Friends,

The Ultimate Weapon first appeared at Ft. Dix, New Jersey, over one year ago, one of the first on base papers written by GIs. The paper immediately began to inform GIs of the truth about the war and their constitutional right to oppose it and to organize against it. It became the alternative to the official propaganda of the war machine.

In its first months of existence, The Ultimate Weapon waged a defense campaign on behalf of Allen Myers. The case was won and all charges were dropped. The Myers case was a milestone in the fight for GI rights, establishing the right of GIs to distribute antiwar literature on base.

At this time, The Weapon also spearheaded organizing GI participation from the Ft. Dix area in the April 5 GI-Civilian demonstration against the war in Vietnam held in New York City. The Ultimate Weapon has helped GIs link up with the civilian antiwar movement in its mass actions against the war.

During the spring, The Ultimate Weapon took on the job of mobilizing support for the Ft. Jackson GIs United Against the War in Vietnam and publicizing the case of the Ft. Jackson Eight. The Weapon made the organizing experience of GIs United available to others and popularized the concept of defense of GI rights. The Ultimate Weapon played an important role in building the kind of mass support around this case necessary for the victory which followed.

During the summer, The Ultimate Weapon, with its limited resources, continued to organize and educate around the issue of the war and GI rights. It saw the importance of the fall antiwar offensive of the New Mobe, the SMC, and the Moratorium Committee. GIs around The Ultimate Weapon were among those at the head of the huge march down Pennsylvania Avenue on November 15.

Since the fall antiwar offensive, it has been financially impossible to publish The Ultimate Weapon. Printing and mailing debts incurred over the year of active involvement in the GI movement has brought us to the situation where we can no longer continue to publish until we have liquidated our debts and scraped together some working capital. At present, we have bills and loans to pay which total nearly $400. Although each of our creditors is a friend of the movement, like Resistance, B. Davis Printer's etc., we have the responsibility to repay them as soon as possible.

In brief, The Ultimate Weapon must raise a minimum of $500 at this time if it is to pay its debts and continue the crucial work of GI organizing in the next few months.

There is no one who better understands that the war is not over till all the troops are brought home than active duty GIs. Help us, through your financial support at this time, to continue our work toward that goal.

The Editors of The Ultimate Weapon
P.S. Checks may be made payable to The Ultimate Weapon and sent to
P.O. Box 8633, Philadelphia, Pa. 19101

Ultimate Weapon , special issue

Library - Reading Room

Friends,