UP AGAINST THE BULKHEAD / FEBRUARY 1974 / PAGE FOURThe Military:In the past, Gls felt that the only real option they had to putting upwith conditions within the American war machine was to ~~vote withdesertion. Desertion still remains the most widely usedmeans of resistance, but here we have a small group of individuals whohave decided not to split, but to stay and confront the Pentagon withits crimes. They have also decided not to use the accepted channelswithin the military to get a discharge. They havenTt applied for con-scientious objector discharges or tried to hustle medical discharges toget themselves out. They have said by their actions that they recognizetheir feetT[continued from page 1]purposes no more than slaves who lack legal rights, andhave to be forced to work through the use of feartactics.Larry Weldon, Navy, USS Savannah, Norfolk, Virginia,resigned in December because enlisted people lack legalrights, suffer racial discrimination, and are subjected tounfair labor practices.Rich Holder, Rich Holder, Navy, Norfolk, Virginia,resigned in December in protest of militaryTs inhumanetreatment of EMs, unfair judicial system, racism, sexism,and bad working conditions.LARRYJOHNSONOn June 18-19, 1973, PFC-resigned Larry Johnsonwent before a Special Court-Martial at Kaiserslautern,West Germany. He was charged with seven court-martialoffenses because he refused to wear a uniform, work,salute, or keep restriction. All these ~~crimesTT stemmedfrom LarryTs resignation from the Army. As Larry ex-plained it at his trial, o~I resigned from the Army to makepeople better aware of what Portugal, the U.S. Army,and NATO are doing in Mozambique, and to withdrawmy service from aiding and abetting war crimes.�TWHY WAS LARRY JOHNSONCONCERNED WITH MOZAMBIQUE?Larry Johnson grew up in Harlem. Strung out onheroin between the ages of 12 and 18, he was turned onto the study of his Black culture and history by the sameman who helped him kick the habit. When he was 21,Larry was a husband and a father. Money problemspushed him to reluctantly enlist. Even while in theArmy, he used every chance to educate himself about hisidentity as a Black man. After taking courses in Blackliterature and African history, he came across the Feb-ruary 1973 issue of Ebony magazine. Inside was anarticle called ~ooThe Quiet War in Mozambique,� whichwas about the Mozambiquean peopleTs fight for freedomfrom the rule of Portugal.Although many European countries still controlAfrican nations by manipulating their economies, Portu-gal is the last European country which maintains directcontrol of other countriesT governments. But for at leastten years now, people in all three of PortugalTs colonieshave been fighting back in an organized way. The Portu-guese have been trying to put down these liberationfighters in the same way that the Americans tried to putdown the Vietnamese liberation movement. But Portugal" the poorest country in all of Europe " couldnTt affordthe high costs involved in fighting this type of anti-guerrilla war. So it turned to the U.S. " the biggestmother country of them all " for support, and got it tothe max. Without the U.S., Portugal couldnTt go onfighting. This single fact convinced Larry to resign fromthe Army.A COURT"MARTIAL VICTORYAlthough LarryTs court-martial board convicted him,they handed down a token sentence: one month at hardlabor, a recommendation for a general discharge, and a$150 fine. Later, the conviction itself was overturnedbecause of the judgeTs bias against Larry. Larry and hisdefense committee considered their defense a victory.The jurors were clearly won over to LarryTs side, but feltthey had to come back with a guilty verdict for histechnical violations of the UCM].One key to Brother JohnsonTs successful defense washis popular support. The military tried to hold the trialout of the public eye. But since the case was given widepublicity in leaflets and newspapers, dozens of sup-porters turned up for the court-martial. When they wereturned away at the door by MPs, they seized the time.They held their own.meeting directly downstairs of thecourt-martial, discussed what was going on, and madeplans to get out the news to others.The other key to his deferise was the testimony ofFather Cesar Bertulli, an Italian missionary who lived inthat the military isnTt run in their interests or those of the AmericanSternberg.Wilabi taadbsinaeeLarry Johnson (right), his lawyer Howard DeNike (left), andmissionary priest, Father Cesar Bertulli (center), confer duringtrial recess.Mozambique for 25 years until he was kicked out of thecountry by the Portuguese for exposing Portugueseatrocities. At first, the trial judge, Maj. Herbert Green,refused to let Father Bertulli speak. But after constantpushing by defense lawyer Howard DeNike of theLawyers Military Defense Committee, Father Bertulliwas accepted as a character witness.Father Bertulli testified that the Ebony article whichoriginally moved Larry Johnson was o~too mild� to de-scribe the genocide taking place. He admitted as evi-dence photographs taken by himself and other mis-sionaries, of the tortures and massacres committed bythe Portuguese.When Larry Johnson finally got to take the stand, heexplained that he had seen Father BertulliTs photos. oWeas Americans are aiding and abetting this,�T Johnson said.Major Green freaked, and interrupted Johnson. oTellyour client to behave!TT But Johnson continued, oI wasbasically looking at myself " people of my complectionstruggling for their liberation. I saw how sick the condi-tions were.�TWIRETAP SCANDALThe trial also enmeshed the Army in a Watergate-typescandal when a sympathetic EM in Military Intelligencediscovered that the Army had tapped the phones ofLarryTs lawyers and supporters. The German governmentexpressed its so-called o~surpriseT�T and o~indignation,�T andthe Army had itself a full-blown international incident.LarryTs lawyer demanded that the Army release thetranscripts of the monitored conversations. Rather thandeal with these demands, the Army avoided the issue byreversing the conviction on the basis of Judge GreenTsrefusal to disqualify himself at the beginning of the trialfor prejudice.people, and that they arenTt going to participate any longer. They donTtask tor a discharge. They demand it as a right.So far, only the first two, Larry Johnson and Andrea Sternberg, havebeen discharged. The rest are still battling the military for their dis-charges. Each story is interesting and important. The five who remainstill need all the support we can give them. But because the Bulkhead islimited in space, and because we lack much necessary information onthe five people still in, weTll only report on Larry Johnson and Andreao~T resigned from theArmy to make peoplebetter aware of whatPortugal, the U.S. Army,and NATO are doingin Mozambique, and towithdraw my servicefrom aiding and abettingwar crimes. TTPortugal inAiricaThe United States and several other NATO countries aregiving massive military support to Portugal in its efforts tokeep control of its African colonies: Angola and Mozam-bique. The Nixon years have already seen $400 million inaid to Portugal, and recently the Administration announcedanother $436 million to be given in the next five years. Inaddition, the U.S. government has been supplying Portugalwith massive quantities of napalm, defoliants, fighterplanes, bombers, and troop transports. Thousands of Por-tuguese officers are being trained in the U.S. As a guerillafighter in the liberated territory of Guinea-Bissau (wonindependence from Portugal in September 1973) sums itup: oNot only do the Americans supply them withweapons. They tell them what to do with them. Fortunate-ly, it doesnTt work any better here than it does against ourbrothers and sisters in Vietnam.�oPortuguese� AfricaGuinea- BissauUPIf itTs a job.... Why canTt we quit ¢1, Andrea D. Sternberg, 081-42-3586, submit to the Admiral of the Portsmouth Naval Hospitalthe following reasons for my resignation from the United States Navy:1. Unreasonably long hours with no over-time pay;2. No equal opportunity for women (limitation of only three wards);3. Late evening hours in high-risk neighborhood with no provided protections;4. No night-time differential pay;5. Extensive socio-economic class distinction between officers and enlisted personnel;6. Abusive attitude of high pay grade personnel toward low grade personnel;7. Extremely small percentage of non-white officers;8. Military attitude of using its personnel for the benefit of big business rather than for ourcountryTs protection;9. Military attitude of using its personnel as strikebreakers and scabs against other workingpeople (i.e., extensive use of scab lettuce and grapes during the United Farmworkersboycott);10. And finally, numerous examples of personal dehumiliation among my enlisted brothersand sisters.ANDREASTERNBERGOn August 29, Hospital Corpswave Andrea Sternbergwas awarded an honorable discharge by the CO of theNaval Hospital at Portsmouth, Virginia. AndreaTs dis-charge came only hours after sheTd been busted forunauthorized absence. The NavyTs reversal " from con-viction to discharge " underlined their fear of AndreaTsprinciples and her willingness to fight for them. Andreaand her defense committee considered this a clear andtotal victory.On August 15 she had notified her CO in person andby letter that she was resigning her enlistment because ofunfair working conditions for women at the Naval Hos-pital. (See letter above.) She left the hospital facilityafter receiving a written oinvitationTT to return to workwhich told her that her absence omay constitute a viola-tion of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.�TNine days later, Andrea returned to the hospital withher supporters, and spoke with her commander. Thiscommander promised that the hospital would, as far aspossible, give her the job assignment of her choice and arecommendation for discharge if she would just go backto work.When she returned to work the next day, the hospitalcommand denied that any of this had been offered, andinstead handed her a chit for AdmiralTs Mast.For four days Andrea worked hard to give publicityto her case. She spoke with other corpswaves, and withthe help of her supporters, organized local and nationalpress conferences. This defense group also circulated apetition im support of AndreaTs stand. In two days, over90 active-duty men and women had signed.With this support behind her, Andrea went to Admi-ralTs Mast on the 29th, accompanied by five friends. Shewas found guilty of unauthorized absence, fined $200,busted in rank from E-2 to E-1 (suspended), and handed10 days extra duty.Hours later she was honorably discharged withouthaving done any extra duty and after paying only a$3.33 fine. She retains all veteran benefits.Andrea was supported throughout her action by theDefense Committee, an East Coast group of active-dutyenlisted men and women and their families; the NorfolkAction Research on the Military; the Tidewater Africans,an organization of Black Gls near Norfolk. Because ofAndreaTs own determined stand, the support of theabove groups, and the extensive coverage of her case bylocal and national press, the hospital command wasforced to allow her to resign.AndreaTs defense committee press release reads:oThe point now is that this victory should not be seen asa call for all other enlisted women and men to resign.from the military, but rather as an important step in thefight to win better working conditions and a just anddemocratic military for all enlisted people.�TThese two battles are over. Andrea and Larry havewon. But the other five are still fighting to get out.They need our support. The Bulkhead will continue toreport on their cases.Respectfully,08 1-42-3586VIETNAMRerun(Washington, D.C.)Year, Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger told atelevision audience that it is ohighly likelyT? that theIn the first week of the Newadministration would request congressional approval torenew the bombing of North Vietnam if they were toolaunch an all-out offensive of the sort that occurred inMay 1972.� In case you had hoped that you'd never besent to Vietnam, weigh those words carefully.It wasnTt the first time that Schlesinger had madesuch a threat. On November 31, he told reporters thatthe Administration was studying whether the new warpowers bill would enable the President to resumebombing without Congressional approval. Schlesingersaid the Nixon Administration was looking for a loopholein case the north Vietnamese and the ProvisionalRevolutionary Government (PRG) launched a newoffensive.We at the Bulkhead believe the Thieu regime isplanning and carrying out the offensive Schlesingerkeeps talking about. On January 9, President Thieu evenadmitted publicly that Saigon planes are systematicallybombing civilian areas. These areas are under the controlof the ~otherT? government in southern Vietnam, thePRG. For example, between November 7 and December31, 1973, Saigon aircraft carried out at least seven raidsagainst the city of Loc Ninh, the administrative center ofthe PRG.BOMBS IN THE 1974 BUDGETThe Pentagon is so sure of a renewed Americaninvolvement in Vietnam thar it has even budgeted $275million for bombing in Southeast Asia through June1974. $50 million of that has already been used up inthe pre-August 15, 1973 bombing of Cambodia. But that~leaves $225 million budgeted for bombing SE Asia inviolation of the Paris Peace Agreement. These facts wereuncovered by Prof. Gabriel Kolko ~in HouseAppropriations Committee Hearings on Dept. of DefenseAppropriations for 1974. (Source: Internews)AGAINST THE BULKHEAD / FEBRUARY 1974 / PAGE FIVE~Why donTtwe just givethem their canaland let everybodygo home?TTToday, many Panamanians are demonstrating to pro-test U.S. control of the Panama Canal, and the presenceof U.S. military bases in their country. The focus forthese demonstrations are talks between the Panamaniangovernment and the U.S. over renewal of the 1903treaty which granted the U.S. a 500-square-mile CanalZone right smack dab in the middle of their country.The movement to get the U.S. out is not a new one.As recently as January 1964, Panamanians demon-strating for an end to U.S. control of the Canal, brokethrough a chain-link fence separating the U.S.-controlledzone from the rest of Panama. These Panamanians triedto raise their flag on what they regarded as U.S.-occu-pied Panama, but were fired on by U.S. troops whokilled 22 and wounded more than 500.Again today, Panamanian resentment of U.S. controlis so strong that Panama's President, General OmarTorrijos, said that the coming talks between his govern-ment and the U.S. are the o~last chance� to negotiate apeaceful settlement of the conflict over the Canal. If thetalks fail, he emphasized, ~~we have no other resourceleft but to fight.�PanamaTs Foreign Minister Antonio Tack stated, oThemain aspiration of the Panamanian nation is to have aPanamanian canal.TT He also said that Panama considersthe massive U.S. military presence in the Canal Zoneillegal, and has called for the elimination of all US.bases.The loss of control of the Canal would be a heavyblow to NixonTs empire. It is perhaps the most strategicwaterway in the entire Western hemisphere. If you wantto get from the Caribbean or the Atlantic to the PacificOcean, either you go directly through the Panama Canal,or you take a 4,000 mile detour around the southern tipof South America. The Canal is important enough to theU.S. that the Pentagon thought it wise to put 14 militarybases there. Some of those bases are also training centerswhere American military experts train soldiers and pol-ice chiefs for various Latin American dictatorships whichare loyal to the Nixon administration.If the U.S. wonTt forfeit its control of the Canal orgive up its military bases, and if the Panamanian peoplewonTt give up, then somethingTs got to give. Ambassador-at-large Ellsworth Bunker (ex-U.S. ambassador to theThieu regime in Saigon) and Henry Kissinger are tryingto smooth things over. But their manueverings can onlydelay whatTs shaping up to be a major clash.AN EMTS VIEWFed Up, a Gl movement newspaper from Fort Lewisand McChord AFB, Washington, interviewed an un-named GI recently returned from Panama. His particularduty was putting down the Panamanian people. oImostly guarded docks and ammo dumps with anunloaded shotgun against the communists. I wentthrough Jungle Operations Training Center twice. It wasa real farce.... But we saw more hostility from thepeople in Santiago [Panama] than from guerillas in thejungle, or communists. Why donTt we just give themtheir canal and let everybody go home?� (Source:Interrmews and Fed Up)