‘Save the Priest’ - 1969
The GI-Servicemen’s Link to Peace issues a two-sided flyer calling for a July 20, 1969 demonstration in Washington, D.C. in support of anti-Vietnam War seaman Roger Priest.
The reverse side of the flyer reprints a Washington Post article on Priest.
Priest worked in the Navy’s Office of Information at the Pentagon when he published his mimeographed alternative GI newsletter OM and faced charges of up to six years hard labor, forfeiture of pay and grade and a dishonorable discharge.
OM had a print run of 1000 and featured anti-Vietnam War articles and information as well as acting as a “gripe” forum for armed service members.
The 1970 court martial at the Washington Navy Yard included charges of soliciting fellow soldiers to desert, urging insubordination and making statements disloyal to the United States
The Navy charges were all based around the issue of free speech in the military and would become nationally publicized at a time when GIs were increasingly resisting the Vietnam War, including refusal of orders to go to Vietnam and refusal of orders to fight for those who shipped out.
Upon appeal, the conviction was reversed and he was granted an honorable discharge.
The GI Servicemen’s Link to Peace was founded by Carl Douglas Rogers, a founder of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and a lifetime peace activist. Link sought to provide support for GI coffeehouses around the country that in turn provided safe spaces for antiwar GIs.
For a PDF of this 2-page 8 ½ x 11 flyer, see washingtonareaspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/1969-0...
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHsmLuExUi
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
‘Save the Priest’ - 1969
The GI-Servicemen’s Link to Peace issues a two-sided flyer calling for a July 20, 1969 demonstration in Washington, D.C. in support of anti-Vietnam War seaman Roger Priest.
The reverse side of the flyer reprints a Washington Post article on Priest.
Priest worked in the Navy’s Office of Information at the Pentagon when he published his mimeographed alternative GI newsletter OM and faced charges of up to six years hard labor, forfeiture of pay and grade and a dishonorable discharge.
OM had a print run of 1000 and featured anti-Vietnam War articles and information as well as acting as a “gripe” forum for armed service members.
The 1970 court martial at the Washington Navy Yard included charges of soliciting fellow soldiers to desert, urging insubordination and making statements disloyal to the United States
The Navy charges were all based around the issue of free speech in the military and would become nationally publicized at a time when GIs were increasingly resisting the Vietnam War, including refusal of orders to go to Vietnam and refusal of orders to fight for those who shipped out.
Upon appeal, the conviction was reversed and he was granted an honorable discharge.
The GI Servicemen’s Link to Peace was founded by Carl Douglas Rogers, a founder of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and a lifetime peace activist. Link sought to provide support for GI coffeehouses around the country that in turn provided safe spaces for antiwar GIs.
For a PDF of this 2-page 8 ½ x 11 flyer, see washingtonareaspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/1969-0...
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHsmLuExUi
Original held in the Bonnie Atwood papers, 1965-2005, Collection, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.