Library - Reading Room
Supporting Materials for Sir! No Sir!
Ft. Jackson GIs Petition Against War And Racism
The petition reads in part:
"We, as GIs, are forced to suffer most of all in the Vietnam fiasco. Many of us were drafted into the Army against our will nearly all of us are kept in its grasp against our will -- all in order to carry out this illegal, immoral and unjust war. We are fighting and dying in a war we did not create and in which we do not believe. Many black GIs are becoming increasingly aware of the hypocrisy of fighting against another people of color who are struggling for the same rights of self determination as we are."
It was signed by several hundred Ft. Jackson GIs and presented by a delegation of two soldiers to Lt. Col. Paul R. Stickel in front of Post HQ on the evening of March 3. The action had been initiated by GIs United Against the War in Vietnam, a largely black group of enlisted men who have been organizing at Jackson for several weeks. Col. Stickel (who looks like the original Col. Blimp) rejected the petition, saying "The Army does not recognize a collective bargaining unit representing members of the Army. Membership in such an organization is not specifically prohibited by law or regulation: however many actions associated with collective bargaining are inconsistent with the requirements of military discipline."
The Bond, vol. 3, no. 3