Opening Remarks: 9:30-10:15am, Room 332 in the UW HUB
Christoph Giebel is Associate Professor of International Studies and History, Jackson School of International Studies, UW. His research and teaching interests concern 20th c. Viet Nam; Comparative Colonialisms and (French and US) imperialism in (Southeast) Asia; history, historiography, and memory; and the spatial representations of the wars in Viet Nam. Randy Rowland is a member and a cofounder of the Seattle VFP chapter established in 2003 He was an Army medic, taking care of the wounded when he turned against the war. In 1968 he refused to train with the M-16 weapon at Ft. Lewis and was later convicted of mutiny as part of the Presidio 27. G.I. Resistance in the Pacific Northwest
10:30am-12:00pm, Room 332 in the UW HUB
It’s rare in human history for soldiers to choose humanity over uniform and through their resistance, to change the course of a war. That’s what American soldiers during the US war in Viet Nam did--in staggering numbers. Meet four GI Resisters from Ft. Lewis-McChord (now JBLM) who were part of the GI movement opposing the war. Panelists:
Dave Henry became active in the antiwar movement as a student in the late 1960s. He became editor-in-chief of his campus’ newspaper and immediately turned it into an antiwar newspaper. After being drafted by the Army in 1970 he freaked out and joined the Air Force. While looking for a way out of the Air Force, he connected with the GI Alliance whose members challenged him to remain in service and help organize among active-duty Airmen and GIs. He later joined the staff of the Lewis McChord Free Press. Terry Irvin was drafted into the Army. He helped write, produce, and distribute the underground GI newspaper, Lewis McChord Free Press. In a challenge to military censorship rules, he was busted for distribution of the Declaration of Independence at Ft. Lewis on July 4th, 1971. Terry’s portrait, of him holding an issue of the Lewis McChord Free Press, appears in the Waging Peace exhibit. Jim Klimaski is a former Army lieutenant and member of the Concerned Officers Movement who worked on multiple GI newspapers. Jim was already publicly against the war when he was ordered to report to infantry officers’ school at Ft Benning, Georgia. Stationed Ft Bragg in Fayetteville, NC, he began working with a group of soldiers at the nearby Quaker House, an anti-war center that published a newspaper called Bragg Briefs. He was soon reassigned to Ft Lewis in an effort by the military to break up the movement. There, he started the Lewis McChord Free Pressto spread the word that soldiers were opposed to the war too. Mike Royce went to Mississippi to register voters with SNCC, and then was a member of SDS in college. was already against the war in Viet Nam when he received his draft notice. Active in the GI Alliance, Mike organized from within and served on staff of Lewis McChord Free Press. He ran into trouble passing out copies of the Declaration of Independence at Ft. Lewis along with Terry Irvin. Moderator: Randy Rowland
LUNCH: 12:00pm-1:30pm
Lunch is on participants’ own. Link to nearby food options. Civilian Support of Military Resistance
1:30pm-3:00pm, Room 332 in the UW HUB After the “GI and Veteran March for Peace” in San Francisco on October 12, 1968, the civilian anti-war movement realized that active-duty GIs and recently discharged veterans were natural allies in an effort to stop the war. Reaching out to dissident soldiers began with the establishment of anti-war coffeehouses near military bases, including the Shelter Half Coffeehouse in Tacoma. Other organizations, like the Pacific Counseling Service, were set up to provide legal counseling and encouragement for military personnel. The National Lawyers Guild created the Military Law Task Force to defend dissident soldiers, sailors, and marines. Entertainers, musicians, actors, and other performers created an alternative to the pro-war USO shows that toured US bases throughout the Pacific. The combined efforts influenced, encouraged, and protected dissent within the US military, exposing the lie that soldiers and veterans were at odds with civilian peace activists. Panelists:
Megan Cornish grew up in a military family. She joined the anti-war movement in college at the height of the war in Viet Nam, later moving to Washington State to continue her resistance. Megan has a rich history of support working with Shelter Half, an anti-war GI coffee house near Ft Lewis in Tacoma. Barbara Dudley as a young attorney defending GIs in courts-martial in Southeast Asia during the war, Barbara was assigned to outposts in the Philippines and Viet Nam working with the National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force. Later, her career in public service included terms as Executive Director of the National Lawyers Guild and GreenPeace USA. Raleigh McLemore shares his experience assigned to the Pacific Counseling Service (PCS). Created by anti-war activists during the war in Viet Nam, PCS provided free services to military personnel who opposed the war. Legal assistance included application for conscientious objector status, assistance with disciplinary issues, and general dissemination of other information about the war. Moderator: Kem Hunter was raised in a military family. He trained to be a career military officer but became strongly opposed to war while serving two tours in Vietnam. Instead, he became a career firefighter in the Seattle Fire Department. Later, he attended the UW School of Law and practiced law until his second retirement. He currently serves as a board member of Veterans for Peace, Seattle Chapter. Bringing the War home: Veterans’ Resistance
3:15pm-4:45pm, Room 332 in the UW HUB GI resistance didn’t end in Viet Nam. Returning veterans played a pivotal role in turning public opinion against the war, as they brought back their truth which clashed directly with what Americans had been led to believe. From the days when returning veterans were throwing their medals at the Capitol Building in protest right up to today, veterans have played a unique role within the peace and anti-war movement. Even in today’s “All-Volunteer” Military, many soldiers have resisted the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. How can you support a contemporary war resister in the US military? Or in the current war between the Ukraine and Russia? Panelists:
Stephanie Atkinson is an organizer of the GI Resistance Working Group of Veterans For Peace and Courage to Resist. She enlisted in the Army reserve at age 17 through the delayed entry program and served for 6 years. She was “stop-lossed” by the Army in 1990 after the invasion of Iraq into Kuwait. When activated to service in preparation for Operation Desert Storm, she refused orders to deploy and went AWOL. Briefly incarcerated, she was happily discharged with an “Other than Honorable” in lieu of courts martial administrative separation. Joy Damiani is an Army veteran who was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division as a public affairs specialist from 2002-2008, deployed to Iraq twice, and has been learning, educating, and speaking out about the military-industrial complex (MIC) ever since. An author, songwriter, musician, podcaster, poet, and visual artist in many media, Damiani’s latest project is a memoir entitled If You Ain't Cheatin', You Ain't Tryin' and Other Lessons I Learned In the Army, to be published in November 2022. Mike Dedrick is a cofounder of the Seattle VFP chapter established in 2003 and served as its first president. He was drafted into the Army 1966. Trained as an Intelligence Analyst and Interrogator Linguist, he worked out of the Combined Military Interrogation Center, in Cholon, Saigon. In the middle of 1968, the Tet and May offensives occurred, bringing massive damage and death to predominantly refugee civilians in Cholon. After his experience and seeing the futile and unnecessary escalation of the war with the invasion of Cambodia, Mike was led to anti-war work with Vietnam Veterans Against the War, serving as a Washington State regional Coordinator in 1970. VVAW Seattle assisted COs in getting discharges, running AWOLs across the Canadian border and working with local GI resister groups like the Shelter Half in Tacoma. He currently serves as Vice President of the Seattle VFP chapter. Dan Gilman is retired union organizer. He was drafted into the Army in 1967 and spent 1969 in Viet Nam, working as a medic in a Battalion medical clinic. He is a former President of Seattle Chapter of Veterans For Peace and serves on the organizing committee of the Seattle Anti-War Coalition. Moderator: Michael McPhearson is a former Army Captain and combat veteran from Operation Desert Storm. A human rights and anti-war activist, including the movement for Black Lives, Michael is the Executive Director of the South Seattle Emerald. Michael McPhearson is also the 2022 Veterans For Peace Member of the Year! (Ovation!) Reception featuring Vietnamese cuisine to follow 5:00-7:00 pm, Room 334 in the UW HUB |