The GI Movement and the GI Press

It is hard to get a sense of the GI movement, the depth and breadth of its concerns and the scope and size of its membership if one ignores the fact it was a spontaneous and thriving internationalist organization whose development was unwittingly aided and abetted by the brass as they attempted to isolate movement activists, by transferring them to new bases on less than 24 hours notice. In spite of efforts of Congressmen, such as Richard Ichord at the time, and historians and their political allies in the 35 years since the end of the Vietnam war, to claim the GI movement consisted of a few malcontents working at the behest or some communist inspired nefarious organization, who used the GIs and then abandoned them.  In a letter addressed to General Lewis Walt, written in response to an interview he had given to Life Magazine, the editor of Up Front roared:

Sir, With full knowledge of your commendable record and vast experience in military training and theory, I would like to answer your interview, published in the May 23rd edition of Life magazine. In doing so perhaps I can clarify my position and view and hopefully that of others who are involving themselves in the dissent presently taking place within the military ranks and possibly bring about a better understanding into this dilemma. The portions of “The Leaders Code” that were mentioned, I agree, are an integral part of leadership despite its place and source in society. Let me add however, that leadership can only and should only go as far as the individual is willing to be lead within reason and so long as his personal convictions and dictates of his conscience are not infringed upon. Every man is a leader in the sense that he is an entity with the capacity of making decisions and accepting or rejecting those decisions which affect him. Is this not freedom? As soon as he is not allowed to have control of his actions and pursuit of happiness, he can no longer support the organization he is serving.
Should not the military function in a manner which emphasizes human perspective in order for its members to willingly uphold those, freedoms they themselves enjoy and are fully aware of?
Dissent in an undemocratic system composed of people who believe in freedom can only be expected and definitely cannot be wrong.
Must we continue to lead people around without their knowledge of the facts and crush them when they question and dissent if they are not satisfied with the answers? What ever happened to inalienable rights? I agree that dissent and the system cannot work, but isn't it obvious that when serious, honest dissent is made at a large and growing scale that the system needs evaluation and revision?
Apparently the small minority of dissenters is growing and it is evident that the military is beginning to worry about them, (because of the truth which is finally being brought to light) but to make the analogy that “when discipline goes, men die needlessly” is somewhat absurd. It is this very type of thought to which we oppose ourselves. It is the very fact that men die needlessly and are dying unjustly everyday in a war which we have concluded is altogether wrong, which causes our disapproval. Not because we are “misguided kids” without a purpose in life but because the purposes which you have forced on our lives are those of the Great American Dream which has undoubtedly become a nightmare of hunger, poverty, death, war, racism, and total human misunderstanding. Thanks, but you can have it.
You also spoke of military justice in relation to military discipline and like the discipline, the justice which you practice so loosely is not only unconstitutional but medieval. If justice is to sentence a man for 16 years for his “audacity” to exercise free speech and an interest in humanity, after searching and finding truth, and realizing that the oath he took he did so at a young impressionable age without full knowledge of the facts, due to a false sense of nationalism and patriotism, then you can have that too.
Yes, sir, somehow you have let us down, but now that we are becoming aware of what is really happening and the truth behind humanity and brotherhood, and seeing your mistakes, we shall no longer allow you or any military corps the chance to misguide us any more.
For Love, Peace, and Human Understanding

In addressing the question of the movement's evolution, it's scope and size, the staff of the German edition of WE GOT THE brASS, wrote:,/p>

How did the movement start here? well contrary to popular (lifer's) belief, it isn't a commie-inspired movement.
Rather, it was inspired by the lifers themselves. The constant harassment and bullshit lifers subject us to has forced us up against the wall. We intend to reverse roles and put the liters up against the wall. For only then will we gain the rights supposedly guarenteed [sic] us as American citizens.
Just who are “we”? we are G I's. So we know just what lifer harassment is because we experience it everyday. But unlike most GI's, we've decided to take a stand against this needless and repressive harassment. For some time now we've rapped on the problems that we as GI's face. Well now we're tired cf discussing problems because in the end talk is only bullshit. Only through action are problems solved.
We've decided to act and our paper ... is a start. But it's only a start and we need to rapidly move on to more aggressive action. All of us as GI's must decide what kind of action is needed.
I don't feel there is any need for us to go into just why action on our part is needed. If you're a GI then you've been fucked over by some illiterate, cowardly lifer. A lifer is a coward because he'll hide behind his rank every fucking time. Any GI with half a brain knows this. What one of you wouldn't love to take some lifer behind the billets and whip his ass. Well obviously we can't do this (not yet), but by joining together we can bring about changes so that some dullwitted honky lifer can't treat us like a dog anytime his warped shrunken brain so desires.
As anyone who is interested enough to read this paper knows, the GI movement is growing throughout the Army. It is growing here in Europe as well as Stateside and in Vietnam. Frankfurt is no exception.
It is important that we realize that we definitely can bring about changes in the “system,” both military and non-military. The Army is by no means unbeatable. After all, we desperately need to increase the number of participants in the GI movement. All GIs must join together for strength and action. If you're a GI, you need all the help you can get, and brother if you don't know it, then you are no t any smarter than the lifers who are fucking over, you. If you continue to let these lifer-pigs fuck over you then you' re a chump and less than a man. According to the U.S. Army, to be a “man” you must really be a sheep and follow blindly. A real man is able to think for himself as well as defend himself.
Do you wish to be treated like a human being, like a man? Then join the Movement. Are you against the brutal and senseless loss of human lives in a rich man's war, a war which rich, fat cats started but are too cowardly to fight themselves? If you're not a chump and you don't want to suffer for some rich, fat-ass in Washington D.C., if you oppose the Viet Nam War, then join the Movement. If you're a GI, join the Movement and help yourself and your brothers. But do something and don't just bull shit.

The easiest way to illustrate the claims of both writers quoted above, is to simply list the materials preserved by the GI Press Project. In the continental United States, I have found papers that were published active duty servicemen, veterans and their civilian allies in 38 States and the District of Columbia, included Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, all what are now considered to be the reddest of the red states and places I never imagined would have ever been home to a single GI newspapers let alone dozens.
Outside the United States (with the exception of Canada, France and Sweden, where they were published by deserters and draft resisters with the aid of civilian activists) similar coalitions emerged as active duty GIs, aided by local activists and veterans published newspapers in England, Korea, Japan, Okinawa, the Philippines, Thailand, West Germany and West Berlin. Unfortunately I have not been able to find most of the papers produced in the United Kingdom, Japan, Okinawa, the Philippines and South Vietnam. Regrettably, I have not been able to track down the most infamous of the papers published in the United States and abroad, GI Says, which was reported by Liberation News Service as a mimeographed sheet produced by survivors of Hamburger Hill, who posted a $10,000 reward for fragging their commanding officer. If any of the readers of this blog know of these missing materials, please contact me.
Among the organizations represented in the materials already digitized are, to paraphrase Richard Neville’s description of the New Left, the alphabet soup of the GI movement; including the American Deserter’s Committee, American Servicemen’s Union, the Fort Hood United Front, the GI Alliance, the GI-Civilian Alliance for Peace, GIs United, the Movement for a Democratic Military, Resisters Inside the Army, the Union of American Exiles, the United States Servicemen’s Fund and the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Likewise, among the projects and coffeehouses are the Covered Wagon, the Green Machine, the Oleo Strut, the People’s House, the Shelter Half and the UFO Coffeehouse.
Have a great Saturday, later I will be posting a gallery of cartoons published during the month of April as well as articles covering the events listed in the calendars published a few days ago.