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G.I.s Continue To Struggle!

By VVAW

PRE-TRIAL VICTORY!
LITTLE ROCK 11

(Naples, Italy) In an unexpected break, defense attorneys for the LITTLE ROCK 11 won an important victory in court last month when the military judge ordered a hearing on illegal wiretapping of the civilian defense lawyers' offices in Heidelberg, Germany, by US Military Intelligence, and the bugging of the same groups offices in Washington, DC, by the FBI.

After examining documents which proved military bugging of the Lawyers Military Defense Committee, the judge had to grant a defense motion for a court hearing, allowing the defense to call the heads of Military Intelligence for examination as to their knowledge of wiretapping which might effect the LITTLE ROCK cases. Because of the ruling, defense lawyers are now in the process of attempting to discuss the subject of military bugging with the heads of Military Intelligence in Heidelberg, Berlin and Washington. If the military refuses to discuss it or to confirm or deny its existence, they may be ordered to do so by the judge; and if they still refuse, the charges against the LITTLE ROCK 11 may be dismissed.

The victory, perhaps the most important of the pre-trial motions, followed a month of frustrating legal battles. A missing tape of critical courtroom testimony, a defense exhibit impounded for "security reasons", a prejudiced judge who refused to disqualify himself, a racist captain who illegally convened the court martial, are only a few of the problems which have beset the defense in the pre-trial motion stage of the court martial.

For four months, the 50 black sailors stationed on the USS LITTLE ROCK flagship of the Sixth Fleet, protested and sought relief from the racist conditions aboard the ship- racism which was unrelenting; intensified by the fact that less than 4% of the crew of 1300 men were black. Finally, on November 8, 1973, while the LITTLE ROCK was cruising the Mediterranean waters on maneuvers during the height of the Middle East war, fights broke out and tensions exploded when a white sailor based a black sailor over the head with a wrench. A few days earlier, a white marine from the ship had severely beaten a black sailor on the beach. Now, months after the incident, it is only the blacks who are facing the maximum punishment for the trouble aboard.

Though no one was seriously injured in the events, only the black sailors have been charged with riot and assault, and are facing Special Court Martial charges which could result in 6 months in prison and a Bad Conduct Discharge, The two white crewmen who precipitated the rebellion have already been rushed through their trials. One was acquitted and the other received a light punishment and is now back on duty on the same ship.

The court-martial of the 11 blacks have all been convened by the Commanding Officer of the ship, Captain Cullins, a clear violation of the Uniform code of Military Justice, which requires that a commander who is personally involved in an incident disqualify himself. And until recently, the jury members had been officers hand-picked by Captain Cullins exclusively form the ship-white officers who had witnessed and prejudged the participants of the events.

Seaman James Shempert, 19, of Chicago, Illinois, had this to say in a recent statement from Naples: "I, along with others, was charged with riot and assault. So they shipped us to Naples for court martial. We have been here for almost six months, and from the time we've been here it has been nothing but trouble. The petty officers in charge of us are writing us up on jive tips. For awhile we were all going to Captain's Mast almost every week for something stupid. And whether we were right or not, the Captain would burn us. I had a clean record before I came here, but now I have two captain's masts and two courts martial. The captain always says, 'Those are my petty officers, and I stand behind them 100%. So, we couldn't win.

"It is not bad enough that the white man is trying to burn us, but we have brothers telling on brothers, brothers getting over on brothers. It's bad to think that a black man fighting for his rights has to go through a lot- being in this (expletive deleted) outfit where you are not wanted, fighting a losing battle with the white man, and having to watch out for the colored boys that are trying to defeat you right along with the white man."

Seaman Eulie Jessie, 24, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, said in his statement: "I would like to let everyone know how unfair and prejudiced this Special Court Martial is. There is lying and deceit on the part of the government, convening authority and the prosecution. This Special Court Martial is just a mockery of justice. I am a Black American. I am proud to be an American. This is why I joined the Navy. I wanted to serve my country. But, this court martial has turned me against the Navy and the government. They have destroyed evidence such as tapes and messages that were to be used in our behalf. The Captain of the USS LITTLE ROCK has been, and still is, lying about the incident that happened on board on November 8, 1973."

Seaman Martin P. Williams, 23, from New Orleans summed up the feelings of the LITTLE ROCK brothers in his statement: "It is my belief that the military judge, like all other high ranking officers fear the future eroding of their authority if this case were seen for what it really is - just a group of blacks who dared to speak up on an admiral's ship and get away with it.

"I'm now here in Naples awaiting trial. Given what's been happening, it will be an unfair trial, judged by a one-sided organization. Is this to be called an act of democracy?"

To keep up on the trial in the next few months, read VVAW/WSO GI NEWS, or write to" Lawyers Military Defense Committee, c/o Captain Ed Welch, Naval Law Center, Box 8, FPO New York, NY 09521

BRASS IGNORES FACTS
HAWAIIAN G.I.S ON TRIAL

"All these people look like savages. The only reason they have that white lawyer is because they can't speak English."
A Scholfield Army Officer at the Grance-Kealoha hearings - April, 1974

The trial of Peter Kealoha and Danny Grance has been rescheduled to begin on May 29th. Peter Kealoha and Danny Grance are two Hawaiian GIs charged with AWOL and disrespect to an officer and sergeant. Additionally, Grance faces charges of assault and Kealoha is charged with making a threat all arising from an incident last December 11th when both men were restricted to their barracks and had consumed a considerable amount of beer. A disturbance broke out, and the commanding officer decided to throw Grance and Kealoha in jail pending further investigation. Faced with going to jail, intoxicated and being yelled at and insulted by a racist sergeant who was more intoxicated than they, both men expressed all of the resentment and anger they felt as local people toward the Army. Kealoha now faces a sentence of 5 years, and Grance could receive a sentence of up to 15 years.

Peter Kealoha is 19 years old. He was born and raised in the Waianae-Makaha area and is of Hawaiian descent. He served well and honorably in the Army for 17 months until a combination of unkept promises, failure to be promoted, racist treatment and harassment and racial tension at his assigned base in Germany led him to remain in Hawaii after leave time and later turn himself in as an AWOL so he could remain at home in Hawaii.

Danny Grance, 20 years old, born and raised in Aiea, is also of Hawaiian descent. He enlisted in the Army because of what he calls "the volunteer draft; what else can you do; there are not jobs." Danny maintained an excellent record including two letters of commendation for 16 months until racist treatment and a series of unfair incidents caused Danny, like Pete, to decide to go AWOL and come home to Hawaii.

It was because these two experienced similar treatment at bases thousands of miles apart (Peter in Germany and Danny in Colorada) that they each decided to go AWOL and return to Hawaii. They were each assigned to a "reassignment platoon" at Scholfield Barracks where they then met and were together on the night of the incident.

Defense Counsel Eric Sietz has argued that the facts disclose nothing more than a drunk and disorderly incident in the barracks which was blown all out of proportion by the officers involved. Sietz called attention to testimony of the Military Police that they could have resolved the situation easily without the interference of the officer and sergeant who later claimed to have been assaulted, and who was also intoxicated at the time. "It is simply outrageous," Seitz state, "that a minor incident of this nature can be handled with such insensitivity to the racial implications, and that the Army could even think of sending people to prison on the facts presented here, which every neutral observer has concluded cannot constitute serious criminal conduct by any standard. Many people in the community are upset and angry about the Army's handling of this case, involving two local guys, and their anger is justified."

General Gatsis, commander of the US Support Command, Hawaii, evidently is not too concerned about the feelings of the community OR of Peter and Danny, General Gatsis has totally ignored the recommendations of two investigations of the incident. Both investigations recommended a Special Court Martial in which the maximum sentence is six months. The General, however, is determined to see that Grance and Kealoha get the civilian equivalent of a felony conviction through a General Court Martial.

The Grance-Kealoha case has again aroused the long-felt anger over the persistent abuse and exploitation of the US Military. From the original overthrow of the Royal Hawaiian government by US Marines to the present day, the US Military has had a heavy hand on Hawaii. With 110 separate installations in Hawaii, the US Military controls 6.9% of the land of Hawaii, including 25% of the island of Oahu and the entire island of Kahoolawe which is used for bombing practice. Hawaii was also the command center for the electronic warfare used in Indochina.

For more information about the case and the background of the US Military in Hawaii, contact: GRANCE-KEALOHA DEFENSE COMMITTEE, 525 North Kalaheo Ave., Kailua, Hawaii 96734 (808)261-4855.

FREE GRANCE AND KEALOHA!!