GI Press & Organizations

[Protests and Demonstrations] [Combat Refusal and Refusal of Orders] [AWOL and Desertion]
[Papers, Coffeehouses and Organizations] [Riots and Rebellions] [Harassment and Repression]

1965

October 11

• Ad Hoc Committee of Veterans for Peace in Vietnam founded.

December 15

• New York City - Veterans for Peace founded.

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1967

June 1

• New York City - Vietnam Veterans Against the War founded.

June 23

• Berkeley - First issue of The Bond published.

July

• New York City - Committee for GI Rights founded.

July 21

• Richard Perrin publishes antiwar statement in The Bond.

September

• Chicago - First issue of Veterans Stars and Stripes for Peace published.

November

• Pfc. James Chung publishes antiwar statement in The Bond.

December 10

• US Navy reportedly warns its personnel in South Vietnam to avoid peace groups whose members would try to induce them to desert.

December 24

• American Servicemen’s Union founded at Fort Sill.

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1968

January

• Chicago - First issue of Vietnam GI published.
• Columbia - Fred Gardner opens first GI coffeehouse, the UFO.

January 19

• Fort Sam Houston - 7 black GIs (Kenneth Calloway, Tyrone Exum, Alton Jones, Chip Maxwell, Robert Meek, Ronald Saunders, Zacchary Scott) distribute pamphlet that said in part: "What happens when, or rather if, a brother comes back from Vietnam? He still has to be bothered by the same old honkie racism. On Christmas leave, a train of GIs stopped in Texas. Some black troops went into a restaurant to eat, but were made to sit in the 'Black Section' or to take the food outside and eat. One brother sat at the 'white' counter for forty-five minutes to an hour and wasn't served. He was wearing the uniform of the U.S. Army, but he was still black."

January 28

• Fort Benning - Three GIs (Pfc. Maury Knutson, Pfc. Thomas Wake, Pfc. Andrew Holloway)send letter of support to the ASU.

February

• Paris - Terry Klug, Cornell Hiselman, G Wuerth, Dick Perrin and Philip Wagner hold press conference to announce the publication of ACT.
• Berkeley - First issue of The Ally published.
• Paris - First issue of ACT published

April

• San Francisco - GI Association founded.
• Berlin - First issue of Where It’s At published.

April 27

• Toronto - Union of American Exiles founded.

June

• Killeen - Oleo Strut Coffeehouse opens.

June 12

• Summer of Support announces plans to open GI coffeehouses and projects in military towns across the country.

June 23

• Fort Knox - First issue of Fun Travel Adventurepublished.

July

• Fort Leonard Wood - First issue of Pawn’s Pawn published.

August 10

• San Francisco - First issue of Task Force (San Francisco) published.

September

• A panel of active-duty GIs and Vietnam veterans speak about the importance of organizing GIs at a national conference called by the Student Mobilization Committee.

October

• Seattle - GI-Civilian Alliance for Peace founded.
• Fort Gordon - First issue of Last Harass published.

October 4

• Tacoma - Shelter Half coffee house opens.

October 29

• Fort Lewis - First issue of Counterpoint published.

November

• Fort Campbell - First issue of Flag in Action published.

November 3

• Los Angeles - GIs and Vietnam Veterans Against the War founded.

November 25

• Fort Sheridan - First issue of The Logistic published.

December

• Fort Knox - Leaflet announcing GI teach-in distributed.

December 18

• Fort Dix - First issue of The Ultimate Weapon published.

December 22

• Oak Knoll Naval Hospital - First issue of The Underground Oak published.

December 25

• Cherry Point NAS - First issue of Head-On! published.

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1969

January 19

• Fort Sam Houston - GIs publish pro-panther pamphlet supporting “Black Power.”

January 21

• Fort Jackson - GIs United Against the War in Vietnam founded.

February

• New York - First issue of GI Voicepublished.
• Washington DC - First issue of Open Sights published.
• Fort Eustis - First issue of Rough Draft published

February 14

• Fort Devens - First issue of Top Secretpublished.

February 22

• Oxford and London - Union of American Exiles in Britain founded.

March

• Los Angeles - First issue of About Face published.
• Fort Polk - First issue of Fort Polk GI Voice published.
• Servicemen’s Peace and Freedom League founded.

March 3

• “Echo Mike” coffee house opens.

March 5

• Oxford - First issue of The American Exile in Britain published.

March 13

• Senior US militry commanders order investigations into reports that militant black power groups such as the Black Panther Party might be organizing and recruiting among the troops in Vietnam.

March 30

• GI Defense Organization publishes advertisement in The New York Times titled “Don't let the Pentagon Court-Martial the First Amendmant.”

April

• Fort Ord - First issue of As You Were published.
• Fort Huachuca - First issue of Huachuca Hard Times published.
• San Francisco - First issue of The Looper(San Francisco) published.
• San Francisco - First issue of Marine Blues published.
• Carmel - First issue of Reveille published.

April 1

• GIs United file suit asking the Federal Courts to declare “that American soldiers, citizens in uniform, have the same constitutional rights as all other Americans.”
• Washington DC - First issue of OM The Servicemen’s Newsletter published.
• Wright Patterson AFB - First issue of USAF published.

April 2

• Fort Hood - First issue of The GI Organizer published.

April 14

• Fort Sheridan - First issue of Dull Brass published.

April 16

•  London - Ad Hoc Presidio Stockade Committee founded.

April 17

• Fort Dix - Spec/4 Allen Myers, editor of The Ultimate Weapon, petitions to be allowed to distribute the paper openly on base. 

April 21

• Fort Eustis - Editor of Rough Draftapplies for permission to legally distribute paper on-base.

April 25

• First issue of American Deserters Committee Newsletter published.

May

• Travis AFB - First issue of Eyes Left published.
• San Francisco - First issue of Final Flight published.
• Chanute AFB - First issue of A Four Year Bummer published.
• Fort Lee - First issue of Spartacus published.
• Los Angeles - First issue of Up Front published.
• Evanston - Earth coffee house opens
• Vietnam - GIs serving with the 101st Airborne publish Statement in Support of Presidio 27.

May 18

• Fort Eustis - Editors of Rough Draft, petition to distribute paper on-base.

June

• Heidelberg - First issue of The Graffiti published.

June 16

• Jeff Sharlet, founder/editor Vietnam GI, dies of cancer in Miami.

June 19

• Camp Lejeune - Bob Kukiel requests permission to distribute the Bill of Rights and the GI paper Head-On on-base.

June 21

• Fort Meade - Antiwar leaflet distributed on-base.

June 26

• New York City - First issue of GI Press Service published.

June 30

• Fort Jackson - Committee of Fort Jackson Conscientious Objectors founded.

July

• Beaufort MCAS - First issue of Chessman published.
• Amori-Ken, Japan - First issue ofHair published.
• El Paso - First issue of Up Tight published.
• "Free the Fort Dix 38" petition distributed in GI papers across the country.

July 1

• Fort Huachuca - David Egan, the Editor of Huachuca Hard Times petitions for right to distribute paper on-base. He is given permission to do so on July 12.

July 3

• Fort Leonard Wood - First issue of Military Issues published.

July 4

• Fort Bragg - First issue of Bragg Briefs published.
• Barksdale AFB - First issue of GAF published.

July 9

• Fort Bragg - Editors of Bragg Briefs petition for right to distribute paper on-base.

July 27

• Fort Eustis - Editors of Rough Draft resubmit their petition to distribute paper on-base, having gotten no response to the request made in May.

August

• Fort Carson - First issue of Aboveground published.
• New York City - First issue of Fort Dix 38 Speak Out published.
• Fort Bliss - GIs for Peace founded.

August 11

• Fort Carson - Editors of Aboveground petition for right to distribute paper on-base.

August 16

• Fort Bliss - GIs for Peace granted permission to distribute leaflet on-base.

August 26

• Fort Eustis - Editors of Rough Draft granted permission to distribute the paper on-base for one week, in front of the post theater between the hours of 6 and 9 pm.

August 30

• Muldraugh, Kentucky - Fort Knox coffee house opens.

September

• New York City - First issue of The Obligore published.
• Berkeley - GI-Student Union founded
• Colorado Springs - Home Front coffee house opens.

September 7

• Washington DC - GI Mobilization Committee founded.

September 10

• Fort Carson - Editors of Aboveground resubmit their petition to distribute paper openly on-base. They are punitively reassigned five days later.

September 28

• Fort Eustis - Brass allow Rough Draft to be distributed on-base without harassment or interference for one day.

October

• Fort McClellan - First issue of Left Face published.
• Baltimore - First issue of New Salute published.
• Fort McClellan - GIs and WACs United Against the War founded.

October 13

• Fort Lewis - First issue of Fed Up! published.

October 23

• Fort Myer - Sp/4 Joe Durr one of the editors of Open Sights petitions for the right to distribute paper on-base.

November

• Camp Pendelton - First issue of Attitude Check published.
• Tokyo - First issue of Kill for Peace published.
• Fort Detrick - First issue of The Pawn published.
• Fort Benning - First issue of Rap published.
• Concerned Officers Movement founded.

November 11

• Washington DC - First issue of Forward March of American Idealism published.

November 16

• Fort Dix - Soldiers Liberation Front founded.

November 17

• Fort Bliss - GIs for Peace vote to continue organizing openly instead of going underground.

November 25

• Fort Bragg - Black Brigade founded.

November 30

• Frankfurt - First Amendment coffee house opens.

December

• San Diego Movement for a Democratic Military founded.
• Aboveground reports there are more than 200 active ASU members at Fort Carson.
• Anniston - Inner Eye coffee house opens.
• Fort McClellan - Editors of Left Face request permission to distribute paper on-base

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1970

January

• Fort Richardson - First issue of Anchorage Troop published.
• Berlin - First issue of Forward published.
• New York City - First issue of Potemkin published.
• Fort Jackson - First issue of Short Times published.
• Fort Sam Houston - First issue of Your Military Left published.
• Baltimore - Movement Center GI Coffee house opens.
• Great Lakes Naval Training Center - Great Lakes Movement for a Democratic Military founded.
• Fort McClellan - Fort McClellan GIS-WACS United Against the War in Vietnam founded.
• Roger Priest’s GI Referendum on Vietnam distributed through the GI press.

January 11

• WSSB Radio broadcast 55 minute “phone in” show with Harold Price of the Black Brigade and Dave O’Brien from GIs United answering questions.

January 23

• Columbus - Ohio Peace Veteran’s Coalition founded.

February

• Chicago - First issue of Navy Times are Changing published.
• Berlin - First issue of We Got the brASS published.
• Fort Wainwright - Fort Wainwright United Servicemen of Alaska founded.
• Baltimore - Baltimore GIs United founded.

March

• El Toro MCAS - First issue of Pay Back published.
• Fairbanks - Fellowship of the Ring Coffeehouse opened.
• Fort Lewis - Independent Servicemen's Union founded.
• Fort Wainwright - Editor of The Green Machine applies for permission to distribute paper on base.

March 25

• Fort Knox - First issue of EM-16 published.

April

• Fort Carson - First issue of Counter Attack published
• Alameda - First issue of Up Against the Bulkhead published.

April 4 - 5

• Baltimore - Meeting of east coast GI Newspaper editors.

May

• Washington DC - First Issue of COM Newsletter published.
• Philadelphia - First issue of The Destroyer published.
• Fort Wayne - First Issue of First Amendment published.
• Fort Polk - First issue of Ft. Polk Puke published.
• Fort Devens - First Issue of Morning Report published.
• Long Beacxh - First Issue of Out Now published.
• Seaside, CA - First Issue of Right-On Post published.
• Fort Knox - FTA Manifesto published.
• Fort Hood - Spring Offensive Committee founded.
• Fort Devens - Editors of Morning Report petition to distribute paper on-base.

May 15

• Grand Forks AFB - GI and GI wives for Peace coffee house with Dave Dellinger, John Froines and Phil Ochs.

May 31

• National GI Alliance founded.

June

• Fort Campbell - First issue of Napalm published.
• Redstone Arsenal - First issue of Our Thing published.

June 3

• Washington DC - First issue of GI Alliance Newsletter published.

June 16

• Norton AFB - First issue of sNorton Bird published.

July

• Santa Anna - First issue of Pay Back published.
• Fort Hamilton - Fort Hamilton GIs United founded.
• Fort Carson MDM founded

July 4

• Heidelberg - First issue of A’bout Face published.
• Heidelberg - First issue of Next Step published.
• Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines - First issue of The Whig published.
• Heidelberg - Unsatisfied Black Soldiers founded.

July 16

• Wright-Patterson AFB - First issue of Star Spangled Bummer published. 

August

• Camp Pendelton - First issue of Black Unity pubished.
• Boston - First issue of Catharsis published.
• San Diego - First issue of Dare to Struggle published.
• Fort Lewis - First issue of Lewis-McChord Free Press published.
• Mildenhall RAF Base - First issue of P.E.A.C.E. published.
• Fort Hamilton - Committee to Defend the Fort Hamilton GIs founded.
• Mildenhall - People Emerging Against Corrupt Establishments founded.
• Quonset-Davisville GIs for Peace formed.
• Washington DC - DMZ coffee house opens.
• Fayetteville - Haymarket Square coffeehouse opens.
• Pentagon GI coffee house opens.

August 14

• Tokyo - First issue of Freedom Rings published.

September

• Virginia Beach - First issue of On the Beach published.
• Fort Hamilton - First issue ofXpress published.
• GI-Airmen Coalition founded.
• Heidelberg - Soldiers for Democratic Action founded.
• Great Lakes Training Center - “People’s Place” coffee house opens.

September 4

• Keflavik, Iceland - First issue of Stuffed Puffin published.

September 7

• Black United Soldiers Founded.

September 26

• Patton Barracks, Heidelberg - First issue of Call Up published.
• Patton Barracks, Heidelberg - First issue of SDA published.

October

• Fukoka, Japan - First issue of Yand published
• Fukoka, Japan - Young American’s for a New Direction founded.
• Fort Lewis - Lewis McChord Free Press petitions for distribution on base.

October 6

• Fort Ord - First issue of Unity Now published.

October 7

• Kadena AFB, Okinawa - First issue of Demand for Freedom published.

October 27

• Iwakuni Brig - First issue of The Stars-n-Bars published.

November

• Norea - First issue of Korea Free Press published.
• First issue of Morning Report published.
• Fort Bragg - GI Union founded.

November 12

• Augusta - First issue of Polylogue published.

November 17

• Editors of Broken Arrow petition to distribute paper on-base

December

• Aomori-Ken, Japan - First issue of Hair Revived published

December 9

• The Air Force Times estimates there are at least "25 Black radical soldier’s organizations inside the US Air Force."

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1971

January

• El Paso - GI Alliance founded.

February

• West Germany - First issue of Voice of the Lumpen published.
• Beaufort MCAS - First issue of Chessman 2 published.

February 12

• Movement to Off the Military founded.

February 16

• FTA founded by Jane Fonda and Donaald Sutherland.

March

• Fort Ord - First issue of P.O.W. published.
• Fort Campbell - First issue of People's Press published.
• El Paso - GI Alliance founded.

April

• Fort McLellan - First issue of Whack! published.
• San Diego - First issue of Liberty Call published.
• Pease AFB - Service People for Peace and Justice founded.

May

• Fort Greely - First issue ofArctic Arsenal published.
• Mountain Home AFB - First issue ofHelping Hand published.
• Hawaii - First issue of Liberated Barracks published.
• Fort Meade - Brothers and Sisters for Equality founded.

June

• Fort Huachuca - First issue of Where Are We published.
• Pease AFB - First issue of Off the Brass published.
• Travis AFB - First issue of Travisty published.
• Fort Jackson GI Center opens.
• Fort Hood - Fort Hood United Front founded.

August

• Fort Polk - First issue of A Different Drummer published.
• San Diego - First issue of Up From the Bottom published.
• Fort Sam Houston -GI Coordinating Committee founded.

September

• Fort Sill - First issue of  Barrage published.
• 29 Palms MCAS - First issue of The Rose Garden published.
• Fort Campbell - GI Union founded.

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1972

January 19

• Covered Wagon coffee house reopens in Mountain Home. 

February

•  First issue of Worms Eye View (of Nixon's War) published.