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G.I.s Continue To Struggle!

By VVAW

Comment: Kent State

May 4th is the anniversary of the killing of four students at Kent State University by the Ohio National Guard. Recently, a Federal Grand Jury returned indictments against eight present and former enlisted members of the Guard for their role in the shooting. Neither the governor or the University President who were responsible for the National Guard coming on the campus in the first place were named in the indictment; nor was the officer(s) who gave the order to shoot. No one who has ever had riot training is going to believe that this Guard unit's members, without any orders, readied their weapons, went into firing position and started shooting at unarmed people on their own initiative. The Guard members were exhausted and scared; and when they got the order to fire, some of them did.

These indictments are an example of how the justice system works when the military is on the defensive. The lower ranking people always get the blame and the higher-ups go free. To think that these indictments represent at least some form of compensation for those four lives is to miss the point. At the most, these indictments are a small part of the overall lesson that we must draw from the whole Kent State affair. That lesson is how the National Guard is used by the government to suppress the American people in their struggles for a decent wage and working conditions, for an end to imperialist wars like Indochina, and for an end to political repression.

Letter: Fort Leavenworth

(Ft. Leavenworth, KS) The following letter was received from a brother in the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks(military prison) at Ft. Leavenworth, KS.

Comrades,

"Here at the USDB/Koncentration Kamp, tension and brutal attacks by pigs on inmates is at an all time high. The great hog and his lackeys are picking inmates at random and sending them to the Isolation Unit, in order to destroy the solidarity displayed by the inmates here. At the present time, the pigs are trying to crush the flow of newsletters and our Solidarity meetings. The lackeys of the administration have put up a chain link fence in all the wings - which makes it a prison within a prison. To compound the troubles, an inmate has been accused of knifing a guard.

"Brother Gregory Jackson, an inmate and victim of the US military prison system is being held in administrative segregation on a charge of aggravated assault and attempted murder. Bro. Jackson, who is presently serving a 2-year sentenced, is scheduled for release from bondage in the fall of this year. He is a black activist who is striving for justice and human rights for all inmates. Because of his political ideology, he was frequently harassed by prison guards. Now Bro. Jackson is facing trumped up charges by the prison administration in an effort to silence him.

"At the time of the alleged assault, Bro. Jackson and some of the other inmates were holding a solidarity meeting on Tier 3. The guard was assaulted on Tier 8, while the solidarity meeting was in progress. The guards rushed in and everyone was hurled into cells on tier 3. After this security measure was taken, everyone was ordered back to their own cells. About a half hour later 15 guards approached Bro. Jackson, handcuffed him and took him to isolation. Word had gotten out that Bro. Jackson was assaulted on his way to isolation, and a protest was scheduled for Monday March 18, in the mess hall, but the guards soon put a stop to that.

"The administration here has been trying to smokescreen all information available by starting false rumors. Everyone is asking why Bro. Jackson was singled out of 200 inmates in his section of the prison. The only reason is that Bro. Jackson is an activist in organizing the inmates, which the pigs know is a threat to the system. There are numerous witnesses to the whereabouts of Bro. Jackson when the assault occurred. The administration is hiding all the details and has appointed Bro. Jackson a JAG lawyer(military lawyer) who will work along with the administration to prosecute him.

"The case needs publicity and outside organizational support. It would be helpful if supporters would write letters of interest about Bro. Jackson's status to the Commanding Officer, Ft Leavenworth, Kansas 66027. WRITE IN SUPPORT OF BROTHER JACKSON!"

UNITY-STRUGGLE-VICTORY

USS LIttle Rock Trials

(Naples, Italy) Court martial proceedings for eleven black sailors fro the USS Little Rock began recently at the Naval Law Center in Naples. The incidents leading to the courts martial occurred on November 8, while the Little Rock was on alert in the Mediterranean Sea during the height of the Middle East war.

For months prior to the November outbreak, the younger black sailors on the Little Rock had brought specific demands to the attention of ship captain Peter K. Cullins. These included the removal of racist supervisors; and end to duty roster juggling that put black's on duty when the ship was in liberty ports; an end to unequal treatment on sick call; and end to the assignment of blacks to the most demeaning jobs on the mess deck; and a protest of general conditions of institutionalized racism on the ship.

According to the Lawyers Military Defense Committee, which is working on the case, the situation on the Little Rock was more tense than on most ships since it was a fleet flag ship with an admiral on board, and the number of blacks had been purposely kept low. Out of the crew of 1300, only 50 were black, and to add to the problems, Capt. Cullins refused to respond in any way to the demands of black sailors to deal with racist policies.

When it became evident that Cullins was not going to intervene in any way, the black sailors began to hold meetings to discuss the problems. "We would rap about the hate the white sailors were taking out on the lower-ranking black sailors." James Shempert, one on the defendants, explained. "We would have meetings and then they (white sailors) would spread rumors about us."

This situation dragged on for four months. Then in November, a black sailor was attacked and hit over the head with a wrench by a white sailor who, according to witnesses, did so screaming, "I'm going to kill you, nigger." Blacks and whites gathered in groups and at one point about 200 white sailors armed with knives, pipes and spikes raced through the ship trying to corner the highly outnumbered black sailors. Captain Cullins eventually was able to calm the white sailors but still refused to recognize the racism on the ship.

After the incident, only blacks were charged with riot and assault, which could result in six months imprisonment and Bad Conduct Discharges. The Whites who precipitated the incident have already been rushed through the courts. The one who hit the black man over the head with the wrench was acquitted; the other found guilty of drunken behavior was given a minimal sentence and quickly returned to duty. No white sailors were charged with assembling with weapons.

The first of the courts martial of the eleven black men has been convened by Captain Cullins, a clear violation of military law which requires that commanding officers personally involved in an incident remove themselves from the case. Similarly, the jury is a handpicked group of white officers, some of whom have been the targets of specific racism charges by black sailors.

Other incidents of racism also occurred in the Mediterranean during the same period of the Middle East war. One incident involved black and Puerto Rican sailors on the USS Independence, and another involved three black marines on the USS Iwo Jima.

For more information, write to: Lawyers Military Defense Committee, c/o Captain Ed Welch, Naval Law Center, Box 8, FPO New York, NY 09521.

Melvin X. Smith Convicted

Melvin Smith has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter in a re-trial of his case involving the killing of his first sergeant. The original trial had resulted in his conviction for first degree murder, but that conviction was reversed on a technicality. The Army chose to court martial Smith a second time, and this court martial resulted in a conviction on the lesser charge and a sentence of 8 years at hard labor with the three years he has already served credited to Smith.

The courts martial came as a result of an incident that occurred in 1971 when Smith was stationed in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam. Temporarily insane because of a serious head injury suffered from a fall and subject to racial harassment from his military superiors, Smith went on a shooting spree which resulted in the death of his first sergeant and injury to two other men and himself.

Since that time Smith has been subject to the abuse and oppression which the military heaps upon the GI, especially the Black GI, including the testimony of Army doctors, that he was insane at the time of the killings. He has been denied needed medical attention. In prison he has been harassed for writing letters which have been published. His mail has been tampered. He has been denied the right to correspond with organizations such as VVAW/WSO. He has been persecuted because of his religious beliefs. His friends within prison have been punished for possessing petitions which support Melvin. For three years he has faced the racism and oppression of the military and its prison system.

Melvin and his lawyer see the verdict as a victory. However, the struggle of Melvin Smith will continue because of the harsh sentence. The sentence will be appealed, and Melvin needs your financial support to carry out that appeal. Donations should be sent to the Melvin Smith Defense Fund, c/o Independence Bank of Chicago, 7936 S. Cottage Grove, Chicago, Illinois 60619. Melvin's struggle is the struggle of all GIs. His is the struggle of all the oppressed in prison.

FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!