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Letters to VVAW

By VVAW

Dear VVAW,

Could you enroll me—or whatever? If you need $, let me know and send what info you can. I need to get something going for myself and a few others who though you all died out a decade ago. Thank goodness you're alive and going well in Chicago and elsewhere. Thanks. Looking forward to corresponding with you. Need your help.

Peace,
Eureka Springs
Arkansas

Dear Vets,

I'm an ex-paratroop who at this moment am sitting in a small cell here at the Indiana State Prison. My crime was buying weapons for use in Africa. I "was" a very much involved person in affair against commies, etc. My family, friends and even fellow teammates felt often I was too full of hate.

Now I honestly feel that war itself is the real enemy to all of mankind—it's not the answer! There are a lot of us vets in here who agree that its all got to chance; we are limited but dedicated.

If you will, send us all info on your group's goals, objectives, ideas, support. I for one will be free in December if the members of the parole board decide in all their wisdom to release me.

I, like many, do not wish to see the kids sent off again on those fools in power orders to become cannon fodder for king and country in another useless war. The betrayal we suffered is enough for me to fully understand the waste of it all. Many of us here discuss the problem often, so we heard your address given out on the radio and I decided to write for info.

The present administration in DC is without question preparing for war again. This time they overtly speak of it...People must remember, the waste must not be released again.

Michigan City, IN

Dear VVAW,

I'm currently taking a course through Indiana U-Purdue U at Ft Wayne at the Vet Center on Vietnam. Our texts have included Lifton, Santoli, Emerson, Lang, Baron and various handouts and films. We're also doing in-depth interviews with vets as a form of outreach and knowledge.

I would like to know if I could receive your very worth-while paper, THE VETERAN. My husband is a vet along with my brother and lots of friends. I hope to continue my education in this cause and do as much as possible! Our Ft Wayne Vet Center has done so much good. I feel an especially heart-felt thanks to Rick Ritter, counselor at the Vet Center and one of the two instructors in this course. His dedication and putting his ass on the line had made the Center a place a lot of vets feel they can go to.

Thanks for being there.

Sandy Thieme
Ft Wayne, IN

(this letter, and the poem which follow it, was written by a VVAW member in Madison, WI to a Dow Chemical executive who had been quoted as saying that only weirdos and worse could object to 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T.)

Dear Mr Barnes,

My only reason in writing you is that I have just recently read a letter written by you to Reverend Roos, who is a stockholder in your company.

In your letter to the Reverend, you refereed to the people who are interested in the serious effect of 2,4,5-t as "activists, liar, quack," and using Hitler type propaganda. You also extended an invitation to the Reverend to visit your toxicology labs and to talk to your scientists.

I am the wife of a Vietnam veteran. We are not activists and we are not radicals. We are fighting for something we firmly believe in. Agent Orange is a killer. Thousands of Vietnam vets are suffering from the effects of Agent Orange, and many have died.

I know what a living Hell it is, because I have to live with it. My husband is one of those vets suffering from the effects of Agent Orange. I have seen other vets whose exposure to Agent Orange is much more severe than my husband's. It's a crying shame. All I can do is pray for these men, and thank God my husband isn't that badly effected.

Your chemical 2,4,5-T may be very effective in destroying marijuana but so is manual labor. Your chemical 2,4,5-T has also been very effective in destroying the lives of thousands of veterans and their families.

Of course it's very important to you to keep your stockholders happy. It wouldn't do anyone any good to talk to your scientists. After all, Dow Chemical signs their paychecks, and the only thing a person would hear from them is what you want them to hear.

We no longer buy Dow Chemical products, and we have encouraged our friends and relatives, here in Wisconsin and Michigan, to do the same.

It's not us common folk who will stop at nothing; it's you people and Dow, and the U.S. government. You have committed a sin against mankind. A very deadly sin. It is called Agent Orange.

Kathy Gauthier

Listen my people,
And you will hear,
Of a horrifying story,
And what vets have come to fear.
The Government said,
"we want you, my son,
We're going to send you
To a place called Vietnam."
To they taught me how to kill,
And they taught me how to fight,
Little did I know,
It was the beginning of my plight.

I spend none months,
In that man-made hell,
When I came back home,
I wasn't feeling so well.
Little did I know,
That while doing my time,
Dow was spraying me
With a deadly herbicide.

Agent Orange, Blue, and White
It's been named;
It's killed many vets
And left their children lame.
The Vietnam vet is
Continuing his plight,
Asking all vets,
To unit and to fight.
"Test, Treat and Compensate,"
Is our cry,
How many more vets
Are going to have to die?
The government is blind,
The don't want to see,
That the real killed in Vietnam
Was 2,4,5-T.

The day will come
When Dow will fall to is knee,
Crying Mercy, Mercy,
Have Mercy on Me."
But I'll show no Mercy,
For they've shown none to me.
Is this government so blind,
They cannot see,
What their fucking war,
Has done to me?
They don't realize
It's still not too late,
All the vets asks,
Is to Test, Treat & compensate.

Kathy Gauthier

The Milwaukee Chapter of VVAW is continuing its work with a great sadness. On Oct 11, 1981, the youngest member of our chapter was killed in a tragic motorcycle accident. Tom Ramm joined VVAW eight years ago at the age of 13! He joined because he was strongly against the Vietnam War, and supported our politics and approach. It is people like Tom who help us be more than just another vets organization. He helped to make us what we are —a strong community-based organization focusing on vets issues but with a strong link to the non-veteran community. For eight years Tom worked to strengthen that link—demonstrations, fund-raisers, social events, and all the inglorious shit work that goes into making a strong chapter—postering, licking stamps and addressing newsletters. He took a personal position on the war machine by refusing to register for the draft. Tome has a family which has supported VVAW too. Without the beautiful example of these wonderful people Tom would not have grown into the excellent man that he was. The whole family has taken a leadership role in the community and among their peers. We love and support them all, and we will miss Tom.