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War Resister Returns To Confront 'Clemency'

By VVAW

"I have no intention of being part of what amounts to a continuing cover-up of the nature of the war and war resistance. I am refusing the "earned re-entry" program and demanding total amnesty for all war resisters and real peace in Indochina." So state Gerry Condon, a military war resister who came to the United States from Canada to talk about the government's clemency program.

Gerry Condon refused orders to go to Vietnam in 1968 while serving in the Green Berets, the special forces unit of the US Army. His refusal came about from talking to many Vietnam veterans who returned back from the war and who were sickened by the killing they had done of unarmed civilians. From this he came to see that these war crimes were a conscious part of the US military strategy in Vietnam.

He announced his intentions of refusing to participate in the Vietnam War in San Francisco. Consequently he was arrested by the military, court-martialled and sentenced in absentia, to ten years of hard labor and a dishonorable discharge, (later reduced to two years at hard labor and a bad conduct discharge.) After the first day of the court-martial Gerry realized that he would be sent to jail for resisting the war and he decided to move to Canada instead. He stayed in Canada for a while, then went to Sweden where he lived for 2 ? years. He was impressed with the large anti-war movement there, and he began to work with the American Deserters Committee Stockholm. It was in Sweden that he came to understand the war in Indochina politically.

Recently at an amnesty gathering in Washington DC, Gerry state, "The war has been pursued in the interests of the...Americans who own or control big business. To them domination of Indochina means immense potential profits. The vast majority of Americans...never stood to get a very big share of those profits. And even if they had, they would not be willing to do so at the expense of another nation's life and liberty."

After actively working in Sweden, he decided to return to Canada so that he could be more in touch with the anti-war movement in the US, which had grown considerably while he was in Stockholm. He went to Vancouver, British Columbia and worked with the Vancouver American Exiles Association organizing war resisters in the struggle to end the war in Indochina and for a universal and unconditional amnesty for all war resisters; including draft and military resisters, veterans with bad discharges and civilians convicted for resisting the war.

During the summer of 1974, Gerry moved to Toronto where he presently works as an editor of AMEX Magazine, and is an active member of the newly formed organization, Toronto American Exiles Association.

After President Ford announced the "earned re-entry" program for war resisters, the exile community held a conference in Toronto and called for a boycott of the program. This boycott is supported by most American organizations that are working for an unconditional amnesty, including VVAW/WSO. As part of the continuing campaign to spread the word of the boycott, Gerry decided to come to the US to travel around the country to denounce the Ford plan. While he risks arrest and imprisonment, he feels that it is important to continue to talk about the need for a real amnesty and an end to the war in Indochina.

Gerry says the "raising the issue of amnesty is opposing the war in Indochina." He feels that the campaign for total amnesty is a campaign that unites all war resister. As a military resister, Gerry feels strongly about the need for veterans with bad discharges to be included in the list of those in need of total amnesty. He says that many deserters and vets experienced the war first hand and as a result, a strong bond has been built between the.

"We've often been asked a question by the media. 'Even if there was an unconditional amnesty wouldn't you be afraid to go back to the US with all those people who served honorably over there?' We're always happy to be able to tell them that our main support in the US comes from the veterans, many of whom were in Vietnam, and that's extremely important."