NEW YORK (LNS)—Four hundred demonstrators massed in front of Penn Station August 2 to support 38 Fort Dix, N.J. GIs who face court-martials for having participated in a stockade uprising.
The protesters called for the elimination of all Army stockades, dropping charges against the Ft. Dix 38, and the freeing of all political prisoners—including Black Panther Minister of Defense Huey P. Newton.
As speakers talked to the crowd about life in the stockade, the trumped-up charges against the 38, and organizing in the army in general, demonstrators passed out thousands of leaflets.
One GI appeared at the demonstration briefly and held up the flag of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam; he was later arrested by Military Police in the subway and charged with violation of codes which prohibit soldiers from demonstrating in uniform.
Following the rally, the protestors took to the streets, streaming down Eighth Avenue and finishing up at a Veterans Administration building which houses a number of Armed Forces research and administrative offices. Although the march tied up traffic for a few minutes, cab drivers, truck drivers and people inside cars were sympathetic and friendly for the most part.
The action was organized by SDS, in cooperation with the American Serviceman’s Union (ASU) and other groups.
Related
See “GI coffee house bust set up” in this issue.
See Fifth Estate’s Vietnam Resource Page.