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VVAW/Winter Soldier Organization

By VVAW

Vietnam Veterans Against the War/Winter Soldier Organization is deeply rooted as a group of veterans and GIs who have common experiences of the war, of oppression in the military and at home, and of non-veterans who through their understanding the nature of that war have shared these experiences with us and who have suffered the same oppression that exists in the country today. We did not come to see the war as wrong, that racism was wrong, that sexism was wrong, or that vets and Gis are oppressed, or that America is being exploited by the rich, by reading from a book or having someone tell us. We learned from what we saw, did and experienced. We united around our ten objectives, because we saw no way to alter our conditions except by confronting our oppression as one.

Our organization began in 1967 when six Vietnam veterans met at a peace rally and decided to band together to fight against the war. From that point on the organization grew into a national one; prominent in the anti-war movement.

-- In September 1970, we held our first national demonstration, Operation Rapid American Withdrawal (RAW), marching through New Jersey and Pennsylvania to Valley Forge demonstrating U.S. tactics used in Indochina.

-- In February 1971, we held the Winter Soldier Investigation where 150 Vietnam veterans testified to crimes they saw and committed in Indochina, directly connecting these actions to the training, policies and leadership of the military and the government.

-- In August 1971, we led national convoys of food and clothing to Cairo, Illinois in support of the Black boycott of racist store owners, thus for the first time nationally recognizing the relationship between exploitation of the Vietnamese and Black America.

-- In December 1971, in response to the massive bombing of Vietnam, we retaliated by seizing, among others, the Statue of Liberty, the Betsy Ross Home, the Lincoln Memorial and the South Vietnamese Consulate in San Francisco and demanding an end to the bombing.

-- In July and August 1972, over 2,000 members of VVAW demonstrated both National Political Conventions in a range of demands from support for the Seven Point Peace Proposal of the Vietnamese to $6,500 minimum income for a family of four.

-- In January 1972, over 5,000 members of VVAW held a separate demonstration in Washington DC at the coronation of Nixon, demanding an end to the war under the slogans, "Vietnam for the Vietnamese" and "Sign the Nine Point Treaty".

In addition to demonstrations we have a real understanding for day to day work in the country. Therefore, our daily work has resulted in VA projects, GI projects, continued assistance to the Cairo United Front, PVS programs, educational work around the war and of political trials such as those of the VVAW Gainesville 8, Billy Dean Smith and Gary Lawton.

In April 1973, VVAW added WSO to its name. The primary reason was not to change direction, but to recognize the work of many non-veterans in the organization. This addition allows us to broaden our base and also allows for women and non-vets to assume leadership positions within the organization.

VVAW/WSO will remain as a Veteran/GI oriented organization, but we do not see ourselves as being separate from the rest of the movement for change. As we demand basic benefits for veterans, we will also demand more for other citizens. We will continue to demand a change in the government's foreign and domestic policies that will result in a better America for all Americans.

UNITY -- STRUGGLE -- VICTORY!!