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To Hell With Their National Honor, We Won't Be Used Again

By VVAW

In 1918 on November 11th, there was rejoicing around the world as the armistice was signed ending World War I, at that time by far the bloodiest conflict the world had seen. Since that time, Armistice Day, recently changed to Veterans day, has been a time set aside to remember the men and women who died in the nation's wars.

But the US ruling class has long seen that they day can be much more--that it can serve as a way for them to try to peddle their propaganda around the glory of wars fought to defend their interests, and it whip up enthusiasm for more of their rich man's wars. And in 1976, with their economy in disastrous shape and seeing that they will have to go to war again--this time against their capitalist counterparts who rule in the Soviet Union--they once again trotted out of their veterans groups like the American Legion and VFW to talk about unity (which means we should all unify to keep them in power) and "national honor" (meaning that working people should flock behind the banners of the rich and willingly go off to fight their wars for them).

From coast to coast chapters of VVAW were out at the Veterans Day ceremonies to expose what "national honor" means, to talk about how vets are used once and thrown away and how the campaign to Free Ashby Leach is a prime example of how vets are dealt with, to demand that the GI Bill to be extended and expanded, and to say: TO HELL WITH THEIR NATIONAL HONOR, WE WON'T BE USED AGAIN. Some highlights of VVAW's activities on Vets Day were:

Chicago

Members of the Chicago VVAW chapter passed out leaflets and carried a banner saying "Once we fought for the rich; Now our fight's against them." To the Veterans Day ceremony at the Chicago Civic Center. Speaker after speaker at the official ceremony praised the great accomplishments of the American Legion and the VFW on behalf of veterans--after several years of heard work they finally managed to persuade the government to change the official date of Veterans Day back to November 11th (at present the federal Veterans Day is part of a three day weekend at the end of October). The speakers did not point out that the Legion and similar groups passively supported the cutting off of 3.7 million vets from the GI Bill back in May, or that they supported the new GI Bill which attacks future vets by making it a contributory plan (see article on the front page).

Los Angeles

50 people marched from the VA outpatient clinic through downtown LA at rush hour, ending up at the Federal Building where they held a rally. As the chapter marched in step, they used the rewritten military cadences (see page 10) and got strong support from the people along the route who cheered on the militant vets.

One of the VVAW speakers at the rally talked about his experiences having been sent to Europe in the military. There he saw several workers strikes attacked by the police; as the son of a worker himself, he began to question just what kind of "democracy" it was that he had been sent to "defend." And, as a Mexican-American, he saw minorities in this country--and in the military--catching all kinds of hell and harassment. As he pointed out, his mother had told him: "Hey, I didn't bring you up to be killed by these guys. I fought so you could be out there in the world with some kind of understanding, not become a junkie, not be killed by the cops--I don't want you to go." And, he added, we don't want our kids going through the same kind of thing.

A second VVAW speaker talked about the economy and the threat of war; talking about the elections, he said, "They were nothing but a two-ring circus; they're trying to say there's some kind of fundamental difference between Carter and Ford, or between Democrats and Republicans--that's a lot of bull. That's like saying there's a big difference between a strong arm robber and a con artist--they use different methods but they're all the same and still keep ripping off our money..."

Philadelphia

During a rally at Independence Hall, one speaker said: "What kind of national honor is there in fighting and dying for the rich man's system. What kind of nation honor is there in standing on unemployment lines, rotting in VA hospitals, and scraping by on a shrinking GI Bill. What kind of honor is there for Ashby Leach who sits in jail on $450,000 bail for fighting in the Interests of all vets. There's none!" The rally was followed by a march past the "Liberty Bell" with militant chants of "Ashby Leach must be freed/ He was fighting for what vets need"; and "They talk peace but war's in sight/ A rich man's war, we won't fight."

When VVAW got to the city's ceremonies at Washington Park, the police refused to let VVAW in, so the vets marched around the park chanting. And even as the cops kept the vets out, one of the official speakers was talking about how this was a free country and that people could always say what they wanted to say! At a later rally, speakers talked about how other veterans organizations refused to fight for vets and then had the cops exclude VVAW from the ceremony because they didn't want to see vets who are fighting against the way vets are used and then thrown aside.

Milwaukee

Held in downtown Milwaukee during the evening rush hour, the VVAW demonstration in front of the Veterans Administration, with its picket signs, banners and chants received widespread support from people walking and driving by, with a few people joining the picket line and the others honking their horns as a member of the chapter ran down the story of Ashby Leach and why we're taking up the fight to free him.

After the speeches the chapter dramatized the building of the campaign to Extend and Expand the GI Bill by unrolling a scroll with petitions on it that was 40 feet long and showed thousands of signatures supporting that fight; at that, the scroll only represented about half the signatures the chapter has collected in the course of taking out the campaign.

As the demonstration broke up with chants of Free Ashby Now, there was left for all to see, a sign of things to come for the VA, Chessie, and the whole rotten system.

Bay Area

(The following section about Veterans Day activities in San Francisco was written by the Bay Area Chapter of VVAW.)

For nearly 2 months, VVAW fought to march in the Vets Day Parade in San Francisco under the Banner" To Hell With Their 'National Honor'--We Won't Be Used Again." At first everyone we called--from the police department to city hall to the American Legion didn't know anything about the parade. Then finally, after getting the runaround, we found the "head man" on the parade committee, Magruder Wilkenson, who spent a good half hour on the phone telling us we were a bunch of degenerate lightweights and how we didn't know anything about being vets, and that unless we wanted to tangle with him we'd better not even try to get into the parade. But, when a VVAW delegation went to confront him face to face at the American Legion Office, he was shaking like a rabbit, told all his buddies in the room to keep their mouths shut, and refused to answer our questions.

A week before the parade, VVAW called a press conference in front of the San Francisco War Memorial Building to expose the American Legion and the Vets Day Parade Committee for the flunkies of the rich that they are, and for pretending to speak for veterans when in fact they're stabbing us in the back every time they do something. This year's Vets Day Parade, billed as "A Salute to the Armed Forces" was a damn good example. During this press conference, the Parade Committee crawled into their office to hid, and when VVAW marched into the building accompanied by the press, they pretended like they weren't even in the room!

On November 7, the day of the parade, we saw exactly why they wanted to keep VVAW out. The parade was one big recruiting pitch. There was almost nothing but ROTC units, high school drill teams, and cheer leaders, with a few scattered military units. It was pretty obvious that the rich and their flunkies in the American Legion were using Vets Day to try to whip up business for the recruiters in the high schools. VVAW talked with a lot of these student's parents, and most of them felt like one mother who said, "That's my son marching over there; he looks cute in the parade, but I don't want to see him in a casket a few years from now. I'm glad you're (VVAW) out here!"

AND WE WERE THERE. Just before the parade, 3 truck loads of us convoyed down the parade route under the banner "To Hell With Their National Honor--We Won't Be Used Again!" At points along the route we stopped and held mini-rallies and leafleted. A bus driver took a handful of leaflets and passed them out on his bus. We talked with vets from WWI to Korea to Vietnam who said, "we're with you guys all the way. We learned the hard way--we won't fight for them again." As we passed a Marine Corps color guard dressed in jungle fatigues, several brothers among them raised their fists in solidarity with us.

During the parade, led by our VVAW banner, we leafleted the entire route, talking with people all along the way. We passed out over 2000 leaflets and received warm support. A number of people took extra leaflets to give to friends. We sold a number of newspapers and VVAW buttons.

As the last contingent--pom-pom girls from Galileo High School--passed the Reviewing Stand (where all the generals and Legion big-wigs sat) VVAW called a rally. A crown of over 50 people who were watching the parade cheered and applauded as the VVAW speaker talked about how we're standing up to each and every attack the rich are bringing down on us. On this day especially the attack is aimed at the youth who they're trying to con into thinking that fighting for the rich is their only future. And here on Vets Day there wasn't one mention on the 3.7 million vets cut off the GI Bill on Memorial Day this year, or the fact that unemployment among Vietnam vets is twice the national average, and that we should be building the fight around all of these things. When VVAW talked about Ashby Leach people listened carefully, and when we talked about the campaign we're building to free him, people cheered and clapped.

The Vets Day parade actions were a dynamite victory--a victory for us, all of us who are standing up to the rich and starting to throw them off our backs. And as the VVAW speaker told the crowd by the Reviewing Stand, "Keep your eyes open, 'cause the veterans' movement is getting stronger, and we're gonna take on the rich man whether it's to extend & expand the GI Bill, demanding jobs or income now, or around the fact that vets are saying "We Won't Fight Another Rich Man's War!" And we sure as hell are gonna be talking with the youth who the rich have their eyes on to be cannon fodder for their next war to protect their worldwide intere$t$." "To Hell With Their National Honor--We Won't Be Used Again."

FREE ASHBY LEACH

EXTEND & EXPAND THE GI BILL

JOBS OR INCOME

WE WON'T FIGHT A RICH MAN'S WAR