The daily F-35 assault on working-class Vermonters is part of the never-ending US wars
Memorial Day is a good time to demand an end to war
Vietnam changed my life. I was seventeen in ‘65 and twenty one in ‘69. I went out to my very first anti-war demonstration on October 16, 1965 on Boston Common. Noam Chomsky spoke. It was wild. Counter-demonstrators interrupted Chomsky and the other speakers. Cops on horseback broke up the demonstration.
The draft: Immediately after graduating in 1968 I got re-classified 1-A and got called up for my pre-induction physical at the Army induction center on Whitehall Street in lower Manhattan. A long line of us were examined and questioned at a series of stations. For fun, at the last station, I asked the doctor what would cause me to fail the physical. He said “only if you can’t do this,” while bending his finger, simulating pulling a trigger.
I passed. The next step was to sign the loyalty oath. Hundreds of us were filed into an enormous classroom.
I had a plan. I would sign the oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” But I didn’t hand in the page right away after signing: I wrote a few extra sentences, starting in the margins and continuing on the back of the page.
I wrote that I won’t refuse induction if drafted. And that I will go to Vietnam if ordered. I wrote that, for the past three years, while a student, I helped organize demonstrations, pickets, teach-ins, and film-showings against the war. I wrote that soldiers don’t give up their rights: supporting and defending the constitution includes supporting and defending the soldiers who speak out.
I wrote that I admired the courageous soldiers at Fort Jackson in South Carolina who had been arrested for speaking out against the war. I wrote that if I was drafted I would be joining with soldiers like them to exercise our constitutional rights, including to speak out to oppose the illegal, immoral, and unjust war from inside the Army. I wrote that the oath we all signed to support and defend the Constitution requires the army to allow antiwar agitation.
I wrote that if the Army drafts me it should immediately release those Fort Jackson soldiers. And if it keeps them in jail for speaking out against the war it should not draft me.
I handed in my loyalty oath page with all that writing.
They finger-printed me nine times.
Although I remained classified 1-A, months kept going by, and the war kept escalating. Yet I was not drafted. About 18 months later, in December 1969, I got a high number in the first draft lottery. Which meant I would not be drafted.
But I never stopped campaigning against the war. At that time the antiwar movement was actually a pro-GI movement: In every way we could, including this Pete Seeger song, we campaigned that the best way to support our boys in Vietnam was to bring them home now.
That campaign attracted tens of thousands of GIs in every branch of service all around the world. Soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines organized themselves: They put out over 300 underground newspapers at bases world-wide. Active duty GIs and veterans came out to lead huge demonstrations calling on President Nixon to bring the troops home now. The loss of support for the war among GIs was a crucial factor forcing Nixon to withdraw US ground forces from Vietnam in 1973.
After that US defeat, about 10 years passed before the never-ending series of US wars could resume. But the covert operations, US-backed coups, and proxy wars continued. Millions of civilians killed, injured, tortured and abused in Central and South America, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yeman, Libya, Palestine, East Timor, Chile, and many other places. The lives of thousands of our own soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines ruined. Trillions of dollars down the drain feeding the military-industrial complex.
Today, Memorial Day, certain Vermont politicians put out emails pretending to remember and honor those who fell. Bull. The best way to remember and honor them is to abolish US interventions and proxy wars. And the best way to support our GIs in uniform continues to be to bring them home now. And hold those responsible for the illegal wars to account.
So if you see politicians on parade today, ask if they will vote for more wars based on lies, like Iraq. If they support the economic draft. If they will send more of our working-class men and women to kill or be killed in yet more unjust wars of aggression. If they will vote billions of dollars to continue the ongoing proxy wars in Yemen and Ukraine, the ongoing US interventions in Syria and Somalia, and the threats on many other countries. Or if they agree with Edwin Starr: War (what is it good for) absolutely nothing.
And ask them if they will act to stop the war on working class Vermonters with the 115-decibel F-35.
Write or call your public servants and demand an immediate halt to F-35 training in cities.
Governor Phil Scott 802-828-3333 Chief of Staff <Jason.Gibbs@vermont.gov>
Vermont National Guard's Complaint Line: 802-660-5379 (Note: the Vermont Guard told a reporter that it received over 1400 noise complaints. But the Guard won’t release what people said).
Instead, or in addition, submit your report & complaint to the still-active online F-35 Fall 2021-Winter 2022 Report & Complaint Form: https://tinyurl.com/5d89ckj9
See all the graphs and in-your-own words statements on the F-35 Spring-Summer 2021 Report & Complaint Form (513 responses): https://tinyurl.com/3svacfvx.
See links to the graphs and in-your-own words statements on all four versions of the F-35 Report & Complaint Form since Spring 2020, with a total of 1670 responses from 658 different people plus 70 more on the still-active form.
Senator Patrick Leahy 800-642-3193 Chief of Staff <john_tracy@leahy.senate.gov>
Senator Bernie Sanders 800-339-9834 <Senator@sanders.senate.gov>
Congressman Peter Welch 888-605-7270 Chief of Staff <patrick.satalin@mail.house.gov>
Burlington City Council <citycouncil@burlingtonvt.gov>
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger <mayor@burlingtonvt.gov>
Winooski Mayor Kristine Lott <klott@winooskivt.org>
S. Burlington City Council Chair Helen Riehle <hriehle@sburl.com>
Williston Selectboard Chair Terry Macaig <macaig@msn.com>
VT Senate President Becca Balint <bbalint@leg.state.vt.us>
VT House Speaker Jill Krowinski <jkrowinski@leg.state.vt.us>
Attorney General TJ Donavan <DonovanTJ@gmail.com>
States Attorney Sarah George <Sarah.fair.george@gmail.com>
Vermont’s Federal Prosecutor <usavt.contactus1@usdoj.gov>
Adjutant General Brig Gen Gregory C Knight <gregory.c.knight.mil@mail.mil>
Major J Scott Detweiler <john.s.detweiler.mil@mail.mil>
Wing Commander Col David Shevchik david.w.shevchik@mail.mil
Vermont National Guard Inspector General Lt. Col. Edward J Soychak <edward.soychak@us.af.mil>
US Air Force Inspector General Lt. Col. Pamela D. Koppelmann <pamela.d.koppelmann.mil@mail.mil>
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall <Frank.Kendall@us.af.mil>
Thank you James for sharing your story on this Memorial Day. My brother was urged by our Mother to enlist in the Navy.. as he was probably going to be drafted into the army... he did join the Navy...and did go to Vietnam...and even though he was on a ship...and not on land....it took dedicated help to assist him with re-entry after his time in the Navy...it was a painful time....Thank you for all you and others did to create pressure against the establishment at that time and for your on-going dedication to protecting people now....Best Marjorie