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From the National Office

By Joe Miller

Welcome to the Fall/Winter 2000 issue!

As we enter another period of changing political administrations, our members and allies will recognize that many things having to do with war and peace and treatment of veterans seem ominously the same.

Ten years ago, VVAW members and supporters were in the forefront of opposition to George Herbert Walker ("Daddy") Bush's war against the people of Iraq. We called for active support for the troops just as we had during the war against Vietnam - "Support the Troops! Bring them home!" Since that time, Gulf War veterans have joined VVAW, just as earlier generations of veterans from Grenada, Lebanon, and Panama had done. In this issue, some of those Gulf War voices will be heard. We also continue to call for the lifting of the embargo against the people of Iraq, and we have a report from a VVAW member who has recently visited Iraq.

The fact that folks like Dick Cheney (Secretary of Defense under Daddy Bush) and Colin Powell (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs under the same administration) have prominent roles in the new regime should give all of us pause. In view of the continuing tensions in the Middle East, the Vietnam-like war developing in Colombia, the daily struggles of the people of Vieques to oppose US military maneuvers, we must take seriously "Dubya" Bush's (or "Little Bush" as the Chinese call him) efforts to further increase military spending and his new cold war rhetoric against China. VVAW members and allies must remain watchful on all these fronts.

April 2001 will produce many memories of Operation Dewey Canyon III from 1971, the "limited incursion into Congress country." This 30th anniversary should remind all of us of the historical importance of VVAW's legacy, a legacy that many of our opponents would love to see buried under mountains of revisionist claptrap. A recent documentary on Illinois and Indiana Vietnam vets produced in Central Illinois may be seen as an example. This film is reviewed and discussed in this issue. We are also fortunate to have a first-hand account of 1971's Dewey Canyon III from Ed Damato, an early leader with VVAW. We encourage anyone out there with personal stories from DCIII to share them with us during this anniversary period. Send your stories by e-mail to vvaw@vvaw.org, or by regular mail to the National Office address in Chicago.

Folks, VVAW has been around now for thirty-three years, and there is still a lot of work to be done. We need your continued political and financial support. In order to effectively attack all the social justice issues which face us day after day, we ask that each of you remain politically active, or get reactivated, on the issues that have traditionally involved VVAW members and supporters. Remember: political activism is what saved many of us and many of our brothers and sisters from isolation and despair. The fact that we are still around and active also serves to inspire newer generations of social justice activists. We can live on in the work that they will do in years to come.