Library - Reading Room
Supporting Materials for Sir! No Sir!
Why Do We Start This Newspaper?
The simplest answer is that the war motivates us. We are preoccupied with nagging questions about the war, as it drags on endlessly, spreading throughout Southeast Asia and making confrontation with China inevitable. We want to know to what purpose Americans are giving their lives. To what end must Vietnam be tortured and destroyed? What does it mean to die for “national security”? How many young men must die before some “peaceful settlement” is eventually found? Are you required to defend a policy not of your making? Whose interests are you really defending?
Such questions cannot be answered all at once, but they must be faced. The Ally will try to answer them in this and future issues by reporting the facts of the war and the antiwar movement. We will get beyond the nonsense which the government feeds servicemen and the general public. We will supply information that the government tries to keep from servicemen.
Newspaper reports show that at least one-third of those Americans fighting in Vietnam oppose the war, The Ally supports these men and seeks to enlist their support in informing others. The Ally offers its assistance to those who refuse to serve in this war. We want to open a new channel of communication to servicemen. We hope that you will write to us about your ideas on the war and your responses to this paper. We will print your letters anonymously; the general public also needs to know what servicemen are thinking.
Also, we will offer services which may be of some help to servicemen. Our legal aid service will answer any legal questions you may have, including questions on army and navy regulations. We also plan to aid servicemen in obtaining educational materials, such as books and magazines. We will review books and magazine articles on the war for your information. In addition our educational service will answer questions for those who seek further education after service. For those seeking employment after service we will answer inquiries on employment possibilities.
If you have suggestions, let us know.The Ally is your paper: freedom of information is your right.
The Ally, no. 1