From The Living
Archives Of Boston Veterans For Peace-They Ain't Your Grandfather's Veterans
[Ralph Morris who has
lived in Troy, New York most of his life, been raised there and raised his own
family there, went to war, the bloody, horrendous Vietnam War which he has made
plain many times he will never live down, never get over what he did, what he
saw others do, and most importantly for the long haul, what his evil government
did with no remorse to people in that benighted country with whom he had no
quarrel never was much for organizations, joining organizations when he was
young until he came up a group formed in the fire of the Vietnam War protests
-Vietnam Veteran Against the War (VVAW) which he joined after watching a
contingent of them pass by in silent march protesting the war in downtown
Albany one fall afternoon. Somebody in that contingent with a microphone called
out to any veterans observing the march who had had enough of war, had felt
like that did to “fall in” (an old army term well if bitterly remembered). He
did and has never looked back although for the past many years his affiliation
has been with a subsequent anti-war veterans’ group Veterans for Peace.
Sam Eaton, who has
lived in Carver, Massachusetts, most of his life, been raised there and raised
his own family there, and did not go to war. Did not go for the simple reason
that due to a severe childhood accident which left him limping severely thereafter
he was declared no fit for military duty, 4-F the term the local draft board
used. He too had not been much for organizations, joining organizations when he
was young. That is until his best friend from high school, Jeff Mullins, died
in hell-hole Vietnam and before he had died asked Sam that if anything happened
to him to let the world that he had done things, had seen others do things, and
most importantly for the long haul, what his evil government did with no
remorse to people in that benighted country with whom he had no quarrel. As
part of honoring Jeff’s request after Sam found out about his death he was like
a whirling dervish joining one anti-war action after another, joining one ad
hoc group, each more radical than the previous one as the war ground away,
ground all rational approach vapid, let nothing left but to go left, until the
fateful day when he met Ralph down in Washington, D.C.
That was when both in
their respective collectives, Ralph in VVAW and Sam in Cambridge Red Front,
were collectively attempting one last desperate effort to end the war by
closing down the government if it would not shut down the war. All they got for
their efforts were tear gas, police batons, and arrest bracelets and a trip to
the bastinado which was the floor of Robert F. Kennedy stadium which is where
they would meet after Sam noticed Ralph’s VVAW pin and told him about Jeff and
his request. That experience would form a lasting friendship including several
years ago Sam joining Ralph’s Veterans for Peace as a supporter, an active
supporter still trying to honor his long- gone friend’s request and memory.
No one least of all
either of them would claim they were organizing geniuses, far from it but over
the years they participated, maybe even helped organize many anti-war events.
One day their friend, Josh Breslin, who writes a by-line at this publication,
and who is also a veteran asked them to send some of events they had participated
in here to form a sort of living archives of the few remaining activist
groupings in this country, in America who are still waging the struggle for
peace.
Periodically, since we
are something of a clearing house and historic memory for leftist activities,
we will put their archival experiences into our archives. Ralph and Sam both
had long and well-documented histories in confronting any signs of incipient neo-Nazism,
fascism, or to use current terms which make no mistake is exactly the same
thing Alt-Right or White Nationalist as it arose when they were young. The hard
fact is that in this they were their father’s sons, those fathers both having
served in the military in World War II fighting exactly that Nazi thread when
it was the bane of Europe and it took almost everything possible to defeat the
night-takers.
Another hard fact was
that the incidences of Nazis and fascists raising their heads in those days
were pretty infrequent at a time when the left was ascendant and a “newer
world” seemed possible. For years thereafter not much except a rogue run by
some KKK or neo-Nazi group trying to make waves in isolated city streets not
much happened. Then the great arch moved right and for many reasons not only
the rise of the ear of Trump and Trump-like craziness but other more long-term
trends and defeats the rats came out of their holes with more regularity.
Naturally Ralph and Sam, much older now,
but still fervent believed that the scum had to be confronted what somebody
back in the day said was “in the egg,” meaning well before (by analogy) 1933,
the year Hitler grabbed power essentially unopposed by the forces which should
have opposed his talking power. The only caveat now was what Sam said one
afternoon while facing down some contingent of these bastards-“I didn’t figure
in my 70s that I would be doing this in this country.” He shrugged it off
though and held his banner tighter to keep the bastards from coming through. Site
Manager Greg Green]
Report on Alt-right
rally at the Massachusetts State House in Boston at noon on June 2, 2018
I went to the State
House first about 11:30 to see if I could identify any old faces from previous
demos. They had maybe fifteen or twenty there a few young toughs I recognized from
the May Day encounter but mainly new. There was a small police presence there visible
at that point. I then headed to Copley Square where the anti-fascist
counter-demonstrators were forming up. As I walked down Boylston Street they
had already started heading up and I joined them. Maybe a hundred and fifty,
mostly young and militant although not much of a visible Anti-fa presence
(sometimes you can’t tell since many were wearing black but not the defining
Anti-fa outfit).
Well-marshalled with maybe
twenty volunteers in yellow keeping the line of march in order. Marshals rather
than peace-keepers this day. An attempt to march on Beacon Street from Charles
was thwarted by bicycle police who blocked the way and did so at each Common
entrance up to the State House. At the State House we were at first allowed to
encircle the alt-right up close and personal after a line of bike cops was established
between us. For some reason I don’t know the police after a while moved us to
one side of the rally so the alt-right could have their “free speech” facing
our beloved Massachusetts 54th memorial. In any case the police
presence was significantly less than at other previous events. We effectively
drowned then out every time they tried to speak over their loudspeaker so we
accomplished what we wanted. As far as I know only one arrest the reason for
which I never got but the cops did take one guy away after a scuffle. The rally
went on for about two hours and then the alt-right packed it in. All in all a
good day’s work on our side and in keeping things cool.
We should continue to
monitor these events even if we don’t take an active peace-keeping role in them
as we decided not to do on this one. There are now people who are savvy enough
to do the peace-keeping/marshalling work when we are not around. That and the
high number of young people in the crowd are good omens. Later Sam
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