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Vietnam Veterans Limited Incursion Into Congress 'Land'

By VVAW

OPERATION DEWEY CANYON IV: A TURNING POINT

Preparations for Dewey Canyon IV began long before the opening of the camp on the Mall on the 12th of May. An advance team of VVAW people had already laid the groundwork by meeting and negotiating with 16 police agencies, city government, the Department of the Interior and Capitol police as well as the VA, numbers of churches and support groups. As a result, kitchens were lined up, housing set, march routes approved and the logistics for a successful action set up before the first bus off-loaded at the Mall on Wednesday morning.

As vets arrived they volunteered to help set up tents, poster and leaflet around DC and set up the photo history display of the Vietnam War and the struggles of Vietnam veterans. By the time of the 5 o'clock follies to announce the "official" opening of Dewey Canyon IV, several hundred people from 28 states (including Alaska and Puerto Rico) had arrived and the stage was set for four days of activities on behalf of Vietnam vets.

On Wednesday evening we marched off to the White House although many of the marchers and never met let alone demonstrated together before. Cadence calls echoed off the federal buildings as we marched through the Washington streets. We held a rally across from the White House where mothers and wives of Agent Orange victims spoke out against a president who could spend more for his dinner setting than the VA will spend for Agent Orange research. Sukie Wachtendonk from Madison VVAW and Rena Kopystenski of Agent Orange Victims of New Jersey both spoke about the problems of Agent Orange victims and their families; Jim Wachtendonk, whose songs gave voice to the feelings of much of DC IV, sang about his child, affected by Agent Orange. He was followed by a silent picket line at the White House where pictures of children—American and Vietnamese—affected by Agent Orange were left for Reagan to remind him not only of what has happened in the past but what his policies can mean for the future.

Thursday stared with a memorial to Bonus marchers killed in 1932 where they were demanding decent benefits for World War I vets. Peter Zastrow of the VVAW National Office talked about the treatment of World War I vets compared to how Vietnam vets are being treated, and the similarities between their struggles and ours. Despite the rhetoric of honor for veterans, most vets young and old have been screwed by the system that sent us off to fight.

The vets then marched to the VA Central Office where some held a picket line outside while a group of 30 vets went in to confront the Assistant VA Director and other assorted bureaucrats concerning the problems of Vietnam vets. Instead of generalities and glad-handing which the VA chiefs get from more traditional groups, these vets brought up concrete problems concerning hospital care, hiring practices and VA red tape; they also had concrete proposals around Agent Orange.

In the afternoon, vets rallied at the Capitol where speakers focused on what it meant for the U.S. to get involved in El Salvador and how we had seen the same scenario before. The vets then went off to lobby their congresspeople, a process much aided by Mike gold, Vice President of the National Association of Concerned Vets and by Congressman Kastenmeier of Wisconsin who allowed us to use his office as our communications center.

In the evening we held workshops covering Agent Orange, delayed stress, the draft, war and El Salvador, decent benefits and nuclear disarmament. There were positions put out around organizing and different approaches to achieve our goals. This was extremely successful in that it gave people from different groups and different parts of the county a chance to exchange ideas and experiences learning from each others' advances and problems.

Friday was reserved for David Stockman and his Office of Management and Budget, and Vietnam vets really gave it to him. During a picket line outside the OMB, people chanted:

Davey Stockman dodged the draft,
Now he's giving us the shaft.
Give us 15 minutes alone,
We'll cut his budget to the bone.

Stockman didn't come up to see us and the guards wouldn't let us in to "see" him. Instead, speakers, including Alex DeLeon representing Latin vets and Leonard Huebner from Minneapolis/St Paul VVAW, spoke through loudspeakers, and even if Stockman didn't appear, we're sure he got the message.

In the afternoon there was more lobbying and by the time we were through we had been praised by aids and Congressmen as having carried off some of the most professional pigeon-holing they had seen.

Many vets could not get into seeing, let alone talking to these two-faced fellows who vote huge increases in "defense" funds while cutting vets' benefits. Others separated congressmen from Congress "boys"—a number of Congresspeople supported a resolution to allow vets into Arlington while others refused even to meet with the vets in their offices (possibly afraid that Agent Orange is catching).

At night there was a vets' concert headlined by Country Joe McDonald and including a number of vet singers and poets who share, with an enthusiastic crowd, their ways of dearling with the experience of Vietnam.

Saturday was a first when VVAW was allowed into Arlington National Cemetery for a ceremony and speeches dedicated to those who died in Vietnam in the years since Vietnam. The government had successfully kept VVAW out of Arlington since 1971 saying we were "political" (unlike groups like the American Legion who will consistently use the platform of Arlington to trumpet their brand of mindless patriotism). But in 1982 vets made it too hot for the guardians of Arlington keep us out: an editorial in Newsday supported VVAW's right to hold our ceremony in Arlington; the editorial was read into the Congressional Record by Representative Kastenmeier of Wisconsin and followed by a house Resolution that VVAW be permitted into the cemetery; although VVAW had held the ceremony before there could be anything like a vote, there were 21 co-sponsors of the Resolution, and other Senators and Representatives who called the Arlington brass to express their support for our right to be there.

The ceremony was short but respectful with a line of vets filing into Arlington, wearing our fatigues and highly conscious of the precedent being set when we marched through the Arlington gates. Vets listened to a speech by Ann Pine, a Gold Star Mother, and Barry Romo of VVAW, and many cried remembering friends and events that have never been put to rest.

From Arlington the march moved along the lengthy route to the Capitol, stopping along the way at the site of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial which is in the process of being built. Speakers from Black Vets for Social Justice, from the National Association of concerned Veterans and Mary Gomez whose brother was a Marine killed in Vietnam, all hit at what a memorial to Vietnam veterans could be instead of sham that is being erected. Walter Klim of VVAW summed it up when he said, "Instead of a hole in the ground they should build a monument 10 stories high, and not just with the names of those killed in 'Nam, but those who died because of apathy and neglect since we returned." Brothers from Limo, Ohio, presented our version of a "memorial" when they put up a 10-foot high rifle, its barrel toward the ground with a helmet on the top, the traditional part of the military ceremony for those who have died.

At the Capitol steps, Bill Davis of VVAW closed the action with a rousing speech that fired up all those present. And finally, as it had been throughout the action, those who were participating in the demonstration played the major part as the microphone was open for statements from anyone who wanted to speak.

Reception by government workers, DC residents and tourists was inspiring. They supported us with waves, clenched fists, applause and even donations. If the government had received us as well, decent benefits and medical care would be reality instead of a distant dream.

Dewey Canyon IV was more than a couple of marches combined with congressional head-hunting. It was an emotional and political demonstration that helped tie Vietnam vets from across the country into a single voice for four days. And more than just the four days in DC were the days following the action. New chapters of VVAW grew from Dewey Canyon IV, and old chapters were revived, and different vets groups saw how we can work together for a decent life.

DC IV HONOR ROLL

(The VVAW National Office owes a special vote of thanks to the follow-individuals, without whose dedicated efforts DC IV would have been less than it was.)

Mike Gaffney, Washington lawyer whose unceasing legal duel with the Arlington authorities was victorious when VVAW marched through the Arlington gates.

Representative Robert Kastenmeier of Wisconsin who introduced House Resolution 464 to allow VVAW into Arlington, his staff, the co-sponsors of the Resolution, and the many Senators and Representatives who helped along the way.

Marv Freedman of Madison VVAW whose individual efforts in the weeks and month before DCIV scared up much of the Congressional support.

Shaun and Susan Shaughnessy whose Washington home became a campground in the weeks before the demonstration and a vets' rest home during and after DC IV.

Annie Luginbill and Christy Vinter of Chicago who planned, organized and stocked the medical teNt; Mike Klinkhammer of Racine who supervised it, and Dr Ron Sable and all the medics who, as in Vietnam, were there when we needed them.

Mary Murphy of Chicago who planned the menus and cooked the food, and all of the many kitchen-help volunteers.

Mike Gold of the National Association of Concerned Veterans who provided much of the expertise around lobbying Congress.

VVAW members and friends who went to Washington weeks in advance to make the final arrangements and create the framework on which DCIV was built.

All the people who came into Washington, saw what needed to be done, and went ahead and did it.

Finally, the vets, families and friends who came to DC IV and turned a demonstration into a community, in the best sense of the word. We expect to see you again—and we need you.

To all, our thanks. You made Dewey Canyon IV what it was.

The VVAW National Office