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London: Chapter Formed

By VVAW

On November 14th, the Union of American Exiles in Britain (UAEB), formally voted to become VVAW/WSO London chapter. The formation of this new chapter in England marks the first established chapter of VVAW/WSO in Europe.

During the past year, members of UAEB and VVAW/WSO have met on several occasions and exchanged information about the work being done in both Great Britain and the United States by the two organizations. Close ties between the groups were established and recently UAEB discussed their reasons for wanting to become a chapter of VVAW/WSO.

As Britain has thousands of Americans living there, the UAEB felt that it could facilitate establishing a progressive American organization in Great Britain under the banner of VVAW/WSO. They also realized that their identity solely as exiles was declining and that they were becoming more of a community of Americans opposed to United States foreign policy as a whole: one that exploits millions of people and countless nations. Another factor in their decision to join VVAW/WSO was that UAEB?s membership was not solely that of exiles, as other Americans interested in working with the group had joined.

UAEB and VVAW/WSO have had similar experiences along these lines. The stages of development of both organizations follow the same patterns. When VVAW became VVAW/WSO it was in recognition of the fact that many non-veterans wanted to join and work in an anti-imperialist organization, and were, in fact, doing so. The growth of VVAW/WSO to its present size and strength is parallel to the growth of the awareness of Americans who are fast realizing that the government?s foreign and domestic policies are not in their interests. This is recognized by UAEB which agrees that VVAW/WSO is the kind of organization that can successfully build a mass anti-imperialist consciousness.

The chapter in London will continue the same work that they have been doing in the past. There are thousands of American GIs in Britain, and the new chapter will work with them. They will continue to work around the issue of Amnesty for all war resisters, and they will continue to educate the around United States military intervention in Indochina.

Fritz Efaw, of the London chapter wrote in a recent letter, "Politically, we have moved from issues and positions related to the welfare of the exile community to issues and positions of importance to a broader community, especially the community of GIs and veterans and their families. We have found that our political thinking is closer to that of VAW/WSO than to that of most other organizations... We feel that we could reach these men and women more easily by changing... from a group of resisters only, to a group of Vietnam-era anti-imperialist Americans."

With the establishment of VVAW/WSO in London, England the organization now has chapters in three continents. The chapters in Japan and the London chapter are an integral part of the organization. For wherever American troops are stationed, or wherever American business interests are located, their is a desire need to have Americans involved in educating other Americans and supporting the struggles of those who are fighting to rid themselves from the yoke of imperialism.

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