Fifth Estate Collective
Peace Briefs
July Draft
WASHINGTON, May 6. The defense Department yesterday boosted the draft back up to 26,000 men for July compared to 15,000 in June.
The July quota, all for the Army, was nearly 5,000 above the 21,700-man draft in April, but was well below the 34,600 called for May induction.
The most recent Pentagon figures showed that the armed forces had reached a combined strength of 2,936,644 as of April 1. The announced goal of the buildup for the Vietnamese war was 3,093,000 men.
NEW YORK—A new “trade union division” has been formed by SANE at a meeting called by 18 union leaders and attended by over 200 trade union members. This union action marks the first organized break with the leadership of the AFL-CIO over support of the war. Their activity will be confined to union leaders rather than the rank-and-file.
WASHINGTON, DC: Over 15,000 people converged on the capital as part of SANE and Women Strike for peace’s voter pledge campaign. Over 75,000 pledges committing the signer to support of political candidates who “work vigorously to scale down the fighting and achieve a cease-fire in Vietnam” have thus far been collected. It was decided to continue the campaign until November. Speakers at an afternoon rally included Dr. Benj. Spock, Fr. Daniel Berrigan, Norman Thomas, Irving Howe, and several anti-war candidates.
CAIRO: On April 4 philosopher Bertrand Russell said Lyndon B. Johnson is “the worst president in the history of the United States.”
LEWISBURG, PA.: Senator Ernest Gruening (D-Alaska) said on May 7 that he had concluded that the United States is the “aggressor” in Vietnam. “It’s painful to admit, but I can come to no other conclusion,” he said at Bucknel University.
FORT LEAVENWORTH, KAN.: Lt. Henry Howe sentenced to 2 years at hard labor by a military court for participating in an anti-war demonstration while off-duty and in civilian clothes was released on parole pending the outcome of his appeal. Details about the case may be obtained from the Lt. Howe Committee, P.O. Box 6024, Denver, Colorado, 80206.
An original play, “A Sight in Vietnam” (by Sam Cohen), is now being rehearsed and soon to see its world premiere. The message is the Gandhian approach to the Vietnam problem, but as all good plays go, the stress is on tension and drama. A few more male actors, at the time of this writing, are still needed. If interested in acting, call 832–5224.
NEW YORK: The May 2 movement, organized in 1964 as “an anti-imperialist student movement” voted to disband recently. They will continue to publish the FREE STUDENT as an independent paper.
FEED ‘EM NOW
The Detroit Women for Peace will have a smorgasbord dinner, Friday, June 17, 7:00 PM at the Jewish Music Center, located at 14868 Schaffer at Lyndon. Tickets at the door are $2.50 for adults and $1.50 for students. Proceeds go to the Lafferty for Congress campaign.
ALBANY, NY: The largest anti-war activity ever held in this city occurred April 19 when 75 pickets showed up when General Maxwell Taylor spoke on Vietnam at the World Affairs Council.
NEW YORK: Dr. Herbert Aptheker, Communist Party spokesman and historian, announced he will campaign for Congress in Brooklyn’s 12th District. He will run on the Peace and Freedom ticket.
ST. LOUIS: 1,550 persons demonstrated against the war here. The largest previous turnout had only been 100.
Related
See Fifth Estate’s Vietnam Resource Page.