Support the Ft. Hood 3 who refused orders to Vietnam: 1967
The Fort Hood 3 Defense Committee holds a rally at St. Stephens Church October 16, 1967 and a subsequent picket at the White House to support three soldiers who refused orders to go to Vietnam in 1966.
The three—David Samas, 20, a Lithuanian/Italian from Chicago; James Johnson, 20 black from East Harlem, N.Y.; and Dennis Mora, 25, a Puerto Rican from Spanish Harlem, N.Y.—were given a month leave and told to report to Vietnam. They were stationed in Ft. Hood, Texas.
Instead they held a press conference announcing their refusal. All three were quickly arrested before a second scheduled press conference.
Antiwar groups rallied to their defense and attorneys filed suit that their refusal was justified because the Vietnam War was illegal.
Despite the support, they were sentenced to long prison terms and dishonorably discharged. Mora received a three year prison term while Samas and Johnson received five years.
The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately refused to hear their case and the three paid a heavy price for their beliefs.
However, their resistance started a GI movement that involved more refusals to go to Vietnam, refusals to fight in Vietnam, rebellions in the stockades, GI participation in antiwar demonstrations, an attempt to form a servicemen’s union, and antiwar GI coffeehouses and alternative newspapers.
For a PDF of this two-sided flyer, see washingtonspark.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/1967-10-15-ft...
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHskVENBnt
Donated by Robert “Bob” Simpson
Support the Ft. Hood 3 who refused orders to Vietnam: 1967
The Fort Hood 3 Defense Committee holds a rally at St. Stephens Church October 16, 1967 and a subsequent picket at the White House to support three soldiers who refused orders to go to Vietnam in 1966.
The three—David Samas, 20, a Lithuanian/Italian from Chicago; James Johnson, 20 black from East Harlem, N.Y.; and Dennis Mora, 25, a Puerto Rican from Spanish Harlem, N.Y.—were given a month leave and told to report to Vietnam. They were stationed in Ft. Hood, Texas.
Instead they held a press conference announcing their refusal. All three were quickly arrested before a second scheduled press conference.
Antiwar groups rallied to their defense and attorneys filed suit that their refusal was justified because the Vietnam War was illegal.
Despite the support, they were sentenced to long prison terms and dishonorably discharged. Mora received a three year prison term while Samas and Johnson received five years.
The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately refused to hear their case and the three paid a heavy price for their beliefs.
However, their resistance started a GI movement that involved more refusals to go to Vietnam, refusals to fight in Vietnam, rebellions in the stockades, GI participation in antiwar demonstrations, an attempt to form a servicemen’s union, and antiwar GI coffeehouses and alternative newspapers.
For a PDF of this two-sided flyer, see washingtonspark.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/1967-10-15-ft...
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHskVENBnt
Donated by Robert “Bob” Simpson