Library - Reading Room
Supporting Materials for Sir! No Sir!
GIs For Peace Moves Ahead At Fort Bliss (El Paso, Texas)
The GIs for Peace have a new office in El Paso at 514 N. Stanton St in El Paso. Their program includes regular meetings and discussions, counseling and the publication of GIGLINE, the voice of Fort Bliss movement. Recently GIFP printed one of their weekly leaflets in both English and (poor) Spanish. A member of the local Chicano community corrected their bad grammar and made suggestions for the future.
In many areas of the Southwest, the most oppressed people are the Chicanos (Mexican-Americans). Agitation around the Lettuce boycott hopes to unite the struggles of GIs with the broader struggles of the people. (CF. elsewhere in this issue of CAMP NEWS for detailed information on the lettuce boycott and the ways in which some projects are beginning to organize around it).
The December issue of GIGLINE reports the following about the current organization and activities of GIFP:
"At our Nov. 9 meeting we established a regular staff of approximately 15 people who have volunteered to work in certain organizational areas. Some of our main staff jobs are: correspondance, publicity, finances, legal liaison, editing the GIGLINE, etc. In our setup we've tried to remain democratic and avoid elitism and ego trips; thus we have no officers and remain open to participation by any interested GI. We have regular Monday night meetings at which we discuss the GI antiwar movement here at Bliss; we welcome anyone interested in working for peace to come and participate n our meetings."
One of the GIFP staff members recently spoke with CAMP NEWS about the current needs of the project. As always, money was tight. Anyone who can should help. In addition to money, GIFP can use literature and other materials for distribution for educational purposes. Finally, the staff (all GIs) is discussing the need for a civilian staff worker who could devote full time to keeping some of the nuts and bolts of the organization together.
Camp News, vol. 1, no. 7