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Railroad In AlabamaBy VVAWHunting for Vietnam Vets — H&I's at the Vet Centers There is a group of people who, if you compare their statistics with the rest of society, have social problems out of proportion to their numbers. There is high unemployment, marital problems, alcohol and drug abuse, suicides. Other group—minorities such as Blacks, Chicanos and American Indians—have also faced these problems, and they have faced up to them and organized themselves to deal with such problems. This group, Vietnam veterans, has also been involved in organizing efforts to deal with the problems of Vietnam vets. We have identified the causes of many of the individual problems. The scientific community has called it post traumatic stress disorder (ptsd). What this is, simply, is the stress that hits Vietnam veterans years after Vietnam, but because of the experience of Vietnam. Leaders of disadvantaged groups often have found themselves persecuted because their efforts to change things have angered powerful people. The same is true of Vietnam veterans. The case in point occurred in Alabama during 1981 and 1982. Grady Gibson was his name. In the fall of 1981 he walked into the Vets' Center in Birmingham, Alabama. He got to see counselor Tom Ashby. What he told Ashby was the suffered from marital problems, lingering war guilt. Periods of confusion and headaches from wounds suffered in Vietnam—headaches he said could only be eased by cocaine. What he didn't tell Ashby that day was the he worked for the Alabama Bureau of Investigation and had gone to the Vet's Center at the instigation of the FBI. Later testimony would show that Gibson was at least the third agent sent into the Birmingham Vet's Center. Vet Centers around the country have been known as places where vets can go and actually get help for ptsd and other problems in a place that is comfortable for them. They are also places that make the power-that-be uncomfortable. Newspapers in Alabama have railed against them as a waste of money. The Reagan Administration has tried to cut them from the budget. The VA (which administers the program) has failed to put all the money appropriated for the Centers into the Vet Centers. And so it was that Grady Gibson infiltrated the Birmingham Vet Center. He ingratiated himself tot the veterans there. He became friends with Ashby and others. He began to work with them in a non-profit organization, the Alabama Veterans Services. He accepted responsibilities in the veteran's movement. And he also partied with the vets. He snorted cocaine like a pig in slop. And, of course, he encouraged others to use the stuff and often asked the others to help him purchase the coke. Others caught in the web being woven by Gibson were Don Reed, David Curry and John Matthews. Reed was director of the Birmingham Veteran's Center. Curry was a professor at the University of South Alabama who was going to take a leave of absence in order to become the team leader of the Gulf Coast Vet Center in Mobile, Alabama which was to open in February 1982. John Matthews was a volunteer, a board member of Alabama Veterans Services, and was to become a counselor at the new Vet Center in Mobile. The new Vet Center in Mobile was to have its grand opening in February 17, 1982. On that day the VA announced that seven counselors would be suspended because they were being investigated for misconduct. A couple of months later, indictments were brought against Reed, Curry and Ashby. John Matthews, a member of the DAV, was receiving a 10% service-connected psychological disability. Under intense questioning, he had a mental collapse and was hospitalized. The VA then fired him and cancelled his insurance. Currently John, a holder of two master's degrees, is selling vacuum cleaners and fighting an employment grievance against the VA. Don Reed was a highly decorated helicopter pilot in Vietnam. Twice he was shot down north of the DMZ on rescue missions, and once he was an MIA for a short period of time. Back home he became involved in the anti-war movement and veteran's causes. He was one of the chief lobbyists to help defeat Reagan's attempted cutbacks in the Vet Centers. Reed was indicted on six charges for conspiring to sell drugs and unlawful possession of drugs. A court psychiatrist ruled that because of ptsd he was incapable of forming the intent to commit conspiracy. Therefore, the charges of conspiracy were dropped, and he pleaded guilty of possession. He was given probation. However, this was not the end of the government's vendetta against Brother Reed. He is now serving a jail sentence for a mixture of minor charges resulting from information given to two friends, one of whom turned out to be an FBI informant and the other an FBI agent. Reed pleaded guilty and is serving three years at the federal prison in Maxwell, GA. Tom Ashby and Dave Curry were tried and convicted on two counts: distribution of cocaine and conspiracy to distribute cocaine. In addition, Curry was found guilty of the use of the telephone to facilitate the distribution of cocaine. Dave Curry is a long-time activist. As an officer in Military Intelligence in Vietnam, he turned against the was when he witnesses MI's involvement in the Phoenix Program, the spying on Black American soldiers, and the use of MI to promote President Thieu's re-election. Back home the organized the VVAW and many other social causes. The fact that he had done extensive supportive work in civil rights cases did not serve him well in his own trial before a prejudiced judge and jury. Tom Ashby served in an artillery unit in the First Air Cav. After the army he became involved in VVAW and the anti-war movement. He also was heavily involved in veteran's programs. He worked as a counselor at the Vet Center and, along with Don Reed, helped found Alabama Veterans Services. Dave Curry was sentenced to 34 years in federal prison. He then spent 90 days in the federal prison in Tallahassee during which time a psychological evaluation was to be made. It was recommended that he be given a five-year prison term. He appealed this case to a U.S. District Court. The court rejected the appeal. A David Curry Defense Committee has been formed in Chicago where he now resides. The committee is attempting to raise money for the exorbitant fees necessary to make an appeal to the Supreme Court, and the committee is also involved in trying to give the case widespread publicity. Tom Ashby was sentenced to thirty years. Very shortly—if not by the time you read this—Ashby will begin his 90-day evaluation stint in federal prison. What his final sentence will be is yet to be determined. The question to ask is why did all of this happen? Think about it. The state and federal government spent a lot of money and man hours to investigate, prosecute and convict three veterans on minor charges. If you smoke a joint, you are violating the laws by possessing a drug; if you pass that joint to a friend, you are now violating the laws against distributing the drug—the offense for which Ashby and Curry were convicted. At one time or another, the case involved the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, the Inspector General of the VA, the Secret Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the local U.S. Attorney's office. At least five undercover agents and informers were involved. No profits were made at any time for the sale of drugs. The severity of the sentence—five years for Curry—sis way out of line with similar cases throughout the country. Former American League batting champion Willie Wilson will be playing center field for the Kansas City Royals by the end of May and earning his six-figure salary. He and three teammates were convicted for attempting to possess cocaine. All served 90-day sentences and are ready to resume the pursuit of their livelihood. Again, why? One theory is that an assistant U.S. District Attorney was trying to make a name for himself. Another theory is that the government spent so much time and money investigating that they had to get some conviction to justify all their effort. Another theory is that it's part of a real, but ill-defined plan by the Reagan Administration to gut programs for Vietnam vets. Or maybe it's a right wing attempt to destroy what is viewed as the potential political threat of organized Vietnam vets. The power structure in Alabama was certainly lined up against these vets: from the judge to the prosecutors to the local newspapers, one of which, the Mobile Press Register, editorialized, "our suspicions that the costly counseling program for Vietnam veterans was just another nonessential drain on the federal treasury were pretty much confirmed recently when authorities started looking into the Alabama operations of Vietnam Veterans Outreach Centers. The probe is based on evidence indicating that a lot of the 'counseling' consisted of drinking, 'rapping' and smoking marijuana." It may be that all these factors played a part. Whatever the reasons, this case has to be viewed as an attack on three caring individuals, an attack on the whole Vet Center program, and an attack on the whole concept that ptsd is real and that there is a means to treat ptsd. When the investigation was first made public Don Reed told the newspapers, "It's no secret that some people in the government and VA don't feel the Vietnam vet deserves or needs the centers. The thing stinks of politics... These centers were supposed to be safe-houses where a vet could talk about My Lai's, drug problems or anything else without being afraid the government would punish him... if you look at the clientele we deal with, you see us around people who have all sorts of ways been involved with drugs since Vietnam... but we're not there to be moral with them. We're there to help them." Along with the physical problems of Agent Orange and the economic problems of 571,000 unemployed, the greatest danger to Vietnam vets is ptsd. Experience tells us that the way to deal with that stress is by helping each other. That sometimes means relying on the government to deliver the means by which we can help ourselves. Vet Centers came into existence because vets demanded them as the just due from the government which sent us to Vietnam in the first place. Now these centers are under attack from an uncaring government. Israel Lewis III was a participant at counseling sessions at the Birmingham Vet Center. In response to the previously mentioned editorial he wrote a letter which concluded, "We are a brotherhood and will come to the aid of the other. All of us are not bums, dope addicts, derelicts, screwballs and misfits. Most of us are articulate, intelligent, fair minded and fearless, in spite of emotional shortcomings. I answered the call because I believed that my government was honest, fearless, open and caring. It has disappointed me as an Afro-American and a Vietnam veteran." Unfortunately, Don Reed will serve out his full term until parole is granted. The cases of Curry and Ashby are important to win. They are important because of the individuals involved. More important, their persecution is an attack on our veterans' counselors, an attack on the whole Vet Center program, and an attack on the efforts being made to deal with the problems on post traumatic stress from Vietnam. Concerned individuals and organization will to help with financial contributions and/or publicity around the case may reach the David Curry Defense Committee by contacting the VVAW National Office, P.O Box 25592, Chicago, IL 60625. In Alabama You Can Not Be Black and "All That You Can Be!" In Army Rhetoric aside race is still a problem in the military. Discrimination is easier to hide in active duty units than it is in the reserve and National Guard. Recently the Alabama Army and Air Guard has been hit with a class-action complaint charging that "the policy and practice... of selecting less qualified Black applicants" is widespread. The complaint was filed on behalf of 82 Black full-time employees as well as all Black applicants for full time positions. The full time positions include civil service jobs as well as those held by full time officers. The positions are filled by Guardsmen or Reservists serving on active duty. Blacks account for 26% of the population of Alabama, but fill 6% of the Air Force and 3% of the Army Guard full time positions. Among the charges of discrimination are:
This is only the latest episode in a series of discrimination cases filed against the Alabama Guard. Among them was a SSG who received $3000 plus attorney's fees in 1982 after filing a suit charging discrimination in promotion and training. In 1983 another Guardsman received an out-of-court settlement because of failure of the Guard to promote him on the basis of race; when he complained about discrimination he was harassed—and this too, figured in the settlement. Most recently, a Guard company commander was reprimanded for urging that a recruiter stress enlisting white males over Blacks or women.
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