GIs for Peace and the Antiwar Movement
Join us for two programs that explore the support of the wider antiwar movement for active-duty service members who opposed the Vietnam War.
Films of the GI Antiwar Resistance
Wednesday, November 29, 8 p.m., EST
youtube video, click here
https://youtu.be/7DamRI2FZ9g
chat from webinar, click here
https://vnpeacecomm.blogspot.com/2023/12/chat-from-films-about-gi-resistance.html
A panel of filmmakers discussing their role in producing films on the scale and impact of the GI movement, the role of artists in supporting antiwar soldiers, and honoring helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson who tried to halt the killing and rescue civilians in the midst of the My Lai massacre.
• Paul Lauter, moderator, former President American Studies Association
• Jane Fonda, producer/performer of FTA (1972)
• Holly Near, musical artist and performer for FTA
• David Zeiger, director of Sir! No Sir! (2005)
• Connie Field, director of The Whistleblower of My Lai (2018) [unable to participate, see link below to earlier program featuring her film]
Please watch the films before the November 29 program.
FTA and Sir! No Sir! are available on Netflix. The Whistleblower of My Lai is available on Vimeo.
For on-line rental and purchase:
FTA click here https://kinonow.com/film/f-t-a-new-restoration/6026c49d5eec3d0001993a31
Sir! No Sir! click here https://kinonow.com/film/sir-no-sir/606c9858a5805100010bddf1
The Whistleblower of My Lai click here https://vimeo.com/ondemand/thewhistleblowerofmylai
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“Thank You for Your Service (for Peace)”
Thursday, November 9, 6 p.m. EST
For the youtube video of the webinar click here https://youtu.be/OsIGNbs0uZQ
Please share it as widely as possible.
This program offers a different twist to Armistice Day commemorations by recalling the tens of thousands of service members who opposed war and militarism during the Vietnam War and the civilians who helped them.
• John McAuliff, moderator, Coordinator Vietnam Peace Commemoration Committee; Executive Director, Fund for Reconciliation and Development
• J.J. Johnson, a member of the Ft. Hood Three who refused orders for Vietnam in 1966 in one of the earliest acts of collective GI resistance to the war
• Susan Schnall, Navy nurse who was court-martialed for helping to organize an antiwar march of soldiers and civilians in San Francisco in 1968, currently President of Veterans Fo Peace
• John Kent, a former Navy fighter pilot who turned in his wings rather than fly combat missions in Vietnam and helped to organize the Concerned Officers Movement
• Kathy Gilberd, executive director of the National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force, a specialist on GI rights who was active in the antiwar movement and helped to provide legal aid for GI organizing
• Paul Lauter, former Chicago Region Peace Education Secretary of the American Friends Service Committee and executive director of the U.S. Servicemen’s Fund, which provided support for GI coffeehouses, underground newspapers, and organizing projects
Bios
David Cortright enlisted in the Army in 1968. After experiencing a crisis of conscience, he organized against the Vietnam War at Ft. Wadsworth, New York, and Ft. Bliss, Texas. While on active duty he filed a federal lawsuit against the Army, Cortright v Resor, to defend GI rights to dissent against unjust war. He was an active member of GIs for Peace at Ft. Bliss and wrote for its paper, The Gigline. He is the author of Soldiers in Revolt: GI Resistance Agaainst the Vietnam War (2d edition, Haymarket, 2005). His latest book is A Peaceful Superpower: Lessons from the World's Largest Antiwar Movement (New Village Press, 2023).
Jane Fonda is a film icon and recipient of two Academy Awards, two British-Academy
Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards and many other accolades for her stage, film
and television artistry. She protested against the Vietnam War and supported
active-duty GIs and Vietnam veterans who were organizing against the war. She
was the creator and lead performer in the FTA Show and toured with the show and
performed n the show at American military bases in the US and in the Pacific.
She is the co-producer of the documentary film FTA.
JJ Johnson
was a member of the Ft. Hood Three. While stationed at Fort
Hood, Texas, in the 142nd Signal Company, 2nd Armored Division in 1966,
Johnson, Dennis Mora and David Samas publicly refused orders to Vietnam. They
were sentenced and imprisoned for three years at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. He later served as communications director for
SEIU Local 144 and AFSCME Local 1707.
Kathleen
Gilberd has worked as a
military counselor for five decades, assisting conscientious objectors,
soldiers fighting sexual harassment and racial discrimination, GI
whistleblowers, soldiers and sailors accused under “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”
policies, and veterans unfairly denied benefits after “bad paper discharges.” She
is the executive director of the National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force
and a frequent contributor to its legal publication, On Watch. She
is co-author of Fighting Back, which was for many years the only
legal manual on military policy on homosexuality, and a contributing author for
the respected legal manual, Sexual Orientation and the Law.
John Kent is a 1968 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD, where he was a Company Commander and two-time All-American Wrestler. After graduation he became a jet fighter pilot, but refused to fly combat missions in Vietnam and turned in his wings. He helped to organize the San Diego Chapter of the Concerned Officers Movement and worked with Vietnam Veterans Against the War. He has remained active in radical politics ever since and currently writes for Wikipedia and other publications.
Holly
Near is a singer-songwriter,
actress, teacher, and activist. She has appeared in numerous films and televisions programs,
including Slaughter House Five and All in the Family and has
performed at innumerable rallies and demonstrations for peace, women’s rights
and other social justice issues. She has composed many songs, including Singing
for Our Lives. She actively opposed the Vietnam War and joined Jane Fonda
as a cast member and performer in the FTA Show.
Susan Schnall is the Co-Coordinator of Vietnam Agent
Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign and an Assistant Professor at New
York University in Health Policy and Planning. She is a member of Vietnam
Veterans Against the War, Veterans For Peace, and the American Public Health
Association. While a member of the U.S. Navy in 1969, she was tried and
convicted by a general court martial for her anti-war activities, after which
she worked with the United States Servicemen’s Fund in New York raising money
for the GI coffee houses.
David
Zeiger is a film director and producer. He is the director of Sir! No Sir! (2005), which won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Los
Angeles Film Festival, Best Documentary at the Hamptons International Film
Festival, the Seeds of War Award at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival,
and Best Film on War and Peace at the Vermont International Film Festival. He is the creator of the web series This is Where We Take Our Stand (2008-09).
Resources
Webinar on The Whistleblower of My Lai for the 53d anniversary of the massacre with Professor / author Howard Jones, Vietnam helicopter pilot Lawrence Wilkerson, Film maker Connie Field, Composer Jonathan Berger, Kronos Quartet's David Harrington, Music Performer Van-Anh Vo, Moderator John McAuliff click here https://vnpeacecomm.blogspot.com/2021/02/webinar-on-whistleblower-of-my-lai.html
US Servicemen's Fund in Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Servicemen%27s_Fund#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20Servicemen's%20Fund,1968%20and%20continued%20through%201973.
James Lewes worked tirelessly gathering the biggest collection of
underground GI newspapers and leaflets. https://www.jstor.org/site/reveal-digital/independent-voices/gi-press/?searchkey=1699031194702
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