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For a Decent Life without War: The Challenge Of 1980

By VVAW

As we enter the decade of the 1980's, VVAW is well aware of both the problems and the challenges that await us.

The world has changed since VVAW began back in 1967, and we are proud to have played part in some of those changes. The '70s saw VVAW in Operation Dewey Canyon III where we threw away the medals we had been awarded on the battlefields of Vietnam; the 70's also saw the Winter Soldier Investigation into U.S. Ware Crimes in Indochina. And there were thousands of VVAW protests in cities and towns across the country, all of which led to helping with the final U.S. pullout of troops from Indochina.

The '70's saw Kent State and Jackson State; and they saw the resignation of Nixon, another event in which VVAW helped to build the struggle.

Of course VVAW accomplished none of these vital goals alone. We joined with, helped build, and fought alongside large movements of thousands and hundreds of thousands, showing once again that the unity of masses of people can make significant change.

The lessons learned in the '80's provide us with some directions for the '80's. We see the world in change with the Soviet Union rapidly expanding its influence, and the U.S. imperialists fading. The potential for another war increases daily and, as we did in the '70's, VVAW will bring it experiences to a new situation.

The government which was so glad to use us in Indochina is still far from doing right by vets, and Agent Orange poisoning is one--if the most crucial--area where we will have to fight for what vets need. We see in the 1980's an opportunity to unite many of the veterans who were used once by the government and the profit-seekers and, once their use was gone were tossed aside.

This issue of THE VETERAN is full of both the problems and the challenges. We of VVAW expect--and intend--to live up to the challenges of the '80's and fulfill the expectations that our own history has set for us.

We firmly intend to unite all who can be united in order to fight for what we all need. With all the problems which we see ahead, the future looks bright and we accept the challenges.