TACOMA, Wash. (LNS)—Over 100 men in the Fort Lewis stockade boycotted meals in the stockade mess hall here April 15th. They released the following statement:
“We oppose the use of American youth and resources to suppress the Vietnamese and other Third World peoples.
“We also oppose the use of GIs to suppress the Latin American people in ‘ghetto pacification’ and to break strikes like the recent postal workers’ strike. An army should serve the people, not suppress and abuse them.”
At the evening meal, Major Jackson, the stockade commander, ordered the men to eat—anyone who refused was liable to a five year sentence.
One casualty of the demonstration was Pvt. Wade Carson, who was placed in solitary confinement. According to Major Jackson, Carson was put in solitary for two reasons: 1) He (Carson) swept out a closet instead of mopping it when he was told to “clean” it; and 2) He told a sergeant not to interrupt his conversation with a lieutenant.
However, Carson’s lawyer, James Venasch, feels that Carson was suspected of organizing the food boycott. Carson’s original arrest was political—he is in the stockade on a five-month sentence for attempting to distribute literature.
As of this writing, Carson has been in solitary confinement for five days, and there are no signs of his imminent release. For further information, contact the Shelter Half, Box 244, Tacoma, Wash. 98409, (206) GR5-9875.
See Fifth Estate’s Vietnam Resource Page.