is really concerned about
the POWs, and if his true aim is
really total withdrawal, it is now
time for him to act in line with all
of the publicity he has been blowing
up around these two issues. The PRG
plan clearly links the two questions
of prisonwes and total withdrawal,
~and it answers criticisms of earlier
proposals that setting a date for
U.S. withdrawel would only mean dis-
cussions on the release of POWs,-and
not an actual release
The plan states that:
"If the U.S. government sets a
terminal date for the withdrawal
from South Vietnam in 1971 of the
totality of the U.S. forces and
those of other foriegn countries
in the U.S. camp, the parties will
at the same time agree on ..-
The release of the totality of the
military men of all parties
and of the civilians captured
in the war, including American
pilots captured in North Vietnam,
so that they may all rapidly return
to their homes. These two opere
ations will begin on the same
date and will end on the same
date".
A cease fire is called for in the
plan as soon as both sides reach
agreement on the withdrawal, which
again gives the ball to Nixon by
leaving the end of hostilities up to
his setting of a date. The Nixon ad-
ministration is faced with the embar.
assing situation of havin to, "put its
money where its' mouth is". The U.S.
government has so far responded * _
U.S. support for French colonialism
Among other things it said: "Southeast
Asia, especially Malaya and Indonesia,
is the principal world source of
natural rubber and tin, and a producer
of petroleum and other strategically
important commodities. The rice exports
of Burma and Thailand and are critical-
ly important to Malaya, Ceylon, and
Hong Kong and are of cons}derable sig-
nificance to Japan and India, all in-
portant parts of free Asia.
Later in the same document it said
the U.S. should oencourage the
countries of Southeast Asia to restore
and expand their commerce with each
other and with the rest of the free
world, and stimulate the flow of the
raw material resources of the area to
the free world." This economic inte-
rest is set among others, but even the
frank colonialism of Britain and
France were not merely economic
empires. The difference between
HIS CHOICE
to the PRG plan with a series of stall
tactics that seem designed to cover
up the new proposal by avoiding a res-
ponse until the American public has
lost contact with it and it can be
relegated to page 5 in the news.
papers,
The switching of key U.S. personnel
on the Paris negotiating team and the
propagandizing of Nixon's proposed
trip to China are the two most flag-
arant examples of the governmental
stall.
The China trip, though a history
making venture, is being dispropor-
tionally acclaimed ad a new avenue of
peace in Southeast Asia in order to
take some of the heat off the neces- "
sity for an immediate response to
the Paris prosal. Once American eyes
are gawking at China, Paris seems
less urgent.
COALITION GOVERNMENT
The Provisional Revolutionary
Government of South Vietnam wants
the U.S. government to, "really
respect the South Vietnam people's
right to self-determination", and will
enter into talks with a South Viet-
namese administration, "favoring peace,
independence, neutratility, and dem
ocracy", formed by, "various means"
by, "the political, social and reli-
cont. On ae
page 7
France's motives andour motives have
not been that different. (p. 27-29)
% The Lansdale report praised
various members of the press, including
reporters for the NY Times, for being
owarm friends of SMM." SMM was the
group that had been involved in
sabotage in Hanoie This cozy relation-
ship is one reason the American public
never had a very good picture of what
oe pening in Vietnam in the fifties
pe 62
% Though many Americans think
foreign aid is just a giveaway, it is
usually part and parcel of military
support. In Vietnam the study reports
the American aid effort was focused
almost entirely on security. Eight of
every ten dollars went to security, and
much of what was intended for agricul-
ture, education or itransportation
actually went to security directed
programs. (p. 22)
* One of the Pentagon Paper analysts
concluded: oSouth Vietnam was essenti-
ally the creation of the United States
States." He argued: "Without U.S. sup-
port Diem almost certainly could not
have consolidated his hold on the
South during 1955 and 1956. Without the
threat of U.S. intervention, South Vi-
etnam could not have refused to even
discuss the elections called for in
1956 under the Geneva settlement with-
out being immediately overrun by the
Vietminh armies. Without U.S. aid in
the years following, the Diem regime
certainly and an independent South
Vietnam almost as certainly would not
have occurred." (p. 25)
% The study says the U.S. Govern-
ment's official view that the war was
imposed on South Vietnam by aggression
from Hanoi is "not wholly compelling."
Successive administrations in Wash-
ington, from President John F. Ken-
nedy to Presdient Richard M. Nixon have
used this interpretationof the origins
of the war to justify American involve-
mentl But American intelligence esti-
mates during the 1950's show, the Pen-
tagon account says, that the war began
largely as a rebellion in the South
against the oppressive and corrupt re-
gime of Ngo Dinh Diem." (p. 67)
* American officials in Saigon,
including those in the embassy, the CIA
and the military command were fully a-
ware of President Diem's shortcomings.
They regularly reported to Washington
that he was oauthoritarian, inflexible
and remote," that he entrusted power .
only to his own family and that he had
alienated all elements of the popula-
tion by his oppressive policies. (p.69)
* From 1954 to 1958 North Vietnam
concentrated on ;its internal develop-
ment; apparently hoping to achieve re-
unification either through the elec-
tions provided for in the Geneva set»
tlement or the natural collapse of the
weak Diem regime. The Communists left
behind a skeletal apparatus in the
South when they regrouped to North Viet
nam in 1954 after the war with the
French ended but the cadre members
were ordered to engage only in "poli-
tical struggle." (p. 69-78)
% In the years before 1959 the Diem
regime was nearly successful in wiping
out the agents, who felt constrained
by their orders not to fight back.
Their fear and anger at being caught
in this predicament, however, apparent-
ly led them to begin the insurgency
against Mr. Diem, despite their orders
sometime during 1956-57. (p. 69-78)
%+ President Kennedy made his first
fresh commitments to Vietnam secretly
iuse the Special Forces troops he
in 1961 violated the 685 man limit
y the Geneva Accords of 195k.
\ 2) cont. on pg. 8
page 8
# On May 11, 1961, Kenne,;
secret campaign of sabotage against
North Vietnam. (p. 81)
* AmbassadorT Maxwell Taylor sugges-
eed introducing 6000 to 8000 troops to
Vietnam under the guise of flood con-
trol. (p. 101)
# The strategic hamlet programs had
been held to be @ panacea for American.
woes in Vietnam. The Pentagon analysts.
assert that these fortified: hamlets�
"failed dismally." Like previous pro-
namese they ran into resentment if not
active resistance ofrom peasants who
objected to being forcibly moved from
their fields and their ancestral
homes." (p.112)
#* The Forrestal Report to Kennedy
related that Vietcong recruitment in-
side South Vietnam was so effective
tha the war could be continued with-
out infiltration from the North.
(p.- 113)
% The Pentagon study discloses that
President Kennedy knew and approved
plans for the military coup d'etat that
overthrew President Ngo Dinh Diem in
1963. oBeginning in August of 1963 we
variously authorized, sanctioned and
encouraged the coup efforts of the Vi-
etnamese generals and offered full
suppprt for a successor government. In
Qctober we cut off aid to Diem in a
direct rebuff, giving ao green light to
the generals. We maintained clandes-
tine contact with them throughout the
planning and execution' of the coup and
sought to review their operational
lans and proposed new government.
pe 162)
| # In September 1963 General Big
Minh (now a candidate for President
of South Vietnam) expressed the opin-
ion which was related to Kennedy that
& HAY
ordered a
The Pentagon Papers " ..c=s.7
the Viet Cong were steadily gaining in
strength and had more of the popula-
tion on their side than had the Sai-
gon government. (p. 209)
# For six months before the Gulf
of Tonkin incident in August 196, i
the U.S. had been mounting clandestine
military attacks against North Viet-
~Many These attacks ranged from kidnap-
~pings of North Vietnamese citizens for
o4ntelligence information, to sabotage,
x oa0: bombardment of North Vietnamese
grams tried by the French and the Viet-
coastal installments by PT boats.
(p. 236-238)
* The Johnson adminstration tried
to avoid negotiating a settlement in
1964:because it felt that the Saigon
government was incapable of competing
politically with the Communists. (23)
#% John McNaughton, a high ranking
Defense Department official, stated U.S
aims in South Vietnam:
o70 pet - To avoid a humiliating
U.S. defeat (to our reputation as a
guarantor)
"20 pet. =- To keep Spuht Vietnam
(and then adjacent territory) from Chi-
nese hands.
"10 pct. - To permit the people of
South Vietnam to enjoy a better, freer
way of life.
"Also - To emerge from crisis with~
out unacceptable taint from methods
used.
"Not - To "help a friend' although
it would be hard to stay in if asked
out." (p. 255)
Would you die for that?
#* The Johnson administration claimed
that the attacks in the Gulf of Tonkin
in 1964 were unprovoked. Secretary of
Defense McNamara was asked at a press
conference on August 5, 1964: "Have
there been any incidents that you know
of involving the South Vietnamese ves-
HAYMARKET SQUARE COFFEEHOUSE
is open again with its expanded
BOOKSTORE
and craft center
POSTERS
BUTTONS
LOCAL CRAFTS
BOOKS & PAMPHLETS
OPEN
TUES-THURS
3-l| PM
FRI- SUN
ST
| man in Amerikkka
sels ani the North Vietnamese?" His
reply: 0, none that I know of." Yet
the secret Pentagon study declares th
oat midnight on July 3¢0,South Vietna
mese naval commandos unoer General
Westmoreland'scommand staged an amphi
bious raid on the North Vietnamese is
lands of Hon Me and Hon Ngy in the Gu
of Tonkin. Apparently they had mistak
the Maddox for a South Vietnamese es-
cort vessel." (p. 259)
* Leftists have claimed for years
that South Vietnam was merely a puppe
government. Few instances demonstrat
that more clearly than the talk Ambas
sador Taylor gave several Vietnamese
generals. The conversation is not be-
tween allies but between an imperial
power and its client.
Ambassador Taylor said: "Do all of
you understand English? I told you al
clearly at General Westmoreland's :
dinner we Americans were tired of
coups. Apparently I wasted my words.
Maybe this is because something is
wrong with my French because you appa
ently didn't understand. I made it
clear that all the military plans
which I know you would like to carry
out are dependent on government sta-
bility. Now you have made a real mess
We cannot carry you forever if you do
things like this." (p. 379-381)
% President Johnson decided on
April 1, 1965, to use American
troops for offensive action in South
Vietnam because the Administration
had discovered that its long-planned
bombing of North Vietnam - which had
just begun - was not going to stave
off collapse insthe South. He
ordered that this decision, which
was perhaps the most crucial in in-
volving the U.S. in a ground war in
cont. on pg. 9 .
WE ARE NOT
A VOLAR PROJECT
available now
THE PENTAGON PAPERS - Twenty
years of government lies
in one book
GI RIGHTS AND ARMY JUSTICE -
Help in Surviving the
army bullshit
OUT OF THEIR LEAGUE by Dave
Meggysey - ProFootball
expose by ex-linebacker
THE BUST BOOK - What to do
when the man comes down
SOLADAD BROTHER - The prison
letters of George Jackson,
on the struggle of a black
THE EARTH BELONGS TO THR PEOPLE
Radical proposals for the
solution of the "popula-
tion� and "polution! prob-
lems
LA RAZA er
» THE INDIAN HERITAGE
AMERICA, THE BOLIVIAN DIARIES
OF ~CHE GUEVARA, THE SELECTED
WORKS OF MAO TSE-TUNG, SEIZE
THE TIME, JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN
plus
A NEW FICTION SECTION WITH
BRADBURY, HESSE. STRT
AND OTHERS : vers
Washington DC and Havana, Cuba.
Since last May 15 when 29 Fort
Bragg officers printed a signed
statement in the FayettSville
Observor opposing the war and cal-
ling for complete withdrawal from
Southeast Asia by the end of the year,
many other officer groups :@round the?
nation:have been moved to speak out at
PENTAGON PAPERS
Asia, be kept secret. (p. 382)
* The Johnson administration
passed up several chances to negoti-
ate a settlement in 1965. According
to the Papers, oRusk's disinterest
in negotiations at this time was in
concert with.the view of virtually
all of the Prégident's key advisers,
that the path to peace was not open
then. ..eHanoi held sway over more
than half of South Vietnam and could
see the Saigon government crumbling
before her very eyes. The balance of
power at this time simply did not
furnish the S. with a basis of bar-
gaining and Hanoi-had no reason to
accede to the hard terms that the
U.S. had in mind. Until military
pressures on North Vietnam could tilt
the balance of forces the other way,
talk of negotiation: could be little
more than a hollow exercise." (388)
* In November 196) Ambassador Tay-
lor analyzed the situation in South
Vietnam. He was unhappy about the
Siagon government saying oit is an
inescapable fact that there is no na
national tendency toward team play ar
mutual loyalty.� Then he went on to
remark: "The ability of the Viet-Cong
to rebuild their units and to make
good their losses®is one of the mys-
teries of this guerrilla war. We are
aware of the recruiting methods by
which local boys are induced or com-
pelled to goin the Viet-Cong "Tanks
and have some general appreciation oo
of the amount of infiltration person-
nel from the outside. Yet takin;
both of these sources into acoccunt,
we still find no plausibia expiana*
tion of the continued strengt® of the
Viet-Cong if our data o oist-Cong
losses are even approx taly correct.
Not only do the Viet-Cong units have
the recuperative powers of the _
phoenix, but they have an amazing
ability to maintain morale. Only in
rare cases-have we found evidences of
bad morale among Viet-Cong prisoners
or recored in captured yiet-Cong
documents." There was no mystery
about the Viet-Cong's high morale. -
They were fighting for a cause they
and most of the peasants of Vietnam
.
a» het
p a
their own bases.
Officers at Fort Meade and Fort Dix
have expressed an interest in running
similar ads. The State, a Columbia,
South Garolina (Fort Jackson) news
paper contained an ad on June 20
signed by 13 Medical Corps officers
speaking out about othe waging of what
cont. from pg 8
©
BOMBING NORTH FAILS.
(p. 372)
* There were ;indications that the
U.S. government was seriously dis-
cussing changing the regime in South
Vietnam. Ambassador Taylor'sdopinion
was Ghat General Khanh omust somehow
be removed from the ssene.� Three
weeks later General Khanh was no lon-
er head of the Saigon government.
Pe 392)
% The Pentagon Papers point out .
the ineffectiveness of bobming North
Vietnam::"The idea that destroying
or threatening to destroy, North Vi-
etnam's industry would pressure Ha-
noi into calling it quits, seems, in
retrospect, a colossal mis judgment.
"NVN was an extremely poor target
for air att@ck. The theory of either
strategic or interdiction bombing
assumed higly developed industrial
nationsjproducing large quantities
believed in.
oHe took the wraps off odr secret weapon!�
of milftary goods to sustain mass
armies engaged in ~intensive warfare .
NVN, as uts. intelligence agencies
knew, was,an agricultural country
with a r&dimentary transportation
system and little industry of any
kind." (@. 469) ~
* The bombing pauses of the mid-
sixties were not offered in good
faith, but to build public support
for more intensive bombing. (p. 70)
% Johnson put priority on des-
troying NVN}#s fuel system. By the
end of July 1966'about 70 per cent of
North Vietnam's original storage ca-
pacity had been destroyed. But North
Vietnam began storing fuel in disper-
sable drums, and flow of men and sup-
plies from the North to the Vietcong
continued oundiminished.� It was
clear, the study says, "that the POL
(petroleum, oil, lubricants) had
beén a failure.� (p. 80)
% Though the Johnson administra-
tion tried to pretend that the air
war against North Vietnam was caus-
ing almost no civilian casualties,
the CIA produced a study in January
1967 estimati that military and ci-
vilian casualties of the air war in
North Vietnam had risen from 13,000
in 1965 to 23,000 or 24,000 in 1966-
oabout 80 per cent civilians." (523)
BRAGG OFFICERS START NEW AD
pege 9
WRITE
COM
P.O. BOX 624
SPRING LAKE,NC
we believe to be a senseless war by the
Armed Forces of the U.S." :
Officers at Minot AFB stated in the
Minot Daily News (North Dakota) on
July 10 that�"�...we cannot police nor
can we forever prop up a government ~
which 12 years, 50,000 American lives,
countless Indochinese lives and mis-
spent billions of dollars have not yet
made viable.�
39 Medical Corps officers at
Fort Knox Army Hospital signed a
similar statement in their local
paper. Other groups are planning but
have yet to publish their feelings.
The Army's reaction has been at
best, confused. At Bragg many of the
officers were asked to submit their
resignations by their commanding
officers. This was under the direct
order of Gen. Hay. The offer was made
although regulation 635-120, Ch. 3 on
officer unqualified resignations
states that "normally such resig-"
nations will not be accepted,� unless
the officer has already completed his
service obligation.
Since most of the officers that
were "counselled" had not completed
their service obligations, it was
understood that the approval of the
~resignations would have to be oan
exception to policy." Therefore, Lts.
Steve Shouse, Frank Widarsky and John
Clark, along with Cpt. Fred Blitzer
and Maj. Stu Freyer resigned in good
faith with this understanding.
After six weeks of waiting the
resignations of Blitzer and Freyer
have been disapproved by the Dept. of
the Army and Widarsky's, Shouse's and
Clark's are still in the administrative
cogs.
Two officers in MI have had their
top secret security clearances removed.
Cpt. Rick Ford, an officer at Pope
AFB who signed the ad, was transferred
to a desk job from that of Squadron
Section Commander and had his security
clearance suspended. Ford is actively
fighting this obviously punitive
action. He has filed an Article 138
complaint against his CO and an
investigation is presently going on.
At Fort Knox the brass decided to
take disciplinary action against the
medical officers. The Pentagon over-
ruled them, though, admitting that
nothing illegal had happened.
The Army and Air Force runaround in
an attempt to suppress freedom of
speech cannot work. The expression of
antiwar convictions will continue to
expand as they are an indicator of
growing American public opinion both
inside and outside of the military.
The response generated by the
antiwar statement placed in the May
15th Fayetteville Observer by the
Concerned Officers Movement, Fort
Bragg Chapter, has prompted -
officers at other bases to use the
game vehicle for the expression of
their own views against the war.
The local Fort Bragg Chapter of
COM is coordinating a nationwide
campaign for placing another state
ment, identical to the one used in
the Fayetteville Observer May 15th,
in the Washington Post.
A letter campaign to posts and
bases around the country was begun
in early July soliciting signatures
on the statement, which calls for
complete withdrawal of all American
troops from Viet Nam by December 31.
COM is hoping to obtain several
hundred names for publication.
Initial respomse from several posts
has been encouraging. :
The campaign to get names will
run through August, with pub-
lication in the Post set tentat-
ively for late August.
All interested officers are
asked to contact COM Bragg at P.O.
Fox 62h, Spring Lake, NC 28390.
+ed GIs who know of officers
~ht be interested are asked
ict any COM member at COM's
3vening at Haymarket Square
SR a Pg part Re
Page 10
LAR HUSTLE
CAN YOU BE BOUGHT?
Hew do you recruit and keep an
army to do your dirty work when most
people don't believe in what your
doing?
That is the question that the
American government asked itself
when it became clear that young
Americans just weren't going to fall
Today's Army
_ wants to join you.
VOLAR 1S A BLUE SIGN
Dear Mon,
Life in the MODERN
VOLUNTEER ARMY is really swell.
My being drafted was a lucky break.
Now they're going to give us
sowething that's really terrific
called VOLAR. I am not exactly sure
what ~VOLAR is, but people are really
excited about it. Since the other
fellas in my unit heard about VOLAR
theyTye just been fighting to get to
the re-up office.
I think VOLAR has something to
do with all the groovy blue signs
the army has put up all over post.
Whenever aray life makes me feel a
little dom, I go outside the
barracks and look at the THIS IS A
VOLAR PROJECT sign next to the new
street light. It cheers me right up.
I aw only pulling KP half as much
as I used to before they hired the
néw civilian KPs. Too bad we are now
pulling guard duty Ewice as much.
The CO doesn't want us to get soft.
Then there's the wonderful n
~VOLAR bus service they have on post.
Now if we only had someplace to go.
Another great thing is the new
VOLAR berracks furniture we've got..
A rug, ea chair, and a desk for each
man. (Maybe they'll get the commodes
and the sinks fixed too.)
Unfortunately, there's not enough
room in the barracks for all this
new stuff so my new furniture is
in the company warehouse). They let
me clean it once a month though.
The most super thing of all is
the new VOLAR haircut policy.
They are actually going to let us
have several millimeters of extra
hair. Of course this new policy
doesn't apply if your CO doesn't
like the idea.
The first sergeant and some of the
career NCOs don't like VOLAR. They
say its bad for discipline. I don't
think that's true. They still push
us around just like they used to.
Some of the career NCOs say they
are going to retire because of VOLAR.
Boy, we GIs sure hope not.
There's a rumor going around that
we're going to get some more terrific
stuff. Like psychedelic colored rifle
stocks, and personally autographed
photographs of the chain of command
for each room, and rock music at the
retirement parades we march in every
week.
They told me today that I'm being
sent to Viet Nam in two months.
Don't worry mom, I think Viet Nam
is a VOLAR project too.
for the old hustles of "duty" and
In the Modern Volunteer Arny
we are not even going to be very
well paid pigs. So far, VOLAR is
nothing but a whole lot of talk and
very little action. The big hustle
4s still on but with VOLAR the're
using a different sales pitch.
"Look what a great life your going
to have in the army, just sign on the
dotted line---."
Any GI knows that its going to
take a lot more than VOLAR ever
dreamed about to make the army any-
thing but a-sorry-way-to-live for EM.
And even that's if you forget about
all the pigwork that your supposed
to dow--killing, bullying and des-T
troying so that a few men in this
country can make money and maintain
their power.
For the guy who's never been in
the military the VOLAR hustle might
ework. After all, the army spent .
almost 11 million dollars.on TV ads
in the past several months about
how nice army life is.
Besides, things are getting rough
on the. outside. The system just won't
provide enough jobs for every-
one to make a decent living.
A young man might almost be
forced to take a job as hired
gun.for the government just to
support his family. He might
even get blown away while he's
waiting for VOLAR to deliver.
It just ain't much of a deal and
we GIs have got to tell the truth ©
to our brothers on the outside.
If America were really in danger--
if there really was something worth
fighting and dying for in Southeast
Asia or any of the other faroff
places in the world where we have
troops--then, they wouldn't have to
have V and huge salaries and rugs
in the ° acks to get us to fight.
The Viet-Cong don't have VOLAR,
what makes them fight so hard?
Maybe they just plain believe in
what the're doing.
"patriotism" in large enough numbers
to man the war machine.
They found their answer in the
example of the old west and the
modern big city police departments""-
if you pay enough you can buy plenty
of strongarm men and gunslingers.
Out of this reasoning we get the
MODERN VOLUNTEER ARMY and VOLAR. The
MVA and VOLAR are nothing more than
an attempt by the government to
replace the reluctant, rebellious
draftees (en she people who enlist
because of ths draft) with pigs----
that is, people who fight and do
other immoral things for the money
they get out of it.
VOLAR ~ROCKST FT. ORD
ins - An army-sponsored rock concert
at Fort Ord was the staging area for
running battles between GIs and MPs
Sunday afternoon June 27.
Fort Ord was designated the experi-
mental home of the Volunteer Army in
early 1971. GIs there have long hair,
mustaches, shorter work weeks, beer,
~and rock music. It's all part of the
Aray's plan to give the all-volunteer
army an appealing public image.
Canned Heat headlined June 27's
concert. But before they began the
music they gave a pro-war rap end- *
ing with: "You shouldn't mind going
to Vietnam. That's where the best
grass is." The crowd booed and hissed,
and soon brawls broke out.
All along the afternoon had been
tense. Basic trainees had been marched
into the stadium, handed beers and
comnanded to sit in formation. GIs
out of basic were allowed to sit on
the lawn near the stage. MPs with
walkie-talkies patrolled the bleachers
and intelligence officers scampered
around flashing their cameras every
few seconds.
As Canned Heat played on, at first,
the fights between MPs and GIs were
sporadic, byt when the MPs started
pointing riot rifles and firing .45s
into the air, GIs began to fight
harder. Black soldiers were the first
to be hauled off, but the crow! bomb-
arded the MPs with beer cans and wine
bottles, that had also been part of
the afternoon's refreshments, and "~
effectively prevented some arrests.
As soon as Canned Heat played its
final notes, GIs poured out of the
stadium and on to the streets. A Grey-
hound bus and many army vehicles were
trashed. The Drill Sergeant Training
School went up in flames and a class-
room building was ransacked.
MPs retailiated and broke into
snack bars. randomly beating sclidiers.
They attacked a line of people in
front of a base movie theater. Even-
tually all the on-base entertainment
facilities were clesed down and non-
military people and cars were banned
from the base,
A medic who was near the bus station
reported that an MP "ordered a GI to
put his hands on his head and back up
against a railing. The MP then hit the
Gi in the stomach with his club,
kneed him in the groin, and, as
the GI doubled over, the MP hit him
on the head. When the victim fell to
the ground, the MP kicked him and
jumped on him several times." Over
100 GIs were treated: for injuries at
the base hospital.
BY
CITY COUNCIL
LOOKS
page ii
GET IT ON
When you're in the Army you're
down. You've been ripped off from
your people and your life.
Ripped off from a life where you
looked foreward to things and maybe
had some plans, or a general direc-
tion to travel.
Ripped off from people you knew a
about---why they were who they were.
In the Army you're,down. Every-
body's down.
You're used like you're a butt can.
You're just a space filler.
You'rs .used to pick up paper, to
paint, to polish guns.
You're used to fill up space on a
part of "America" in Germany or Oki-
nowa---and spena money, and ripp off
the people, ana get ripped off, and
bring oAmerica�"� and Coke and Esso to
Europe and the Pacific.
You're used to break postal strikes
and occupy the Dominican Republic for
a bastard dictator. :
You're used to lug around M-60 ban-
doliers, and drive trucks in the mud,
and build bunkers, and carry morphine
for screaming buddies, and kill people,
When you're in the Army you're
down.
Fuck the Army.
The Army's not your buddy in the
barracks.
He's been ripped off too.
Don't rip him off any more. We're
all in the same boat. We've all got
nothing.
It's going to take a lot of toge-
ther people to stop the Army from be-
ing the way it is today.
Together people don't come from
having to look over your Shoulder gal
the time.
Rip-offs should be against the Man.
Get even.
Everybody get even together.
INTO PIMPING
In their recent meeting, the
City Council(not without regrets)
voted. down 4-2 a very piggish pro-
posal to exploit the already exploit
ed waitresses and go-go girls of
Fun City, NeC.
This proposal required a $500 year
ly "personal license" for go-go girls
and waitresses working in topless
joints. To quote one councilman,
"the city is entitled to some of the
money" as long as the good citizens
of Fayetteville have to put up with
onude tops".
Of course the money wasn't going
to come from the sexist creeps who
run these bars-- they are fellow bus-
inessmen, after all. The go-go girls
who .mak low wages in a chancy, short
term employment situation, and the
waitresses who average $1.50 an hour
and have to fend off poverty by
hustling beers and tips... they are
of course the ones to pay the tax.
In overturning this proposal, the
city council failed to note the obe _
vious-- that if a lot of ripoff art.
ists werent coining money, the oim
rality" of shaking a bare tit in
ayetteville wouldn't have lasted a
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P.0. Box 437
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