Download PDF of this full issue: v16n1.pdf (11.4 MB)

Vietnam Vets' Action in April Demand, "No Intervention in Central America! No more Vietnams!"

By VVAW

April 19th, 1986, marks the 15th anniversary of Operation Dewey Canyon III. This action, described as a "limited incursion into the halls of Congress," included 2000 Vietnam veterans organized by VVAW and changed the face of the anti-war movement.

Prior to that time Nixon and the government tried to portray all veterans as right-wing, patriotic blockheads who supported the war in Vietnam. Generals and career military men were given prime time coverage to push continued U.S. involvement in Vietnam. In fact, Nixon said that we were in Vietnam to protect "our boys there" and to honor the sacrifices of those who died there.

On April 19, 1971, Vietnam vets themselves challenged that idea. Dewey Canyon III, named after U.S. secret operations into Laos, established that Vietnam vets did not agree with Nixon or the brass. For 5 days we lobbied Congress, marched, sat in at the Supreme Court, defied the Capitol police on camping, and, on the final day, threw away our medals. This event, more than any other, captured headlines worldwide as 1200 vets one by one ripped medals won in Vietnam off their chests demanding an immediate end to U.S involvement in Indochina. From then to the end of the war no comparable group of Vietnam veterans ever challenged VVAW or our position on the war.

While that war is over it seems our government's willingness to enter another one is not.

In Central America today the U.S., if following the same policies and actions that led to 58,000 dead Americans in Vietnam, in addition to a million or so Vietnamese. The U.S. is even going so far as to promise the use of Agent Orange in Central America!

In response VVAW is again promising action. No one group can speak to the American public with as much credibility as vets. We are asking other groups in the U.S. to support us by publicizing this event, endorsing it, and, we hope, joining us in it. On Saturday, April 19th, VVAW will sponsor regional demonstrations against Intervention in Central America, to be held in New York, Chicago, San Antonio and Athens, Georgia in order to bring Vietnam veterans out in opposition to a future Vietnam. At the same time, a delegation of VVAW members will be in Nicaragua completing a week of fact-finding. They will join us in demonstrating against U.S. involvement, at the U.S. Embassy in Managua, Nicaragua.

We Won't Fight Another Rich Man's War—And Neither Will Our Children!