Cambodia's Elections, Vietnam Observations, Senator John McCain

Personal views of John McAuliff

(Please check back tomorrow to see this page. I am still working on it.)



The Context of John McCain's Imprisonment

John McCain carried out more than a score of combat missions over Vietnam for a wrongful war before being shot down. Innocent civilians were surely among the Vietnamese victims, even if not intended. He was rescued from drowning and protected from an angry crowd, a story known widely in Vietnam but not acknowledged in US media recounting that acts as though his presence was innocent. Vietnam's treatment of prisoners, especially in the early years, was harsh and linked to their legal interpretation of implications that the US had never declared war.  Post-capture beatings and illegal killings of their combatants in the south may also have shaped Vietnamese treatment of their captives.  McCain described what took place as maltreatment and torture and commendably used it as a reason to oppose "enhanced interrogation" by the CIA.

McCain's refusal to accept early release was honorable and courageous within parameters of military discipline.  Other POWs who opposed the war did accept release and risked opprobrium for continuing to speak for peace after return to the U.S. 

His principled behavior in the face of the authoritarianism and dishonesty of President Trump deserves deep appreciation.

It also should be noted the Senator McCain was a supporter with Senator Leahy of US government funding that addresses legacies of the war such as land mines, UXO and Agent Orange.

Vietnam News recalled McCain in this favorable way
https://vietnamnews.vn/politics-laws/464563/us-senator-mccain-who-helps-lay-foundation-for-vn-us-relations-passes-away.html#7PVM2O30JTrjC2If.97

Journalist Arnold Isaacs has written an insightful article about McCain's visit to Saigon six months before the end of the war  https://warontherocks.com/2018/08/john-mccain-in-1974-back-in-vietnam/

Pasted below is a Vietnamese perspective.



Cambodia elected a new parliament on July 29th. 

For the first time in its post Khmer Rouge history only one party will be represented in Cambodia's National Assembly.  Ironically this is reminiscent of the Sihanouk era before he was overthrown by the US backed coup of Lon Nol.

The primary opposition party was outlawed, the Khmer National Rescue Party (KNRP), once known as the Sam Rainsy Party.  Rainsy who lives in exile acts and speaks as though he still is its leader.

Nineteen other parties freely competed, accumulating 23% of the vote.  None of them received enough support to win a seat in parliament.  In fact, as I said at the post-election press conference of election observers, the second largest party was the 9 % "spoiled ballots" (594,659).  The next largest vote (374,510) went to FUNCINPEC, the Royalist party.

FUNCINPEC's ability to campaign was greatly weakened by a crash during a campaign caravan that killed Prince Ranaridh's wife and seriously hospitalized him in Bangkok.

The KNRP's call for an election boycott fell flat.  Voter turnout was 83%, slightly above the previous parliamentary election.

Supporters of the KNRP charge it was outlawed because it came close to defeating the CPP in the last election.  The CPP points to Rainsy's disloyal guarantee in North Carolina of autonomy to Montagnard provinces (as seen on Youtube  https://youtu.be/GZHKJTr79AU) and the also videotaped boast by Kem Sokha, his successor, that the US had promised to support him in a color revolution.

Because the primary opposition party was outlawed and allied publications were closed, the US and the European Union refused for the first time to send election observers and have disputed the legitimacy of the election.  Their absence lent no support to the parties composed by former KNRP members and those calling for the release of imprisoned opponents of the government.

This was the fourth time I served as an official election observer.  My impression in the Phnom Penh area is that election day procedures were once again very well organized and completely transparent.  We observed the vote and count in districts that had been very pro-opposition at the previous election.  Not surprisingly, the spoiled ballots in the counts we viewed were a higher percentage than the national average, one-third or more.

This was the same area that had seen post-election violence after the previous vote, but this time all was peaceful.

The success of the CPP is probably a mix of soft intimidation of opponents and its own well grounded organizing skills plus the benefits of incumbency.  After the scare of the last election, Hun Sen regularly undertook events at garment factories and participated in university graduations.  Commune leaders who had not maintained support were replaced.

The CPP's total electoral victory creates real problems for future governance.  Hun Sen convened a meeting recently to have dialogue with parties that opposed him but the two with the most independent following did not show up.  He has also suggested that opposition figures could be incorporated into ministries, a well-practiced strategy of cooptation.   There are also hints he will ask the King to pardon imprisoned opponents, coupled with threats that they will need to behave properly once released.

In the context of its region, Cambodia is somewhere in the middle of the democracy scale.  The US and the European Union tolerate the military coup government in Thailand and its prolonged highly controlled process to restore the appearance of democracy, while assuring that Taksin supporters are kept out. Singapore's version of effectively one party social democracy has also received minimal criticism.  Vietnam and Laos show no signs of abandoning single party rule.  Myanmar and the Philippines do not have much to boast about at the moment and Brunei's royal rule is undisturbed. 

Neither the US nor Vietnam are happy with the growing Chinese influence in both Cambodia and Laos, but neither seems able to provide an alternative to the massive investment that is benefiting both populations.  The new US ambassador should return to the more productive relationship of the initial years after the Paris Agreement.

At the end of the day, the people and system responsible for Cambodia's near miraculous renewal after the Khmer Rouge devastation have preserved the stability of their rule.  However, as with other societies the overlong preservation of leadership based on a single dominant personality carries its own risks.

Election results are here.

https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/final-poll-results-confirm-first-single-party-assembly-0?utm_source=Phnompenh+Post+Main+List&utm_campaign=a53d8d6a1a-


Still to come.  My observations from Vietnam in August



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A Vietnamese Perspective on John McCain

Mr. Nguyen Quang Dy is retired from Viet Nam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He studied in Australia and in the U.S., at Harvard, where he was a Nieman Fellow.  His writings and commentary are read and respected among the expat community and Vietnamese contemporaries, and young Vietnamese as well.

If you do not wish to receive such items as this, let me know and I will take you off this list.  Nếu bạn không muốn nhận các bài viết như thế này, hãy cho tôi biết và tôi sẽ đưa bạn ra khỏi danh sách này.  CHUCK SEARCY Hà Nội, Việt Nam VN Cell  +8 490 342 0769 US Cell  +1 404 740 0653 Email     chuckusvn@gmail.com

How John McCain is remembered  

Nguyen Quang Dy

John McCain (like John Kerry) is a congressional leader (and “a titan in the Senate”). Both are successful politicians who have run unsuccessfully for president. Both men are Vietnam War veterans who (as a Republican and a Democrat) have done so much to support the painful process of normalization of relations between the two bitter enemies.

John McCain (as a naval pilot) was shot down over a Hanoi lake during an air strike and jailed for over five years in the “Hanoi Hilton”, while John Kerry (as a gunboat officer) was wounded during battles in the Mekong delta during the Vietnam War. Both Johns are known much more for their peace-making efforts with Vietnam than for their war records.

John McCain (unlike John Kerry) suffered so much in captivity, yet he worked so hard over the years (like John Kerry) to assist Vietnam’s post-war reconstruction and reconciliation. The last major action John McCain and John Kerry did for Vietnam was to lobby and support President Obama’s timely decision to lift the arms ban on Vietnam (May 23, 2016).

John McCain fought for what he believed was right until the very end. In one of his last public acts, McCain blasted Trump's summit with Putin (July 16, 2018) as “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory”. Then he went on “The damage inflicted by Trump's naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake”.

As John McCain died on August 25, 2018 (the full-moon thanksgiving day in Vietnam), he has left not only deep sorrow in the heart of his family and friends, but also a huge gap in the dynamics of US-Vietnam Relationship, at this critical juncture of history.  

There are few men who could really come to terms with their former enemy. And much fewer men are missed and loved by both friends and foes alike when they die. John McCain is such a man, as he stands larger than size with his uncommon values and valor.

When John McCain was diagnosed with brain cancer (glioblastoma) a year ago, he told CNN “every life has to end one way or another”. He said: “I've lived very well and I've been deprived of all comforts. I've been as lonely as a person can be and I've enjoyed the company of heroes. I've suffered the deepest despair and experienced the highest exultation”.

As John McCain died (at 81), Vice President Joe Biden said: “John McCain will cast a long shadow. His impact on America hasn’t ended. Not even close. It will go on for many years to come… America will miss John McCain. The world will miss John McCain. And I will miss him dearly”.  John McCain died from glioblastoma on August 25, 2018, while Senator Edward Kennedy (his good friend and foe) also died from the same form of brain cancer on August 25 2009, exactly nine years earlier to the day (as a strange coincidence).

If “statesmen are judged not for what they did but for the consequences of their actions” (as people say), John McCain is such a statesman. He would live much longer than life in the heart and mind of people he cares for. His family and friends should be proud of this uncommon man who will be missed and remembered as a decent man, and a good guy.     

There are no better words for this man than the speech that Ambassador Pete Peterson delivered in Boston (September 10, 2001) during an Award Dinner Honoring Senator John McCain and Senator John Kerry. Let me quote (in part) to make the points:  

Tonight, we gather to honor two more brave men - the architects of American's reconciliation with Vietnam: Senators John McCain and John Kerry. Through the administrations of four American presidents (Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and, now, another Bush), I have seen how these two colleagues of mine in Congress -  and fellow veterans of Vietnam - first planned, designed, and then patiently guided this reconciliation to completion…

Having seen first-hand the recent evolution of Vietnam, I can tell you that with the aid of John McCain and John Kerry, the people of Vietnam now have a chance at a better future...like what our country eventually enjoyed after the reconciliation of our own civil war…They are just as heroic in waging peace...as they are in waging war…

It took 50 years after the last shot was fired in the American civil war for the survivors reconcile their differences on the field at Gettysburg…Without John McCain and John Kerry, it would have taken far longer. Maybe 50 years…when those of us who went to Vietnam the first time would be in the 8^th and 9^th decades of our lives. May be even longer…

But because of these two visionaries, these two leaders, it happened sooner in our lifetimes…

The American people and the people of Vietnam are forever in your debt.

The future relations of these countries is in your debt…

Now that John McCain is gone, John Kerry seems even lonelier. 

May John McCain’s soul live in peace without ordeal. 

Amen!

NQD, August 28, 2018.

Chicago Remembers the Convention Protests

A demonstration has been announced for Chicago on August 25th, sponsored by the Chicago Committee Against War & Racism. 

It links to the symbols and the history of the Democratic Convention protest, providing a left analysis in its press release, web site and twitter account:

http://ccawr.org/

https://twitter.com/NoWarNoRacism

and in an essay by one of the organizers

https://medium.com/@richwhitney/protest-war-and-racism-in-chicago-on-august-25th-cacd6da9b617

Press reports are here

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/spirit-68-march-war-50th-convention-protests/ 

http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Anti-war-activists-to-mark-50th-anniversary-of-DNC-event-with-protest/63617.html

The sponsors appear to embody a spirit similar to aspects of  the 1968 protests.  It will be interesting to see how much their program deepens understanding of the experience 50 years ago, and its lessons for the present.  Their event could provide insight into how to organize for the Moratorium / Mobilization anniversary in 2019.

Discussion of Moratorium/Mobilization 50th Anniversary

A useful review of what happened during the October 15th moratorium is here https://www.alternet.org/story/84683/nixon%27s_savage_attack_on_the_greatest_anti-war_movement_in_u.s._history

From John Ketwig
(veteran, author of and a hard rain fell)


I want to share a couple of thoughts.

First, 34 years after the publication of my Vietnam War memoir …and a hard rain fell, (which is still in print after 27 printings) I have a new book being published about March of next year.   Vietnam Reconsidered: The War, the Times, and Why They Matter is intended to be the complete antithesis, and hopefully somewhat of an antidote, to both the Ken Burns PBS TV series, and the Pentagon’s 50^th anniversary “Commemoration” and recruiting extravaganza.   Although it is arriving a little late, the new book will offer a very decidedly anti-war alternative look at the history of our generation as well as the war, and an analysis of various aspects of the war from the standpoint of showing the war as a tragedy and a travesty.   I have attempted to show the damage the war did to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and the U.S., with emphasis on the failed policies and strategies that have been carried over to today’s wars in the Middle East.   After many years of speaking to high school and college students, the book was originally targeted to them but I found that many baby boomers and members of our generation were also very interested.   In the years after the war we have all been focused upon family and career pursuits, and now as we retire we have time to look back and reflect upon what made us so passionate back then.    (Please see www.johnketwig.com)

I believe there must be some effort to reach out to the young students.   They consistently tell me that they understand that the overall topic of “Vietnam” is important, but they don’t know why.   “What was all the fuss about?”  Over the past few years I have asked a number of authors and historians what five books they would recommend to young people trying to understand, and very few can name five.   There is no clear source for understanding the emotions of that time.   Our present political environment in this country makes it all but impossible to impress middle aged voters, but the young seem to be leaning toward progressive attitudes and political activism, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Octavio-Cortez.   Our activities need to be fertilizer to the seeds that those young folks are feeling.   We must resist the current pro-militarism attitudes or our country faces both moral and financial bankruptcy.   The Pentagon’s 50^th anniversary Commemoration has delivered print materials, colorful buttons and an assortment of “trinkets and trash” to every high school in America, followed by the recruiters in force.   I strongly urge the committee to develop some sort of brochures or pamphlets or similar materials that will be thought-provoking and contrary to the militarism, and then find a way to distribute them to schools, colleges, and even churches across the land.  

I hope you will contact me concerning opportunities to take part in some of your activities. 

Thanks for this opportunity to register an opinion.

 John Ketwig



From John McAuliff

The draft of a proposed nationwide activity for the Moratorium/Mobilization 50th anniversaries prompted three thoughtful replies from friends whose experience then and involvement now are at least as relevant as my own.  We hope to generate widespread discussion, either through the comment box on either page, or via longer interventions that we will post on this page.  (They can be sent, preferably in a word doc, to director@ffrd.org .)

A Simpler Local Commemoration or a National Event? 


Dear John,

I am not optimistic about your plan.  It feels very much like our attempt to commemorate the Pentagon March, which, despite all the work you and others put in, lacked the impact we all hoped it would have.

Bridging the gap between young activists today and old veterans of the antiwar movement has been difficult.  Perhaps I am unaware of places where it has occurred, but I see little success, and occasional resentment.  “What do we have to learn from a bunch of 80-year-old white guys?”

So, while I applaud your intent, and agree it would great to achieve the goals you outline, I don’t see a practical plan for doing that.

You might have a better chance by simply pitching a local commemoration of the Fall 1969 events.  At least a simple commemoration gives a lot of people, those who participated, a reason to come.  If there is an anticipation that such an audience will be large, younger people might then become interested and venues for dialogue could be established.

At the same time, you might find a major university in DC or NY willing to sponsor a day-long symposium on the impact of the 1969 events.  That could give you a national platform, and perhaps a little press interest, especially if leading figures were invited to participate.  A symposium like that could be followed up by something in the evening geared to a bigger audience, a concert perhaps with the music and a few of the artists from back in the day Country Joe, Joni Mitchell, CSN&Y?  TV rights?  A doc film?

I think if your activities are pitched as a celebration of activism by looking back at a time when it worked, rather than pitching them as an attempt to “teach lessons” or “bridge gaps” you would draw more interest.  Having done so, the lessons and the bridging would occur in a more organic way.

My two cents,

Bill Zimmerman

***********************

Thanks for sharing. Bill makes some good points. 

The possibility of organizing local events focused on the 1969 Moratorium may be overambitious. The reason the Moratorium worked at the local level was because there were already established grassroots and campus groups working against the war in most communities, often for some years. We don’t have that base now to build local events around, nor the cause of the war.  To find and mobilize people who were involved then and are interested now in organizing local events may take considerable effort, if it works at all, and would likely need considerable funding and staff to seed and support such efforts.  

A national conference that focused not just on what happened in Fall 1969, but on credibly documenting the impact of the momentous events on Nixon’s war plans could help inform and inspire movements today - and possibly encourage local events afterwards. Featuring academics and organizers, it could also be livestreamed with people around the country from various causes invited to tune in.

One of the biggest benefits from last October's conference was several major national media retrospectives on the Pentagon March, which were likely a result of work on that event and Chris Kelly’s PR promoting it: http://www.vietnampeace.org/press-coverage

One other possibility is to focus over the next year on developing a compendium of written or filmed memories of the Moratorium/Mobilization by its national and local organizers, which would include lessons and impact. These could be published and promoted, and perhaps help generate more national media in Fall 2019. There could be a question on the survey asking people if they’d like write up their experiences, etc.

Best,

Steve Ladd

My basic reply to both thoughtful comments is, "let's try ... and maybe do both".  We'll send out this mailing to our list of about 2,000 people and see how many of you want to think about and explore with friends and colleagues doing something in your own community.  If nothing else, our experience taught us how to take an idea, a passion, and organize it into reality.

My bottom line is that history is rooted in diverse local realities at least as much as in national events.  Right now we are seeing our history disappear.  Not surprisingly, opposition to the war in the military and among veterans is completely invisible in the Pentagon's 50th anniversary commemoration project.

Even the Burns and Novick epoch documentary for PBS gave relatively short shrift and misleading interpretation to the anti-war movement, although it portrays powerfully the wrongness of the war and its impact on those who fought.

The people on our list, as well as many others, embody in their lives a different and more valid version of history.  And only they have the ability to insure that it is recognized and expressed in specific personal ways and connected to how that experience affected our own lives -- and how it might be relevant to the profound challenges now facing our country.  

At a minimum while it is still possible, this needs to be recorded beyond the memoirs written by the few who have the ability to do so and become lodged in institutional records of libraries and universities.  

I don't mean to close on a morbid note, but we have recently lost Julian Bond, Tom Hayden, Paul Booth and Ron Young--and hundreds of others less publicly recognized from one of the most transformative generations of US history.  If not us, who will get it right?

  --John McAuliff



Earlier Response from Moratorium leaders

We think it would be very valuable to place the events of October/November in an historic context with some serious and scholarly attention to the impact they had on the course of the war.  We know, of course, that Dan Ellsberg argues that they were pivotal in preventing greater escalation. Before we, the Moratorium, responded to Nixon’s November 3 speech, we met with Dan and with George McT. Kahin to make sure we were on solid ground.  But we knew little then compared to what we know now. 

We’d be interested in a serious panel on the Oct/Nov 69 events and the course of the war with scholars such as Fred Logevall, whose two books are the best recent writing on the Vietnam war, Hang Nguyen whose book, Hanoi’s War, was a revelation, Ken Hughes, the Nixon tapes expert, who has written two books that should be read (Chasing Shadows and Fatal Politics), Jeff Kimball (Nixon’s War and Nixon’s Nuclear Specter: the Secret Alert of ’69, Madman Diplomacy and the Vietnam War) and perhaps others. 

   There is also the parallel scholarly debate now, about whether RMN and Kissinger were really out to win the war or just seeking a “decent interval” before the collapse, namely after the 72 election.  And there is now a lot of info on how the Oct 69 outpouring forced RMN and K to postpone for three years the Duck Hook/Pruning Knife escalation they wanted to force Hanoi’s hand in Paris – what became Linebacker and the Xmas bombing -- for 3 years.  Dan had info on this at the time.  But now that the archives opened there is much more.

We also think there is value it looking at events in Vietnam subsequent to the end of the war in Vietnam and Indo-China.  That is not a happy story and we need to acknowledge that fact.  It is sobering and enlightening to see the unintended consequences.  

This goal may be too ambitious, but an achievable goal might be to focus on the views of the still-surviving activists from that period and what they thought, intended and did at the time.  To the best of my knowledge this inside understanding of the dynamics of the movement around October/November ’69 have never been collected and this could be a serious contribution to what went right and wrong and what lessons might be learned.  That's a separate exercise from assessing its impact on the "official" history.  It’s important to gather those memories, especially about the crucial transition of October/November '69, not because those views are definitive for the war as a whole but because citizens' involvement in war decisions remains marginalized and subject to caricature.

So we hope we can gather as much firsthand witness as possible.  If a transcribed symposium could be framed as an exercise in exploration and preservation on the topic of citizen/youth movements, it might attract both institutional funding and interest from the youth movements stirring now.

In general we think there is value in memorializing the value of disbursed and community-based work, in this case on the war, but in a larger sense helping understand how citizen action can truly impact on policy.  We believe, the model of self-generated, locally-based efforts conveying a single, central theme and focused specifically on changing the hearts and minds of the public and politicians remains an important lesson all these years later. 

In this context, perhaps we could engage some of the younger organizers, both of protest movements and of progressive political campaigns.  We would certainly learn something, and so might they.  

Sam met recently, just before the big Never Again march where the Executive Director or some such title was Kate Gage, the daughter of a Moratorium person, John Gage.  She was totally interested to talk about the problems we faced then and they face now — ranging from pure logistics (toilets, sound, stages, marshals, etc.) to how to keep the energy alive after a cathartic march.  The more mundane parts of that discussion were easy but, they, like us, face the larger problems of burn out, leadership disagreements and more complicated long-term problems.   Sam has discussed this with some current, younger activists and has found a surprising degree of interest.  We should explore whether that interest is adequate to bring a strong group of younger organizers to meet with us.  We are, after all, not yet dead.  And many of us remain active.  There is no reason we should not want to learn and, perhaps impart some learning.  

Response survey to become part of this program  

tinyurl.com/Moratoriumsurvey

Proposals for October Moratorium 50th Anniversary Programs

VPCC May 30 Newsletter on Moratorium https://conta.cc/2Mjwy9P

*****************

The BBC reported, "The Peace Moratorium is believed to have been the largest demonstration in US history with an estimated two million people involved.In towns and cities throughout the US. Students, working men and women, school children, the young and the old, took part in religious services, school seminars, street rallies and meetings."

Church and school bells rang; black armbands were worn; candlelight vigils were held; films were shown; neighborhoods were canvassed; names of war dead were read; groups of business people, professionals and government workers participated; more than 1,000 high schools joined in. Several cities witnessed demonstrations of thousands, most notably 50,000 in Washington and 100,000 in Boston. Forty members of the House and Senate endorsed the action. 

Rick Perlstein's summary from his book "Nixonland" can be read here. There is also a good description in the invaluable reference book for the anti-war movement "The War Within" by Tom Wells, available used on Amazon.

A good example of what took place at many non-elite schools is North Carolina State University as documented in 2011 by its library (click here) A Google search is likely to quickly turn up similar accounts from where you lived then or your home now.

A month later some schools and communities carried on the Moratorium's goal of monthly grassroots action, but most energy and media attention went to the Mobilization, the largest anti-war demonstration until then. It brought as many as 500,000 people to Washington and 150,000 to San Francisco, including for the first time organized active duty GIs and Vietnam veterans.  

The Mobilization was preceded by the 40 hour March Against Death.  Contingents carried on individual placards the names of Americans from their own state who had been killed, totaling 38,000 at that time, as well as of destroyed villages. They paused and proclaimined each name in front of the White House and deposited them in coffins (pictured below).  

********************

A useful reminder of what took place during the October 15th moratorium is a section of Rick Perlstein's Nixonland available here

"Witness to the Revolution" by Clara Bingham An oral history of 1969-1970 includes interviews about the Moratorium and Mobilization with Sam Brown, David Hawk, David Mixner, Daniel Ellsberg, Seymour Hersh, Oliver Stone, Barry Romo, Wayne Smith and Bobby Muller. Random House, 2017

See also pages in the encyclopedia of the anti-war movement, "The War Within, America's Battle Over Vietnam" by Tom Wells (available used on Amazon)

*****************

Ideas for projects commemorating the anniversaries of the Moratorium and Mobilization in October and November (please add your own in the comment box below)

1) Inspire and assist local media and institutions to recall what happened in your community and campuses. Bring local history to life from interviews and digging into archives.

A well defined google search will yield surprising things. Archives of local newspapers from 50 years ago may be on line, in a library or at their office. Colleges and universities can be a source for campus publications as well as for regional newspapers, including the "underground" press.

If you have students or interns, this can be a great project. Through google, I happened across "Public Opinion on Long Island about the Vietnam War: A School Year Project Using Local Sources and Perspectives in the Classroom and in Student Research Papers" written in 2004 by Charles Howlett of Amityville Memorial High School and Molloy College

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1555550?seq=1

Finding articles and asking around can lead to individuals who still live in the area or organizations with their own records. Councils of Churches and campus ministries may be able to identify available people who were active against the war.

Some communities have an historical association that might love to collaborate with you.

Your PBS and NPR stations, as well as independent college radio, should be approached early on as potential partners.

Chapters of Veterans for Peace and Vietnam Veterans of America may also wish to be involved.

2) Sponsor a weekly film series.

Hearts and Minds

the most powerful film made during the war by Peter Davis; preview it free https://vimeo.com/126567345; purchase a high definition digital restoration with unused interview footage https://www.criterion.com/films/711-hearts-and-minds

Sir, No Sir

the GI movement, produced and directed by David Zeiger; preview it free https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nPJgeg6hpA ;

purchase at http://www.displacedfilms.com/films/sir-no-sir/

The War at Home

the anti-war movement in Madison, Wisconsin; available on Netflix; for DVD copies of re-release, contact film maker Glenn Silber <glenn@catalyst-media.com>

Don't Burn is the only available film that portrays the war from a Vietnamese perspective; made by Dang Nhat Minh about the journal of a young woman doctor killed while serving in the south that was found by an American soldier and returned to her familiy in Hanoi decades later; available in Vietnamese on youtube; English subtitled DVD available in appreciation of donations of at least $15, contact director@ffrd.org

3) Create a symposium or conference that learns from and links opposition to past, present and prospective wars as well as current movements against mass violence. (see "Thinking Big" below)

4) Organize a vigil to commemorate all those who died, were injured or were imprisoned in, or to protest against. past wars in Indochina and Iraq; or today in Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen; or tomorrow in Iran and Venezuela.

5) Find common cause with opponents of domestic violence by mass shootings or police injustices.

**************

    From David Cortright
  

Dear friends and colleagues:

The 50th anniversary of the Vietnam Moratorium is approaching, October 15, 2019. It's possible that the press will be looking for stories to mark the occasion, which was the largest outpouring of grassroots action of the antiwar movement. The period from October 15 through November 15, 1969, was a time of widespread protest and resistance to the war.

I asked a student to research what happened here at Notre Dame 50 years ago and received a trove of articles confirming that the campus was alive with protest that day, including a mass attended by 2,000 students and faculty and a sacrificial burning of draft cards.Â

I am making a request now for the Kroc Institute to convene a public forum at Notre Dame on October 15 to discuss what happened 50 years ago locally and across the country.

I'm writing to suggest that you might want to do something similar. If several of us start the wheel rolling on this, perhaps others will pick up the idea. The goal would be to encourage forums on the Vietnam antiwar movement and the challenges of peace today at multiple campuses, a locally organized series of events in the spirit of the Moratorium.

Would you be willing to join me in forming an informal sponsoring group to reach out to other academic colleagues to invite them to join us. Perhaps we can write to the relevant sections of the major academic associations asking them to announce the proposal to their lists. We might also try to place an announcement in the Chronicle of Higher Education.Â

I know we're all busy, especially at this time of the year, but I wanted to offer the idea before the end of the semester and ask for your feedback.

David Cortright
Director of Peace Accords Matrix; Director of Policy Studies
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies
Special Advisor for Policy Studies, Keough School of Global Affairs
University of Notre Dame


*********************

Thinking big

The US war in Vietnam generated the largest most diverse peace movement in US history.  Its unprecedented activities were informed by labor and civil rights struggles.  It began with acts of conscience and dissent at the margins but grew to reshape the nation.  It led to the end of the draft; the fall of two Presidents; creation of community among a generation of activists, objectors, veterans and serving troops; the complete withdrawal of US forces; the end of bombing of civilians and of military assistance; and the achievement of peace in Indochina. 

Fifty years later many progressive movements are active:  to bar the sale of military style weapons to civilians and find other means of preventing mass shootings; to stop police violence against minorities; to challenge overt and covert foreign military intervention; to fight the causes of climate change; to foster equity of race, gender and gender preference; to protect Dreamers and other undocumented residents; to affirm organized representation of workers;  and to democratize US politics.

The eras and the challenges half a century apart are not the same, nor are the methods of organization and mobilization.  However, we believe the 50^th anniversary of the nationwide grass roots peace Moratorium on October 15, 1969 and the Mobilization one month later offer an opportunity to honor and learn from both past achievements and today’s struggles.      

The 1969 moratorium unleashed a resurgence of grassroots antiwar energy after a disastrous election and the tragic demoralizing assassinations of 1968.   Hopefully bringing together past and present in 2019 will strengthen grassroots determination to redeem our nation at the polls in 2020 and save us from the disgrace and disaster of Trumpism.

Below is a sample program, subject to partial modification or total replacement according to local situations and interests of organizers.

Past and Present:  Peace, Justice and Change in (your city, state or region)

All participants come for the whole day

Morning   

What took place here fifty years ago?

Local history:  recreated from news clippings, televised reports, individual, organizational and college archives, audio and video interviews with activists (who may now live elsewhere); can focus just on the Moratorium day or on the complete era; a project for a volunteer committee sharing research tasks, for students or for historians

·         Personal reflections by anti-war activists and veterans who lived in our community then or moved here later

·         Cooperation and conflicts between and within peace groups and with other social movements

·         Legacies of war in Indochina and for veterans

Midday

lunch with opportunity for reunions and sharing common experiences

Afternoon 

What is happening in our community today?

·         Representatives of local organizations and movements describe their issues and methods (preventing gun violence, police issues, opposing militarism, migrant rights, women's rights, environment, election campaigns, etc.)

·         Cooperation and conflicts among peace and social justice groups

·         Open discussion of cross generational sharing and support

Evening 

dinner for cross generational exchanges

·        Songs from past and present movements

Other ideas to consider 

·         Friday evening or Sunday Showing of films and videos about the anti-war movement and current issues

·       Following Saturday  A public vigil or demonstration on the date of the 50^th anniversary

·         Cooperation with PBS and NPR stations, especially if they organized local program related to the Burns/Novick Vietnam series

·         Cosponsorship with universities, community colleges, high schools, libraries, religious institutions and local history specialists

·         Making video and audio records of the whole day and insuring they are archived for future public and academic access

      A national conference in a three day residential format that brings together the experience of many communities and sectors.  One idea is to gather at Kent State University in May 2020 honoring the 50th anniversaries of the killings there and at Jackson State.

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From John Ketwig
(veteran, author of and a hard rain fell)

I think the best approach is to show the obvious parallels between the attitudes and strategies that governed the Vietnam War with the very similar ones that are governing today’s wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and the bombing we are conducting in four other countries. 

Is it patriotic to target and bomb innocent, helpless peasants and civilians?

Is it patriotic to use chemical warfare, especially when those substances are affecting civilian populations?   Agent Orange in Vietnam, and Depleted Uranium in the Middle East.  

I believe that a major cause of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress DAMAGE) and suicides is simply conscience.   Most of our soldiers joined up for all the best reasons, but when they get into the war zone and see what I call The American Way of Waging War, with incredibly cruel and destructive weapons and tactics, they are morally appalled.   We need to stress this, both to inhibit recruiting efforts, and to pressure the military to recognize its terribly destructive ways will never win hearts and minds, or win wars.   The damage done to our brave young soldiers is criminal.   The neglect of our wounded is appalling.   Cuts to veterans benefits while we have soldiers in a combat situation are unconscionable.   And somebody has to say so!  

The implementation has to start with letters to the editor, with participation on TV programs, with guest appearances at high schools and colleges, and with protests in front of recruiting stations all across the land.   Marches won’t get enough attention.   Telling the truth, and stirring controversy will encourage the younger generation to think.   The Vietnam War ended primarily because the soldiers became aware and disillusioned and refused to fight it any more.   We need to provide the facts to today’s soldiers and encourage them to resist the military’s worldwide campaign of death and destruction.

And we have to expose the general public to the costs of maintaining 800 bases around the world, and the amount we spend on militarism as opposed to education, health care, feeding the hungry, repairing our infrastructure, etc.   We cannot afford today’s military budgets.   Sadly, the Democrats have become just as influenced by the campaign contributions from the military-industrial complex as the Republicans.   We need to discredit them all, and push for the repeal of Citizens United.  

The important message is that the very same policies that created the disaster in Vietnam are still in place, and still not at all successful.   We can not afford to travel down this dead-end street any longer.

I look forward to stirring the pot more in 2019.

Peace, John Ketwig

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From Bruce Hartford

What about resurrecting the "teach-in" concept, though this time community-based rather than campus-based? Teach-ins linking the corrupt politics behind the Vietnam War to the politics of our current endless wars and neo-liberal world order?

As I recall, what made the teach-ins different from protests and rallies was:

1. They were oriented towards attracting people who were not yet committed anti-war activists as opposed to preaching to the choir.

2. Instead of short rhetorical orations from speakers from each and every organization who supported the event, the speakers were chosen for their in-depth knowledge and ability to teach.

3. Instead of too-many-panelists, each session was limited to 1 or 2 or at the most 3 speakers who were given enough time to actually teach something rather than only shout rousing slogans. And the event lasted all day so there was time to cover a multitude of sub-topics.

The supporting organizations did have recruitment tables for involving attendees in ongoing work.

Just a thought.

Bruce

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American Remarks in My Lai at Commemoration of 50th Anniversary

The reason for our delegation  from the Vietnam Peace Commemoration Committee (VPCC) being with you today:

We are people who worked against the war in many parts of the US, in many different ways.

1) We came to honor the people of My Lai, bear witness to the horror they suffered, applaud their personal and national recovery and the restoration seen in daily life as we drove here.

2) Justice has not been done; no official statement of national responsibility or regret by our leaders; no visit or apology from a high level representative of the US government; very limited legal accountability for the perpetrators; no compensation to the victims or their descendants.

Ironically the one institution in the US to attempt to acknowledge the nature of the event is the US military.  The Peers Commission report of 1974 was repressed for four years but released.  The courage of Hugh Thompson has been recognized officially as a positive example.  The lessons of My Lai are incorporated into the doctrine of war as imperfect as that may be in practice

3)  My Lai / Son My was not the only My Lai although by far the largest and most notorious.  We know of the Tiger Force rampages in Song Ve Valley from May to Nov 1967 and the atrocities at Ben Tre involving former Senator Robert Kerry.  We heard the reports by veterans in the Winter Soldier hearing.  We want all the archives made public from the investigation by the Pentagon’s war crimes working group.

4)  We recognize the other forms of inhumanity emerging from the character of the American war:

Victims then:  Pacification, free fire zones, forced relocation of population, destruction of centuries of rural life 

Victims now:  land mines, unexploded ordnance, Agent Orange

5)  Today at noon in Washington, VPCC has organized a vigil at the White House and released a sign on letter.*  Commemoration activities took place in other places, including in religious services

          -- Remarks by John McAuliff at a meeting with Quang Ngai Province leaders after the ceremony at the My Lai memorial, March 19, 2018

* Original  tinyurl.com/MyLaiAppeal       Updated  tinyurl.com/RememberMyLai