MANNHEIM, West Germany—In a violent clash with military police, imprisoned G.I.s staged a massive riot at the Army stockade in Mannheim, West Germany. On March 19th, the U.S. Command there fought with imprisoned soldiers for 5 hours and the reported damages inflicted on government property amounted to $10,000.
Seventeen soldiers were injured, five of whom were hospitalized and reported to be in serious condition. The imprisoned soldiers held the riot in protest of the lack of medical attention, low quality food and other poor living conditions.
To struggle against these realities and against the wretched environment encountered in a federal stockade only duplicates the GIs’ oppression. The punishment for liberatory activity, as experienced in Mannheim, in certain circumstances, carries the maximum penalty of death. To overcome this threat and see the need for revolt sets an example for all G.I.s.
The American Serviceman’s Union (ASU) correctly identifies the G.I.s’ struggle when they discredit the false barrier’s placed between officers and men and attack the U.S. Government’s policies that deny GIs even the most common civil rights or constitutional protections.
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See Fifth Estate’s Vietnam Resource Page.