The Fort Polk GI Voice Is A Newsletter Produced By And For GI's At Fort Polk.

We are not part of the official military establishment. Just the opposite. We want to become the voice of the anonymous private or PFC who never seems to get heard from. You can pick up the newspapers every day an read what General so-and-so, Admiral Such-and-Such, or Senator Butterbal has to say about the war---but who ever asks the opinion of the men who have to do the fighting and the dying? And yet we are the ones ° who should have the most right to be heard from!

WHERE WE STAND
Our view is this: we are in the Army and must obey all lawful orders given to us. But, we are also citizens of the United States, and we have not given up our Constitutional rights just because we have become soldiers. If we're old enough, we can vote. Therefore,we also have the right to read and discuss the issues, even if our view happens to disagree with that of the military. Many GI's don't know about their democratic rights and are intimidated into silence.

IN FUTURE ISSUES...
A Letter from Vietnam.
“How to Survive Basic Training.”
“Eight Hours of Uninterrupted Sleep?”
THE NEW LEGIONS, By Don Duncan: Book review.

GI VOICE is going to work to inform GI's of their rights, and to aid anyone who is victimized because of his ideas. We are going to prove that in spite of all the harassment, the skin-head haircuts, the low-crawling, everything that's done to make us feel like shit--we remain men, with dignity and minds of our own.

THE WAR IN VIETNAM
The most important question facing ue today is the war. We believe that the U.S. should get the hell out, now. The war in South Vietnam is a civil war, a fight between Vietnamese which the U.S. has no business interfering in.

The side supported by the U.S. has popular support -- it is, pure and simple, a gang of crooks, landlords and pimps which can't get its own army to fight for it and has to call in the Americans to defend it. Why should we fight and die for the Vietnamese Mafia?

SOME LOST HISTORY
Not many people know about it, but some of the biggest “protest marches” in American history were pulled off by GI's. When WW2 end ed in September 1945, most GI's expected to be returned home. But the politicians were thinking about sending the Army to China,to get involved in the civil war going on there. In December, big protest demonstrations broke out among soldiers in the Philippines, followed by similar protests in Europe. Thousands of GI's in Paris participated in a “Bring Us Home” torchlight parade. In the U.S. pressure from civilians, especially from ths labor movement, supported the GI's. And they did come home.

NEEDED: ORGANIZATION
The idea of a rank and file soldiers' organization has been raised in several areas. We think it's a good idea. The Negro people have organizations to fight for their rights. Students have organizations to help handle their problems on campus. Working men and women, including government, employees, have labor unions to deal with their employer. GI's need an organization, too. The VOICE will publicize developments in this direction around the country.

THE CRITICAL FACTOR: YOU
This issue of GI VOICE has been put out by a few of us at Polk, with the help of friends on the outside. We know that there are many, many more GI's who feel the same way we do. GI VOICE is your newsletter, too: Let us hear from you.

NEWSLETTER POLICY
The pages of the GI VOICE are open to all servicemen on active duty. Your contributions will be kept anonymous unless you desire otherwise. Although the VOICE will be edited and controlled only by GI's, we welcome the interest and help of anyone on the “outside” who supports GI rights.

The principal editor of this issue was Pvt. E-2 Doug Hainline US 54511921. All signed articles express only the viewpoint of the author.

Ft Polk GI Voice, no. 1

Library - Reading Room

The Fort Polk GI Voice Is A Newsletter Produced By And For GI's At Fort Polk.