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BULKHEAD
THIS IS YOUR PRIVATE PROPERTY AND CANNOT BE LEGALLY TAKEN FROM YOUL
the newscene.
NAS Alameda, the wonderland of
idiocy, can be defeated my friend
(or maybe we can injure the idiocy
a little bit anyway). Yes, I feel
our problems have been solved or
partially so, at least. The answer
of course is organization. The very
reason the Navy defeats and frus-
trates you is they're organized. But
things work both ways, and the best
way to defeat an organization is with
another a sepia ec
Of course we'll be the underdogs
from the beginning, because people
won't join us to avoid the draft and
we won't have the power to induct
anyone in the event of a war. But
it's the American way to pull for the
weaker power--look at the popularity
of Ronald Reagan.
It is well known that Americans
like to gamble on a sure loser. Just
ask the Koreans or the Cubans, or the
Vietnamese. So maybe with a little
luck we can sway the American govern-
ment to appropriate men and money to
help us fight the U.S. Navy.
At first we'll act on the small
problems of Alameda. Maybe you're
one of those who has had his wallet
stolen from his gym locker so many
times that security has a permanent
supply of I1.D. cards on file for you.
Well that's easy to solve now that
we're organized. First you have to
realize that the reason the lockers
are being broken into is because
there's no one watching the store.
Well, they do hire a guy to watch
the olockers but since he's a mercen-
ary he pays little attention to his
job. So what you do is take a few
buddies over there with bags of ba-
nana peels, dirt and other assorted
garbage, and jam as much of this shit
as you can into different lockers
(since he doesn't watch what comes
out of the lockers he won't notice
what goes in).. After he's cleaned
all the lockers he'll be wary of peo-
ple in the ldcker room, and your be-
longings will be protected.
This is all fine and good, but
maybe you don't go to the gym. Maybe
you just drive off base and get has-
seled by some power happy Marine be-
cause you tried to drive off in your
dungarees (though Marines can leave
the base in fatigues).
It's no problem, we're organized
now remember, can you imagine the
traffic jam caused by fifteen or
twenty cars trying to turn around at
the gate. Not only will it alert
those oin power" of their stupidity,
but it'll make an asshole out of the
Marine.
Maybe you live in the barracks and
every week you get sheets with big
holes in them. That's a snap, every-
time you get sheets with holes in
them, rip them in half and fold them
up before you turn them in.
for sure, you won't have to worry
about that particular sheet anymore.
Because of lack of entertainment
do you go to the club, only to listen °
to the Fruitgum Stompers do "live"
versions of Neil Sedaka's greatest
hits. This is easy, now, that were.
organized. Everytime they sign a
shitty group like this to play,get
some friends and go to the club.
Everytime they perform one of these
gems, you and your friends "raise
your beer glasses to the sky" and
Sing, it doesn't matter what, just
as long as it's loud, off-key and
One thing
not the particular number being per-
formed ;
It's easy to solve our problems
now. I'll bet you can solve a few
of your own, already. Just remember
all you need is organization, and
keep in mind that the Navy attempts
to do things logically and ends up
doing things illogically. So if we
do the most illogical thing we can
think of the two illogics will cancel
out :
ZERO) And we will
Iron Serotum
Yes, the pinko, radical, dirty
hippie, commie, subversive, God-
less atheists have finally landed
at NAS Alameda and docked at T.I.
So you thought you'd never have to
worry about us, huh? Well, we're
here to rob you of your old false
sense of security.
Wno are we? Well, we are the
guy who sits behind the typewriter
in your office, the guy who dishes
out your beans in the BOQ, we're
the guy who fixes, i doesn't fix
your propellers, we 're the guys
who lick your heads clean... We're
here to start talking at you, and
at you, and at you until you stop,
look,listen and change. Why are
we doing this? Maybe, it's the
$192 a month for an E-4, maybe it's
the shitty barracks, or it could be
the food that Congress thinks is
such great quality. But, there's
much more to it than that. ~The
paranoia barrier - we want to break
that one. Why should we be afraid
to speak our minds? Why should we
be afraid every lifer is watching
us like some SS trooper? Why should
we be afraid to exercise the same
rights that we're supposedly def-
ending for the rest of the nation?
Moratorium Day - that's our day.
We didn't vote for the Congress
that enacted the draft. We didn't
authorize the Baines and the Dick
to call us to the front to fight an
undeclared war. We're powerless -
that's why the mahogany polishing
brass in Washington made us fight
our brothers in Viet Nam - they did-
n't think we could hassle them like
they do to us. WELL, BROTHERS, that
day is ended at T.I. and Alameda.
We're nere to get our thing toget-
her. Security is in nunbers, right?
MDM has an office at 2214 Grove St.
in Berkeley, along with the Berk-
eley High School Student Union at
the Student Research Facility. We
have a defense committee of civilian
attorneys available for you, if you
get busted for doing your political
thing. Give us a call at 549-2172
or drop by the office and rap any-
time, we're here to help you.
NAS ALAMEDA'S MICKEY MOUSE FAN CLUB
The Alameda Naval Air Station brass
is sponsoring a Mickey Mouse Fan Club-
or so it would seem. Navy guys are
used to being exploited to walk around
and pick up shit off the decks (that's
the floor and ground to you crabs).
In the Army its called Call, in civ-
ilian life its called "Keep Amertca
Beautiful". In the aviation Navy ,
its called F.0.D. Walkdowns--F.0.D.
for Foreign Objects on Deck, a typ-
ical navyese inflation
America Beautiful". In the aviation
Navy, its called F.O.D. Walkdowns--
F.O.D. for Foreign Objects on Deck,
a typical Navyese inflation of ter-
minology.
Well, its been going on for some
time, but none of the brothers really
saminded taking a walk around the hang-
er in the morning. After all, it
was a good way to clear your head
from being drunk or stoned the
night before. Not to mention the
sunrise. But one of NAS Alameda's
safety officers decided we hadn't b
been picking up enough butts, bolts
and roaches fromthe runways. So
this lifer Lt. Commander, who's been
passed over for promotion so many
times he knows he's a dolt, decided
to be creative. And this word was
passed at morningT quarters one day,
"We're going to have you men put all
your F.0.D. in this green bucket we
had made. As you can see, the can
is inscribed ~One Day's F.O.D.'.°
We're putting it in front of the
duty office and you men are to put
all your F.O.D. in it rather than
then dipsy-dumpster. It better be
full after each walkdown, or we'll
know you guys aren't picking the
stuff up". So the duty officer puts
a full bucket of shit on this safe-
ty officers desk every morning.
The brothers tried to hold their
laughter. Christ it was hard--after
all, this ding-dong had just gone out
of his way to demonstrate to us how
little he has to do with his time,
what a child-like mind he has, and
how he gets his rocks off in the
morning. He lives with the fiction
he's some kind of exec, when all he
does all day is initial printed di-
rectives and makes up the dumb shit
safety slogans in the POD--and runs
around on his lunch hour taking pic-
tures of guys he thinks are "sluffing
off". If he isn't doing that, he
Still finds time in his heavy sched-
ule to order brothers to get haircuts.
He wants every guy on the base to
look as much a freak as he does with
nis butch haircut. He even tells
fellow officers to get haircuts--and
you can imagine how short those
"good niggers" keep their hair.
Seldom passes the day that Mr. Safe
doesn't aggravate the sentiments
held by. officer and enlisted alike-
he's a baffon, who well could fit
into the role of Lt. Scheiskoff. in
CATCH--22. The brothers at Alameda
Swear they expect this character to
hold a parade any morning now.
Page Two
BANK OF AMER
MILLDALE BRANCH
300 MAIN ST., MILLDALE, CALIF. 90054
PAY TO THE ORDER OF
CHARLES R. SMITH
MARY D. SMITH
1401 ORCHARD ROAD
MILLDALE CALIF. 90054
it Ougnt to be ciear by now that
the Amerikan military doesn't give a
damn about a servicemen's Constitu-
tional rights---especially, if by ex-
ercising those rights he exposes the
military brass and their co-conspir-"
ators in Washington for what they
are.
I am the editor of "OM, The Ser-
vicemen's Newsletter""-the first anti-
war, anti-brass paper put of by a
Navyman in the U.S. Navy's long and
inglorious history.
I am also a member of the American
Servicemen's Union; a group that has
been in the vanguard in the fight to
obtain rights for G.I.s.
As editor of the Washington D.C.
based paper, I will be the first ser-
viceman to face court-martial solely
for statements written in a G.I. news-
paper. For this dubious distinction
I presently face up to 39 years in
the brig and a dishonorable. discharge ..
when tried by a general court-martial.
Why? One reason is that I was
speaking the truth about the Amerikan
war in Vietnam. Another thing; I
_ never minced words about my disgust
and contempt for the lying politicians
in Washington and the other war crim"
inals in the Pentagon who give the
orders, make the policies, gain the
promotions, the medals and the money
while our blood and Vietnamese blood
is shed to make profits for a few
and poverty for the many.
The military, the government and
the war industries need the big lies
to survive. How else do you think
they can get us to fight their wars
and die for them?.
Because I set out deliberately to
upset the status quo and to bring
about needed discussion of issues
revelant to GIs, the Brass and a
reactionary Congressman got together
to say that I "went to far". By
court-martialing me the Navy will
have to trample the Bill of Rights,
that historic document which is sup-
posed to protect us from the govern-
ment. And unless we get ourselves
"together" that is just what they '11
do.
But, in fact, our rights have al-
ready been trampled and are not worth
the paper they are written on as long
as the Pentagon Brass have the power
to arbitrarily decide and interpret
in what manner and form those rights
may be exercised.
This has got to stop. The power
to determine one's own destiny is an
inalienable right. Like one that
can't be taken away from you.
I was originally charged on June
20, 1969, with violating 14 specifi-
cations under four articles of the
Uniform Code of Military Justice
based on articles in the April, May
and "om"
Tiiwc Seqa119pca nf
uv ur ie Lid sues OL
IS 23456 7BG
They were as follows: Article
82-soliciting others to desert in
violation of Article 85 and solici-
ting others to commit sedition in
violation of Article 86. Article 89
"disrespect to Gen. Earle Wheeler,
Chmn, Joint Chiefs of Staff. Article
92 - not disclaiming that my views were
not official Navy views. Article 134
-conduct prejudicial to good order
and discipline (making disloyal state-
ments"-8 counts), violation of Title
18, Section 2387 (the notorious 1940
Smith Act--intent to interfere with,
impair, etc., etc., loyalty and dis-
cipline, etc., etc.,--good for ten
years each).
On August 28, 1969, I was ordered
to stand trial. Some counts were
ruled out by the judge then ruled
back in by Commandant of the Washing-
ton Naval District. This is being
appealed. A decision is expected
soon""then a trial date will be set.
My request that I be tried before
a jury composed entirely of E-2's
and E-3's was turned down by the Com-
mandant and you know that being tried
by an all-officer court is like being
a Jew tried in. Nazi Germany (or. a
black being tried in theT U.S.A.). '
The judge is a winner too.. Under -
questioning from my lawyers he stated
that he did not believe that service-
men had the right to publish material
for or against the war.
But all the charges and legal
maneuvering is just BULL SHIT; my
prosecution was ordered by L. Mendel
Rivers of South Carolina (a Congress-
man who heads the House Armed Services
Committee, pushes the war, blesses the
brass in any way they ask, and who is
a racist pig--Ed.).
In a letter dated June 6, 1969,
Rivers wrote Rear Adm. Means Johnston
that my publication, "OM" "reflects a
gross abuse of the Constitutional
right of free speech"--that is, I had
published "Bobby Seale's Parable" in
the June issue of "OM".
The parable tells of a thirsty man
who finds a stream, but it's full of
filth. It seems that there is a huge
hog "pissing and shitting in the
stream...'' I attached a line at the
end. ~L. Mendel Rivers, get your
ass out of that stream. You hear,
boy?"
The Brass toadies of Rivers inter-
rogated me on June 12, transferred
me on June 17 and charged me on June
20. Fast reaction time, huh? The
fucking Navy has never moved that
fast----except to screw a guy.
At my Article 32 "grand jury type
hearing," the Navy testified that it
had assigned 25 agents to follow me
and harass me during my off-duty
time I nearly fell out of my chair
when an agent testified that the
LLNS . FS
DOLLARS
Navy picked up and fingered through
the garbage and picked it up at my
off--base apartment.
There has been a lot of support
and solidarity from many people in
this battle with Rivers and the Navy
Brass.
Union, the New Mobilization Committ-
ee have agreedyto conduct massive
demonstrations to STOP THE TRIAL.
The American Servicemen's
A lot more is needed.
The solidarity of masses of people
moving against oppressive institutions
can be a beautiful thing to behold. It
is also a frightening thing-"-to our
oppressors.
My court-martial could come in
March or April or maybe later. But
it does not have to come at all.
People rising up angry can change t
their own destiny. If we get organ-
ized we can win. (Disorganized peo-
ple have no rights.) :
But, if. it ~comes. the. trial couldT,
be a.springboard for even greater
oppositior to the war and the denial
of basic Constitutional rights.
I invite everybody to come and
watch the Navy court-martial the
First Amendment. (Bldg. 200 on 11th
St.,.S.E. Just,.south of. M-Street,T.
Washington, D.C.). Fun is guaran-
teed to one and all. Our success
depends on what we do before, during
and after the court-martial.
The Brass like to do their dirty
deeds where no one can see them. It
is. necessary to focus attention on
this trial and on all the injustices
that have been committed by the Pen-
tagon.
The whole world will be watching
---expecially G.I.s. Nobody likes to
see another get screwed--after all
it might be them soon. Public expo-
sure of this case can only increase
G.I. dissent. It just might be the
straw that breaks the camel's back.
Hepression breeds rebellion.
If you can't come to the trial,
then organize wherever you are. The
power is in your hands if you but
realize it. Don't just display it.
Use it.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
Page Three
Should the
slaves to the
military~
WHAT MDM MEANS TO ME
The Movement for a Democratic
Military (MDM) is presently a non-
violent organization. The object is
not to violently attack the military
with guns and munitions, but rather
to improve it with pertinent sugges-
tions. As of yet there hasn't been
anybody able to submit pertinent sug-
gestions without consequently martyr-
ing himslef. That's the big problem,
the paranoia that is always so present
and is always so enforced.
The military tries to turn enlist-
ed men "off" to MDM py calling it a
violent organization capable of wip-
ing out you and your freinds, should
such a need arise. Here's probably
the most violent organization in the
world (the U.S. Military) telling you
to be wary of another organization
because it may be violent. This
would be most informative if it were
true, but, since, the Movement for a
Democratic Military is non-violent,
it is not only bad, but also a lie.
Let's get back into same positive
things instead of rambling on about
the typical military "unchecked and
unbalanced" system.
If you should get into legal has-
Sle in the mititary; webli: try=to
get civilian counsel for you rather
than let you fry with a military
lawyer who is just as paranoid about
standing by you as you are of speak-
ing your opinions (in a military sit-
uation).
The main thing is communication,
after all the future of the military
(if any) is in our hands. We should
~be the ones to decide if there is go-
ing to be a need for the military in
~our generation, and if so what part
it will play. We're all agreed that
we don't want to continue being the
antagonizer of world situations and
problems. We have to start either
molding the military in a positive
direction or doing away with it al-
together. It is much to negative an
organization to serve anyone (other
than the lifers) at present.
It's up to you and me, and that's
what we're here for, to take up the
responsibilities of our future. It's
about time we started to accept our
responsibilities and take the mili-
tary into our own hands where it be-
longs, since, in theory, the military
is the servant of the people and we
are the people.
..,or the
itary the
Slave oO
the people?
Page Four
THOUGHTS IN A TIME OF ASSASSINATION
Here is a Vietnamese man. He does
not speak your language, or share your
ideals.
Here is a black man who preaches a
nationalism you fear. How do you under-
stand him? Jail him. Here is a child
with strange ideas. How do you listen?
School him. Here is a man hungry for
life. How do you help him? Preach to
him. Here is a man who worships at his
own temple. How do you save him?
Convert him.
Where is the power of one institution
directed toward enabling the young to
reach their own goals. Where is there
one school erected to teach men to touch
and to love and to live with and within
themselves. We preach old gods and
speak the language of violence. We build
bombs that kill, cars that kill; schools
that kill, jails that kill, welfare programs
that kill, armies that kill, politics that
kill, If it is not that simple, sit ina
Yoom alone with yourself for one day and
tell me the times in one life you have
been murdered.
Silence will bring death to this country.
Young people want to love and will tell
you. Old people want to love and are
afraid. The silent man each day lends
small talents to the institutions he does
not know, does not understand, does not
love. He knows it is wrong, but each day
more silence. There are no love places,
no love patterns. Only dead gods. You
will not turn men off of war until you turn
them on to living. You will not turn men
off of murder until you turn them on to
§ speaking in another truer way, and give
them a man to listen.
The only real revolution is the working
of responsible love in responsibly enabling
communities. When we learn to descry
the violence done in schools and done in
ghettoes and done in houses and move to
build instead of to sit or to lie or to sup-
press, then slowly, one by one, the revo-
lution will come in the slightly freer
actions of each slightly freer man.
The love cry of young people in revolt
today is, oI want to learn how." They do
not always succeed. Who will teach them?
The schools, the police, the government,
the church, the corporate death? Be-
cause if we walk as a moral silent man
each day to the grave, we can only teach
our children each day the same. And
violence on the outside is only the evident
result of years of silence and violence
within. When we end one silence, when
we begin to move one person we did not
understand, the revolution begins.
Dead men need no mourning. The
dead in life need all the help they can
get. (This was written by Craig B.
Williamson, a Quaker, after Robert
Kennedy's assassination. It should be
considered in it's historical context.)
How do you speak to him? Napalm.
THE HAIRCUI THROUGH HISTORY
"Sherman, turn the 'wayback Mach-
ine' to the period in U.S. History
when Thomas Jefferson was president,
what's this! The men of the American
Army are petitioning the president to
do away with the 'new' short haircut
law".
"But Mr. Peabody, I thought that
the military men always had military
haircuts"?
"Not true Sherman, as a matter of
fact, the men of the U.S. Navy once
prided themselves on their long hair.
That's why they have those flaps on
the backs of their uniform, they were
put there originally by the mén to
keep their hair off their uniforms".
"But Mr. Peabody, why did they
cut their hair"?
"I'm getting to that Sherman, if
you'll please be patient. You see
during the period of World War I short
hair was 'in vogue', consequently,
the military men ran off and cut
their hair to protect themselves from
social ostracism".
"But Mr. Peabody, the people to-
day wear their hair long and the mil-
itary men are ostracicized because
of their short hair. Why don't they
grow their hair back"?
"Because a very wise man in the
annals of military history said,
~that short hair is a vital way of
protecting the lives of each and
everyone of the soldiers of today".
"Who was that wise man, Mr. Pea-
body"?
"Why General Custer, of course,
Sherman",
TOO HASTY A WITHDRAWAL
AT THIS TIME COULD RESULT
PRISONERS OF WAR
Mriest &
Sinclair
Economic desperation is forcing the gov-
ernment to take fascist measures. to con-
trol the people. The first step towards
fascism is the eradicationd political op-
position. Frightening as it is, this is
Bobby
Seale
When Bobby Seale was in Chicago
on charges of conspiring to cross state
lines with intent to incite to riot, he was
kicked in the testes, beaten, bound,
gagged, and choked by US Marshals.
And when his mistrial was declared, he
was sentenced to serve four years on
contempt. Like in Alice in Wonderland,
he got the sentence before the verdict,
and in violation of the US Constitution
(Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amend-
ments) and a US Supreme Court prece-
dent (a judge shall not sentence any
person to more than six months~ without
a trial by jury).
his interview took place while he
was in SF City Prison. oHe has since
been extradited to Connecticut, where
he's up on Alice-in-Wonderland charges
of kidnapping and murder in the Alex
Rackley Cage gfe ine Pee eee
What follows is an edited version of
that interview, A long, very personal
section has been cut because it's all about
cooking and Bobby's favorite recipes. For
those of you who cook, we might print a
series of Bobby's recipes later, But
where this version begins, Bobby is talk-
ing about how he was brutalized and beat-
en. A guard had slipped him a contraband
Panther newspaper, When the prison in-
vestigator found that paper, Bobby told
him that a guard had given him the paper,
The guard denied it. For this Bobby was
sent to solitary, and on the way, he was
choked and kicked in the groin four times.
On top of it all, his legal papers were
illegally taken from him,
Bobby talks a lot about prison and
prison food, It might be the brig, Fear
and paranoia? He raps about how Huey
stood up to that, how people are divided
from each other, and what it takes to
bring people together. This hag gota
lot to do with Roger Priest. Roger's
up for 39 years for putting out a paper.
Bobby faces the chair because the Panther
party is fighting for a society that makes
some sense, Both are prisoners of the
same enemy because they're fighting
the same war.
The Hole
Seale: . « Well, I woke up in the hole.
And my throat, you know, it was hoarse.
And you know what shocked me the most?
When I came to, I couldn't utter a word.
That's how bad they choked me. And I
always had a tonsilitis problem, dig, They
wouldn't even let me go get a doctor....
I couldn't utter a word. I tried to say
something, and that shocked me, I
thought I wasn't going to be able to speak
no more, man, That blew my mind,
Pissed me off. And finally after about
ten minutes in there, I said, ''fhe's barely
happening right in front of us. Roger
Priest exercises his constitutional right
of freedom of press in order to express
the. views.,of hundreds of thousands of GIs
who are realizing that their leaders are
criminals - the.military calls this disloy-
alty and is threatening him with thirty-nine
years in jail. John Sinclair organized huge
cultural celebrations which repudiated the
tedium and alienation of life under the mil-
joints. And Bobby Seale, the chairman of
the Black Panther Party is on trial for his
life in a racist court in Connecticut.
On April 26, a cultural celebration in
the style of John Sinclair will be dedicated
to freeing Roger Priest and all political
prisoners. Servicemen are welcome -
enjoy the Berkeley culture instead of the
military culture for at least one day.
Commander Cody is the leading band.
Wine, food and other various natural
itarized, fascist society - he was sentenced spirits will be in abundance. When we
to ten years in jail for possession of two
able to clear his throat)'*. . And one of the
cats Came back and asked me did I want
some water, And I said, "Ya, I want
someé water." (very faintly).... and my
- throat it swelled up, and I started running
-o@ temperature...
_ The hole has been declared uncon-
stitutional by the US Supreme Court. But
~they still use it, you know. They lie and
Say they don't, but they do. They always
put cats in the hole, Always brutalizing
them, beating them. Like the other
night, you know the cat Raymond Scott?
One of these black guards, he tried to go
inTon Raymond Scott, man.T And brutalize
the:cat. Messing with him. . And then he
went and called out a bunch of other guards
and went in there, and they jumped.on him.
About nine or ten of them. Beat the.cat
man. Beat him unconscious. ; .
Well, back to the hole. The hole has
got a hole in the floor. Just a flat hole,
you know. Like they had the thing stopped
up. You can't flush it from inside. It's
flushed from outside, So I was in there -
vabout half an hour or so, And it flushed,
but it was stopped up. And the defecation
and urine and toilet paper and all that crap
come all back up on the floor. And I'm
standing in two inches of water with def-
ecation and everything in it, you know.
There's this little porthole with thick
glass on it, I'm watching to catch some-
one passing, I try to bang on this door,
but it's almost soundproof, ...And those
cats knew it was stopped up, They knew
it. And it wasn't until late that night when
the shift was changed that one of the guards
got some human sense and was giving me
some food in a plate through the porthole.
How Huey Psyched the Pigs
F.N.: What did you do to keep yourself
fit, to keep yourself sane?
Seale: You see, this is where you beat "
the cats, See, when you're a revolutionay
they can't break the spirit that way, The
real thing is you understand the psycho-
logy of the cops. They are the ones who
really can't stand to be in there. That's
why they create that kind of thing, you see
what I mean... ?
Huey was telling me one time about
how he figured this thing out. When he
was in jail a long time ago, way before
the Party started, they put him in the
hole cause he'd led a strike in jail for
better food, you know. They give you a
cup of green mush and two pieces of bread
twice a day. So when they first come
around there, Huey said, "I'm not going
to eat this crap cause I was striking up-
stairs for better food in the first place.
What would I look like eating this crap
now ?"" So here, he threw this crap out.
For two days Huey wouldn't eat. It so
happened that the shift changed. And the
cat who came on night shift happened to be
a brother who knew me and Huey very well
are together we cannot be repressed.
from Merritt College....What it was, he
went and got some bologne and cheese
sandwiches, and brought them down there
and gave them to Huey at night....When
they come down there the next day with
that green mush, Huey was doing push-
ups. This cat did that for ten days, and
it blew those cats' minds. . ..
I got out of the hole cause so much
pressure was coming down on them up
there in that jail, you know, for putting me
in there in the first place. Finally, the
cat who gave me that newspaper admitted,
"Oh ya, I gave the man a newspaper."
Then they looked like a bunch of fools for
putting me in the hole in the first place.
They found out I was telling the truth....
How Bobby Met Huey Newton
F{N.: When you first ran into Huey
Newton, what was it about him that made
the two of you come together?
| Seale: ~The man was able to articulateT
and make himself clear, A brother. I
call him the brother, the nigger, the
black man 3...
F.N.: Where'd you first bump into him?
Seale: At Merritt College in front of a
rally, It wasn't a rally. He just happened
to be blowing to three brothers and about
two hundred people crowled around after
the rally and was listening to Huey run it
down. I happened to walk up. I was just
a member of the crowd. I tried to kick
off going to Merritt College to get me an
education, I wanted to be an engineer, but
it turned out that I got interested in black
history and anthropology and social sciere,
I asked him some questions. I always
felt you should ask people questions. I
asked him, oWhat about all this stuff NAACP
is doing? Is it really helping us?T And
he blows it away. He says, "No, because
all that money they're using they're wast-
ing away to make some law. There's
already laws on the books that should be
enforced," And he cited all the 13th, 14th,
15th Amendments and all these kinds of
things that should have been enforced cause
they're our constitutional rights, you see.
So we have to exercise these laws. And
he talked about cooperatives, and what
black people need these days. ...
He learned how to read by memorizing
poetry. He didn't know how to read, so
he used poetry. And by focusing on the
poetry to understand words and stuff, he
learned the in-depth meaning of things.
You know, poetry gives a lot of in-depth
about life and society. . ..
(This is only the first section of the
interview. The other sections will be
printed in the next two issues)
Page Five
Even though the repression against
the Movement for a Democratic Military
has been very heavy in the Southern
California area the chapters in San
Diego and Oamp Pendleton, Oceanside,
are moving on the offense.
Each chapter has taken legal action
against the military or civil author-
ities. In San Diego, MDM filed com
plaints for injunction and damages in
the U.S. District Court for the South-
ern District of California. The
actions calls for an emergency injunc-
tion to force the police to cease from
making illegal arrests, entries into
homes and offices and generally har-
assing the organization of active
duty G.I.s. Also the plaintiffs de-
mand $100,000 each for previous acts
of harassment.
The defendants are 0.J. Roed, Chief
of Police of the San Diego Police De-
partment, R.B. Jaurequi, Assistant
Chief of Police, Walter Hahn, the city
manager, and John Does (1-100), the
officers of the Police Department.
Pendleton MDM filed suit against
Battalion Commander R.R. Miner for
Slander. He accused MDM of respon-
sibility for an elleged race riot on
February 13 at Pendleton. As MM nm
members from Camp Pendleton have
since told this writer, the race riot
charges were totally unfounded. The
outbreak occurred due to a racist
attack by some white marines, but the
black G.I. who was attacked went to
get some friends to get even. Many
of those .friends. happened to be white.
That's what the brass fears, that a
black G.I. could call on whites as
well as blacks to fight racism. MDM
says fight racism through solidarity.
In San Diego, MDM called attention
to the trial of James A. Brown, who
had been-in the, brig, for 203 days of
pre-trial confinement. without. any
legal assistance. He had been con-
fined in maximum security; he had
been harassed and beaten by guards.
People who came to his court-martial
were turned away, but MDM stayed out-
side the gates of the naval base and
distributed literature and rapped to
sailors about Brown's trial.
At North Island Naval Air Station,
San Diego, MDM is calling for a boy-
cott of the enlisted men's club. ~Two
black sailors got fired for verbally
supporting a third brother who
punched out a white lifer for calling
him a nigger. A shore patrol then
attempted to move on the brother,
Alex Jordan, but he received the same
treatment when he tried to lift his
club against Alex's head. Alex is
now being charged with various counts
of assault. Last Saturday only six
G.1.s went to the base enlisted men's
club. On a regular Saturday the club
is usually filled with at least 250
sailors.
The boycott will be sustained until
the following demands are met (1) Fire
the racist manager, Chief John Ryan;
(2) Reinstate with back pay Tommy Shaw
and Johnny Jones; free Alex Jordan,
political prisoner of American mili-
tary racist policy; and (3) take the
control of the club out of the hands
of the present management and turn it
over to a board of enlisted men elect-
ed by rank and file sailors.
Various forms of rap sessions are
being held at the Waiting Room, MDM
headquarters in San Diego. On Inter-
national Women's Day, women from
Women's Liberation came to talk,
U.S. Wars on Coffeehouses
Ever since the rebellion in the Ft.
Dix stockade last summer, the military
brass, with the aid of local, state
and federal authorities, has stepped
up its campaign to wipe out all pro-
gressive G.I. forces. Needless to
say, "General-Admiral" Nixon and his
henchmen, Mitchell, Laird, etc., are
on the side of the conspirators and
are actually the real forces behind
the conspiracy to exterminate the G.I.
Movement.
Although this combination of crim-
inals have at various times moved
against individuals who have resisted
most of the repression has come down
on the various coffeehouses projects
near military: bases or headquarters
for active duty G.I. organizations.
In early December the brass de-
cided that it wanted to pldee the
Shelter Half near Ft. Lewis, Tacoma,
Washington, off limits to servicemen.
A national publicity and support cam-
paign was waged by the coffeehouse
Staff. The Army, due to people's
pressure, decided to halt its inves-
tigation indefinitely on alleged sub-
versive activities at the coffeehouse.
At the Ft. Knox Coffeehouse in
Muldraugh, Kentucky, six of the staff
people were indicted for "maintain-
ing a public nuisance of all the
good citizens of the Conmonwealth of
Kentucky", and "violating sanitary
conditions". Bail was set at $10,000.
The grand jury started an investi-
gation of FTA (the G.I. paper). When
staff people refused to answer ques-
tions, four of them were jailed for
There have been raps on black liter-
ature at San Diego State College.
This last weekend, Jane Fonda
talked with the G.I.s about her la-
test experiences with the brass up
in the state of Washington.
On April 17 and 18, Preacherman
from the Patriot Party will be here
to rap with G.I.s.
All these activities must be tell-
ing the brass something about the de-
termination. of G.I.s. This will make
them more and more desperate in their
attempts to crush MDM. General Chap-
man, Commandant of the Marines, has
in a press conference made it quite
clear that he was declaring internal
war against the Movement for A
Democratic Military.
14
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contempt of court, and bail was set
at $1500 a person. The state police
came into the coffeehouse every night
for three weeks, demanding names of
the people in the coffeehouse.
The grand jury is to resume its
investigation.
The Ft. Dix coffeehouse near Ft.
Dix, New Jersey, got bombed and when
the police came to investigate they
proceeded to smash things up in the
name of "looking for clues".
The Oleo Strut coffeehouse near
Ft. Hood, Killeen, Texas, has been
the target for vigilantes of the Ku
Klux Klan type. Last fall the staff
and many active-duty G.I.s were head-
ed for an anti-imperialist rally in
Houston. Some of them never did make
that rally. Thery were on two occa=
Sions attacked with firearms by the
Klan. They found out later that the
Klan had taken credit for the crime.
Fortunately the shots only hit one
of the cars.
Two G.I.s from Ft. Hood who were
organizers have received heavy jail
sentences. One, the first editor of
the local G.1l. paper, called Fatigue
Press, got eight years on a framed
dope bust. He served a year and a
half in jail before a higher court
overturned the conviction.
In January 1970, the civilian
staff of the UFO coffeehouse near
Ft. Jackson, Columbia, South Caro-
lina, was busted and charged with
operating a public nuisance. Bail
was set at $7500 for the men and
$6000 for the women (sho is pregnant).
For this "crime", these staff people
face a possible ten years in jail.
Two days later the UFO was padlocked
by state officials; a notice stating
that the UFO was being closed by a
temporary restraining order on the
ground that it was a public nuisance
was placed in the window.
The Home Front near Ft. Carson,
Colorado Springs, has had FBI pres-
sure interfering with its efforts.
In July 1969, the landlord of the
original coffeehouse broke the lease
the day after being visited by the
FBI. On December 11, 1969, FBI and
military intelligence visited the
offices of Peerless Graphics, the
Colorado Springs printer for Above
Ground, the G.I. paper. A contract
Game (continued on page eight) Gi
Page Six
The Bay Area Chapter of MDM payed
its first visit to Treasure Island on
March » in order to discuss condi-
tions of T.I. with sailors stationed
there. Enlisted men voiced the usual
complaints but also explained that
the T.I. situation had changed con-
siderably as a result of the brutality
hearings which arose out of the case
of G.I. Union member Pat Jones.
Fat Jones was held at T.I. while
he was pending trial for AWOL.. He
suffered the pig brutality which many
Americans are being forced to get used
to. But instead of suffering silent-
ly, he decided to escape - which he
did. He contacted the Selective
Service Panel, a group of lawyers
who have defended many draft resis"
ters and who have within the last
year extended their help to: active
duty servicemen who resist military
oppression as a matter of conviction.
Don Jelinek took his case and as a
first step sought an injunction in
Federal Court against the reassign-
men of Pat to the brig. The Federal
Judge didn't dare to interfere with
the military's fascist perogative to
do whatever it pleases with those of
~us who are inducted, and refused to
grant the injunction. But Jelinek
then obtained a restraining order
from Supreme Court Justice Douglas,
and so the Navy was not allowed to
put him in the brig until a full
hearing on the injunction took place.
Meanwhile the Navy and Marine Pigs
in charge of the brig ignored the
Supreme Court, as fascists do, and
continued to encourage the beating
of helpless prisoners. After all,
if youlre a lifer, you need some
sort of emotional compensation. But
Jelinek blew their minds by collect-
ing fourteen affadavits alleging
brutality and charging the psychopaths
involved with contempt of court. By
this time, the Federal Judge who had
at first regarded the whole case
as none of his business, had
become infuriated at the stupidity
of the Navy for treating the
Supreme Court order with contempt.
Finally, the upper echelons of
the brass sent word down threugh
the chain of command to cease all
illegal activity until the case
blew over, although of course they
didn't word the directive this way.
From thereoh in conditions at the
brig and the holding barracks
improved quickly. This is an
excellent example of how the courage
of a single enlisted man, when it
is combined with professional
legal support, adequate publicity
(The Chronicle was writing front page
stories on this case), and is sup-
ported by other enlisted men in the
area can bring about inprovements in
the situations of servicemen.
The military realizes this, and
does not like to be forced to stop
its abuse of citizen-soldiers.
Therefore they do everything they
can get away with to isolate service-.
men from civilians and servicemen
who are willing to help them.
The MDM organizers had this
brought home to them as they were
leaving the base. Four Shore Patrol-
ers lead by a gung-ho lifer swooped
down on them, placed them under
arrest - without saying what they
were arresting them for, searched
their car, stole their property,
seized leaflets announcing an MDM
TLLEBUST!
meeting, and took them down to the
SP Station.
Here the four men - Tom Csekey,
Steve Rees, Tom Stevens, and an
active duty G.1I., Bob King - wit-
nessed a ludicrous display of
military paranoia. The situation was
all the more embarrassing because of
the presence of enlisted sailors and
marines who were obviously ashamed of
being involved with their "leaders".
First an officious CID inspector tried
to impress everyone with his own im-
portance. When he was laughed at "-
no one could help it "- he began wav-
ing his badge and screaming "Do you
realize your under arrest". After
he calmed down and went back to the
paperwork, a Navy officer began prat-
ing about one of the books that had
been stolen out of the car, "Quota-
tions from Chairman Mao", "Do you be-
long to the party that advocates this
book"?, he bleated. Its always hard
to figure out what officers are talk-
ing about but in this case it seemed
apparent that he thought that anyone
who was interested in helping service-
men must be a Communist on orders
from Russia. We can only guess be-
cause when he was asked what he was
talking about, he began a sentence,
got confused, and backed out of the
room.
Once these two intellectuals had
retreated, there was time for a good
discussion between us and the enlist-
ed marines still in the room. Like
the National Guardsmen called out to
Berkeley, they..were unable.to,do-any"
thing except follow orders, even
though they had strong sympathies
with those that the military hier-
archy regard as enemies. We learned
that they were temporarily assigned
to Treasure Island and.were trying
to somehow get into the Bay Area scene
for obvious reasons. Unfortunately,
they were afraid to come to the MDM
meeting that Sunday, because at this
meeting, plans were made for. bringing
servicemen to Provo Park for the cul-
tural festivals sponsored by the
White Panther Party in conjunction .
with Movement for a Democratic Mili-
tary. Hopefully, they have since
heard about this through word of
mouth, which the military can't pos-"
sibly repress. ,
After a while the CID inspector,
an ex-lifer named Prettyman, caught
on to what was happening and ordered
the prisoners to remain silent.
San Francisco Pigs showed up, took
the three civilians to jail, and b
booked us on trumped-up charges of
trespassing. The next day we were
arraigned before the U.S. Commission-
~er who admitted that he regarded the
charges as "peanuts" and tried to
convince us to plead guilty. This
is what the Navy wanted, since they
knew that having to admit to their
behavior in a public trial would b-
detrimental to their image.
In order to minimize total jail
time, we decided that only two of
us would plead not guilty. The man
who pleaded guilty was then given a
thirty day suspended sentence for
"peanuts". In a country where pigs
are arresting innocent people for
all sorts of trivial charges, a sus-
pended sentence is not much of a
favor, since it is likely to have to
be served anyway, and since it inter-
feres with political activity for
six months.
Bob King was taken to Oakland Army
Base where he is stationed and placed:
on restriction. Now since he had not
been convicted of a crime, and since
he was not likely to go AWOL, this
restriction was blatently illegal,
being nothing but punishment without
due process. When: he tnreatened to
bring this out in court, the Army
got nervous and rushed an Article 15
on him the morning that Tom Csekey
and myself were to go on trial.
They had done nothing for two weeks
and the timing of the Article 15,
seven o'clock in the morning, shows
that they paniced at the thought
of being exposed in court.
But their fear was translated
into vindictiveness, and Bob King
was busted from E-4 to E-2 and res-
tricted for thirty days. This is
the typical pattern of military op-
pression. ~ Lifers break their own
regulations, violate the constitu-
tion, and mistreat accused enlisted
men -"- and then some self-righteous
Colonel deals out a vicious sentence
for some trivial infraction of some
obscure rule. In this case, Bob
was charged with fraudulent entry
onto a military installation. There
was sone justification for the
charge. When asked who he was going
to visit, Bob, in a moment of bitter-
ness gave the name of his cousin.
His cousin had been killed in Vietnam.
As always, that unanswered ques-
tion haunts the minds of oppressed
servicemen -" Who are we fighting
forT; and who ~are weT fighting against?
Stevens and Csekey went into court
on April 3. Inspector Prettyman was
the first witness for the prosecution.
He claimed that the accused had not
been read their rights because they
had not been questioned. The report
said they refused to answer questions.
He admitted that he had received a
complaint about stolen property and
that he had not bothered to investi-
gate. He was visibly shocked by the
implication that he should use his
precious powers to prosecute officers
instead of enlisted men and civilians.
In the course of his testimony it be-
came apparent that he was really not
aware of what had happened. He fi-
nally excused himself by claiming
that he did not write the report.
All his testimony was dismissed
as hearsay at this point and the
trial was put over until April 24,
at 2 o'clock.
This case is no different from
thousands of others, essentially.
The court system is being used to
harass those who uphold rights won
for the people in a revolutionary
struggle two centuries ago. The
criminal pigs who interfere with the
exercise of these rights in order
to enslavement of allof us to the
profit-hungry rulers of this country.
These pigs enjoy virtual immunity
from prosecution. We are trying to
break down the isolation of service-
men from each other and from civil-
ians. The military is using illegal
means to try to stop us. They know
that the strategy of imperialist
domination of non/communist countries
depends on keeping us disorganized,
terrified, and miserable. Our Free-
dom and cooperation terrifies them.
Page Seven
hat we're for &| COFFEEHOUSE
we're for it
Believing that ending the suppression of the American Serviceman is
an important part of a larger
struggle
for basic human rights, the
Movement for a Democratic Military pledges support for the self deter-"
mination of all peoples.
We are dedicated to using every means at our
disposal to bring about a prompt end to the war in Vietnam, the exploi
tation of our brothers and sisters abroad, and the
physical and economic---of those in our ow land.
serviceman. has
of himself and of people
maining silent, the
deep-founded right
from intimidation and oppression.
We will be silent no longer.
l. We demand the right to collective
bargaining.
2. Extend all human and constitution
al rights to military men and women.
3. Stop all military censorship and
intimidation:
We demand the right to individual
conscience--moral, political, or
religious.
We demand the right to refuse polit-
ically objectionable duty such as
riot control and Vietnam duty.
4. Abolish all mental and physical
cruelty in military brigs, correct-
ional custodies and basic training.
5. .We demand the abolition of the
present court-martial system and NJP:
All cases would be subject to auto-
matic review by a board of civil-
ians elected by military men having
one vote each.
Trial by jury and court of one's
peers by rank.
Eliminate. physical-hearings and Non-
judicial Punishment.
Place the military judicial system
outside the chain of command.
6. We demand the equal to the feder-
al minimum wage for civilians.
repression--"-"both
We feel that by re-
contributed to the denial of this
everywhere to live free
We have been silent for a long time.
{. We demand the abolition of the
class structure of the military.
End saluting and sir-ing and special
officer priveleges and segregation.
End all rank priveleges.
We demand the right for an enlisted
men's elected review board of offi-
cers conduct.
We believe that respect can only be
earned on a human-relating-to-
human basis.
8. End all racism everywhere.
Bring to immediate trial by the sys-
tem described above, all officers
and senior enlisted men who forment
and exploit race tensions with the
military.
9. Free all political prisoners.
In return for captured American
troops in Vietnam, we support am
nesty for Eldridge Cleaver, Huey
Newton, the Conspiracy 8, and our
brother war resisters at home and
abroad.
10. Stop the glorification of war now
prevalent in all brances of the mil-
itary.
11. Abolish the draft and all invol-
untary enlistment.
12. Pull out of Vietnam now.
(continued from page six)
had been made to publish the newspaper;
the type had already been set for the
issue. The next day, the printer broke
the contract, and subsequently, no printer
in Colorado Springs would agree to
publish 'Above GroundT,
The Green Machine Coffeehouse Project
found a place in Oceanside, California,
near Camp Pendleton, but the day before
the lease was to be signed the landlord
backed out. So now they operate out of
their home in Vista. It has since Novem-
ber been the headquarters for the Camp
Pendleton chapter of Movement for a
Democratic Military (MDM).
Vigilantes have taken shots at the place
and undercover pigs have constantly been
found trespassing.
The 'Waiting Room", San Diego head-
quarters for MDM - has been practically
under siege by local and military pigs.
The MDM headquarters have been broken
into on at least four occasions up to this
date. Since late December at least fifty
GIs, all members of MDM, have been
ripped off: Most of these charges have
been dropped, since no evidence could
ever be found to constitute a violation.
At Seaside, California, near Fort Ord,
the ~Fort Ord Coffeehouse has only been in
existence about six weeks, but already has
received its taste of justice. The police
have been encouraging a group of bikers
to start trouble so that they in turn could
close the place down. The tactic has so
far been unsuccessful, but there have been
some close calls. The coffeehouse at Ft.
Ord is also serving as lodgings for the
newly formed chapter of Ft. Ord MDM,
All these coffeehouses in general
serve as places where GIs can learn more
about the Movement, read underground
literature, start their own papers and buil
their own movements.
brass calss subversive.
This is what the
So be it.
subscril
2214 Grove Street
Berkeley, California
94704
Enclosed is $5 for a year's su
phone:
MORA TORIUM
scheduled events for April 18: at ll am
people are assebmling at the Panhandle
in San Francisco (that's Oak and Baker).
At noon the march starts to the Civic Center, where two
active duty GIs are the featured speakers. Everyone come. But
if you don't like this schedule, then make your own and then do it!
I'm someone who digs what you're doing, and can help with some breac
I'm interested, and would like more information about MDM
I'm a GI who wants to subscribe (it's free)
I'm a civilian who wants to subscribe.
Be there.
address
