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" I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned."
from Dirge Without Music
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

"...psychopaths have little difficulty infiltrating the domains of...politics, law enforcement, (and) government." Dr. Robert Hare

How GI Resistance Altered
The Course Of History:

"Sir! No Sir!" A Timely Film

Premiers Week of 4/3/2006

by Paul Rockwell
Oakland, California

"General, your tank is a mighty vehicle.
It shatters the forest and crushes a hundred men.
But it has one defect:
It needs drivers.

General, a man is quite expendable.
He can fly and he can kill.
But he has one defect:
He can think."
-- Bertolt Brecht

In one theatrical episode, evoking laughter and applause from thousands of soldiers and Marines, Fonda played the part of an aide to President Richard Nixon.

{From FTA}

"Richard," she exclaims. "There's a terrible demonstration going on outside."
Nixon replies: "Oh, there's always a demonstration going on outside."
Fonda: "But Richard. This one is completely out of control. They're storming the White House."
"Oh, I think I better call out the 3rd Marines." Nixon exclaims.
"You, can't, Richard," says Fonda.
"Why not?" says Nixon.
She answers: "Because they ARE the 3rd Marines!"

The three-decade blackout of GI resistance is not due to any lack of evidence. Information about the resistance has always been available. According to the Pentagon, over 500,000 incidents of desertion took place between 1966 and 1977. Officers were fragged. Entire units refused to enter battle.

A counter-culture blossomed inside the military. Affinity groups, like "The Buddies" and "The Freaks" were formed. Afros, rock and soul music, bracelets and beads, the use of peace signs and clenched fists -- a culture antithetical to the totalitarian culture of military life -- proliferated. Prison riots in the stockades, from Fort Dix to the Marine brig in Da Nang, were common by 1970.
In response to a detested recruitment slogan -- "Fun, Travel, Adventure" -- GIs named one periodical "FTA," which meant "Fuck The Army." When GIs ceased to cooperate with superiors, the military lost control of culture and communication.

Like Pablo Paredes, Kevin Benderman, Kelly Dougherty, Camilo Mejia -- to name a few war resisters of our time -- the GI resisters of the 60s and 70s showed incredible courage. Pvt. David Samas, one of the Fort Hood Three, who refused to serve in Vietnam, said in one impassioned speech: "We have not been scared. We have not been in the least shaken from our paths. Even if physical violence is used against us, we will fight back...the GI should be reached somehow. He doesn't want to fight. He has no reason to risk his life. And the peace movement is dedicated to his safety."

In the end the GI anti-war movement -- enlisted youth, draftees, poor kids from ghettos, farms and barrios--paralyzed the biggest death machine of modern times. In short, people power altered the course of history. (The book "Soldiers In Revolt," by David Cortright, makes an excellent companion to "Sir, No Sir.")

"Sir! No Sir!" is organized around the testimony of prominent war resisters. Yes, there are a lot of talking heads in "Sir, No Sir." But their revelations, backed with images and footage of rebellion, are unforgettable. We meet Donald Duncan, the decorated member of the Green Berets, who resigned in defiance in 1963 after 15 months of service in Vietnam. His article in Ramparts, "I Quit," generated great excitement in the student movement.
We also meet Howard Levy, the Green Beret medic who refused to use medical practices as a political tactic in war. His court martial caused a huge impact on GI and civilian consciousness. The troops supported him.

Of course times have changed. The '60s are over. And while every generation determines its own destiny in its own way, while history itself is but "a light on the stern" -- it is still true that "The spirit of the people is greater than man's technology."
"Sir! No Sir!" is a work of hope.

"As God walks atop this Wall and weeps,
I hear him say, `These were my sons.'

The sound of his tears fall silenced,
As hands are washed in the Potomac,
And it runs red with waste!

The Pontius Pilates of the new Rome,
Repeat history on full automatic."

Nicholas James Weber
Vietnam Veteran

"Never again shall one generation of veterans abandon another."

When (R) is placed after name, it stands for 'Repugnant' { Now 'Actual' Name Of Political Party In Charge, Please Refrain From Using 'Republican', Call Them As Their Leadership Is}