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Medal Of Honor ReturnedBy VVAWCharles Liteky, in the first such ceremony ever, returned his Congressional Medal of Honor at the Capitol Building on July 29th. His unique act of protest was aimed at action of the U.S. government in giving aid to the Contras opposing the government of Nicaragua. At the ceremony were a number of religious leaders who announced a nationwide campaign in opposition to Contra aid, calling it the "Campaign of Conscience." Over a million Americans are expected to join the campaign by the time of elections in November. The following is the statement that Liteky made of the occasion: "It is with great sadness that I renounce the Congressional Medal of Honor. I received the Medal of Honor is November of 1968 from president Lyndon Johnson in the East Wing of the White House. The award was given for saving lives under hostile fire in Vietnam. "At the outset of this statement I want to say that my renunciation of the Medal of Honor in no way represents disrespect for the medal itself or for the recipients of medals of valor throughout history. My action is directed toward the inhumane foreign policy that casts shadows of shame over the heritage of this country and places the U.S. outside the company of civilized nations, nations that respect international law and universally accepted norms of mortality. "I find it ironic that conscience calls me to renounce the Congressional Medal of Honor for the same basic reasons I received it, trying to save lives. This time the lives are not young Americans, at least not yet. The lives are those of Central Americans of all ages: men, women, children, vulnerable innocents of the conflict. "I first became aware of atrocities funded by the American tax collar by the victims of these atrocities: refugees from El Salvador and poor peasants in Nicaragua. "Their incredible stories of cruelty started me on a search for truth that has led me through book after book and report after report on the conditions of poverty and oppression in Central American and my government's response to these conditions. "The U.S. government has responded to the needs of oppressed people in El Salvador by supporting their oppressors, wealthy elites who control the lives of the poor through brutal military force. "In Nicaragua, the U.S. government response to the oppressed' is the creation, direction, and support of a counterrevolutionary guerrilla army known as the Contras. Winds of controversy whirl around the Contras over the question of human rights abuses. In one of the his speeches to the American People, President Reagan referred to Contra atrocities as "much ado about nothing." In his most recent speech on aid to the Contras, the President acknowledged the atrocities of the Contras and assured us that Contra human rights abuses would be corrected under U.S. direction, much the same as we have helped the Salvadoran army become respectful of human rights. This does not speak well for the future of the Nicaraguan poor. This makes me wonder if the President read the human right abuse record of the Salvadoran army for the year of 1985. "In a word, the policy of our government in Central America is primarily militaristic. It is devoid of creative, non-violent conflict resolution, known as peaceful negotiation. The art of diplomacy has given way to the airless use of brute force exercised judiciously on the weak and dependent. While the Latin American neighbors of Nicaragua patiently struggle in protracted non-violent dialogue in a process known as Contadora, the U.S. pursues a "gunboat" policy of military aid to the Contras. "My dear fellow Americans, we have become a nation that arrogates to itself the right to impose its way of life on any country too weak to defend its independence. Nicaragua's fault is trying to break the pattern of Central American dependence on the U.S. "She no longer wants to be patch of grass in the mythical North American "backyard." "Lest anyone conclude that I have been duped by a slick Sandinista propaganda program, I want to say that I am not unaware of the human rights abuses of the Sandinista government. They exist. But they pale in comparison with the atrocities committed by the Contras or the U.S. backed military in El Salvador. "Let's take one of the State Department's favorite complaints against the Sandinistas, persecution of the Church. In Nicaragua, the Catholic Church radio has been silenced, ten to fifteen priests have been expelled and a Cardinal has been censured. "In El Salvador, an Archbishop has been murdered, his assassin still at large. Four American church women have been brutally raped and murdered. Hundreds of priests, nuns, and lay catechists have been killed or disappeared. Now why is our State Department so silent about persecution of the Church in El Salvador and so vocal about persecution of the Church in Nicaragua? "I am not a devotee of the Nicaraguan government. I don't have to be. I don't pay taxes in Nicaragua. I am, however, an advocate of the U.S. government. I am responsible for what it does in the name of America. If I am to be a true patriot, that is, a person who loves this country even when it's wrong, I must monitor and criticize its policies. It is my duty and my right. "On the basis of 18 months of intense study of the history and nature of the problems in Central America, which includes two trips in the last year, I concluded that U.S. policy toward Nicaragua and El Salvador is grossly immoral, legally questionable, and highly irrational. U.S. involvement in Central America is Vietnam all over again. Our advisors are there, our weapons are there, our logistical support is there, our money may soon be there in super abundance. Waiting in the wings for a cue from the President are U.S. combat troops. "The questions is no longer 'Will Central America become another Vietnam?' Central American is another Vietnam and the time to demonstrate against it is now, not only to prevent the future loss of young American lives, but to stop the current killing of Nicaraguan and Salvadoran innocents. "I pledge to do everything in my power to foster non-violent resistance to current U.S. policy in Central America. My conscience demands nothing less. "At the conclusion of this press conference my Medal of Honor will be placed in an envelope along with the statement I have just made and laid before the Vietnam Memorial Wall. The label on the envelope reads: This envelope contains the Congressional Medal of Honor of the United States of America, awarded November 19, 1968 to Charles J. Liteky for valor in Vietnam. The medal was renounced on July 29, 1986 in protest of U.S. intervention in Central America, seen by the former of this medal as another Vietnam. My God!!!
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