The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-21
BY H. E. BRIGGS
Soldiers Are Workers

ONE of the first casualties in the
" San Francisco strike was How
ard Sperry Sperry was a veteran
and a militant fighter for better
conditions for the workers.
We don't want to be accused of
sectarian patriotism but we are
given to loud cheers whenever we
read or hear about veterans taking
a leading part in the day to day
struggle against wage-cuts, unem-
ployment, police terror, war and
fascism. We do this for the par
ticular reason that Is years ago
these same vets like the writer
joined the army or we're drafted
TO keep the world safe for de-
mocracy."
We knew we were workers, but
that we had certain inalienable
rights and good reasons for fighting
for them had not as yet penetrated
our consciousness. We swallowed
the uniform" propaganda, the
patriotic ballyhoo and the atrocity
stories. We were full of vengeance
and a chivslric desire to "get the
dirty huns"
When one frees himself from this
bunk, then there is just cause for
rejoicing. 1t did not take some Of
the soldiers long to realize they
were dupes, pawns of the bankers
and industrialists. A year of mud,
nth, disease, and death soon
changed many of the doughboys
into something less patriotic, less
ready to die for God and Country"
which means Hypocrisy and Money.
Others like myself came out of
the service no worse off for wear,
knowing something was rotten in
Denmark" but glad to be alive and
ready for job and some of those
things the flag wavers said we're
none too good" for us. Jobs? Yes,
some got jobs, but one found the
bosses just as lousy, just as tight
and Just as far removed from their
promises as ever And changing the
uniform for civies one realized that
as in the army their was an officer
caste so on the job their was the
bosses and the workers. One real
lied in the unions, fraternal groups
and veteran organizations that their
were wide differences of opinions
and interests between the mis- lead
ers and the rank and file.
When worker went on strike he
was no longer respectable citizen.
He was part Of a moo bent on the
destruction of principles endarger-
ing the community" and the sacred
rights of the phantom public" The
same old lies were brought into play.
The papers that cheered our kill
ing of Huns" urged the cops to
use force" against us. A striker
was told to beware of radicals, reds
and subversive agents; to love his
conservative misleaders. He wa
told that labor and capital could
work out harmonious agreements,
that the Federal Government was
q kindly institution rich bene-
VIOLENT uncle. He would see that all
sides received a square deal. The
funny part of these square deal"
was the way labor always got gyped
out of the square part of the deal.
All this time many ex-servicemen
were gradually becoming not only
class conscious workers but class
conscious veterans. They began to
see that their place was with their
rank and file buddies on such ques-
tions as the Bonus, Repeal of the
Economy Act and Unemployment
Insurance. that their so-called lead
ers were against these things. They
began to see through the lies con-
corning discrimination of races,
color and creed. The red herring