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11/21/66

53

: SCHEER, ROBERT

SUBVERSIVE INFLUENCE IN U.S. VIETNAM DEMONSTRATIONS

COMMUNIST PARTY, USA, POLICY ON VIETNAM

DUBOIS CLUBS POLICY ON VIETNAM

SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY POLICY ON VIETNAM

PROGRESSIVE LABOR PARTY POLICY ON VIETNAM

WORKERS WORLD PARTY POLICY ON VIETNAM

MAJOR DEMONSTRATIONS

REPORT

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POLLENN C112 201200 MITJ

SEUKET,

1E 1001080. 10 deal.

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

SUBVERSIVE INCLUENCE IN

SUBJECT: U.S. VIETVAN DEMONSTRATIONS

DATE:

November 21,

1966

SKETASK FORCE

1397d01

AN FANT /

CA TOTAL DENIAL

1027

CLASSIFIED BY 5668 sio pace

DECLASSIFY ON. 25X

OXEL

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*TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION • •

COMMUNIST PARTY, USA, POLICY ON VIETNAM

DUBOIS CLUBS POLICY ON VIETNAM.

SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY POLICY ON VIETNAM

PROGRESSIVE LABOR PARTY POLICY ON VIETNAM

WORKERS WORLD PARTY POLICY ON VIETNAM

MAJOR DEMONSTRATIONS . ..:

March on Washington, April 17, 1965

Teach-In at Sheraton-Park Hotel,

Washington, D. C., May 15, 1965

Washington Summer Action Project,

August 6 through 9, 1965

International Days of Protest,

October 15 and 16, 1965 .

National Peace Convention and March on

Washington for Peace in Vietnam, November, 1965

International Days of Protest,

March 25 and 26, 1966 •

Voters' Pledge Campaign, Convention, and March,

May 14 and 15, 1966 •

PAGE

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19

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25

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International Days

of Protest,

August 6 through 9, 1966 ..

Demonstrations: against House Committee Hearings,

August, 1966 • •

• ..

Mass Mobilization for Peace,

November;

1966

40.

42

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INTRODUCTION

United States aircraft artacked selected targets

in North Vietnam

following torpedo-boat assaults against

American destroyers in the Guli of Tonkin in early August,

1964.

In the more than two years that have elapsed since

been in the United states almost

tanty monstration in the form of sit insa cachelas

parades,

rallies,

marches,

"Or meetings to protest

United States intervention in

the war.

in Vietnam:

of these demonstrations could be said to have reached major

proportions.

Even before the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the

Communist Party, USA (CPUSA) -which took its cue from the

Soviet Union--and other subversive organizations in the

United States were engaged in campaigns to influence the

United states Government to withdraw its troops

from

Vietnam or to participate

in negotiations to end the

war

They hoped, of course,

that either action would result

ultimately in a communist victory in Vietnam.

At the same time, these subversive organizations

wanted to take full advantage of the clamor for peace in

Vietnam created by in

y individuals

nd pacifist oi

organizations

that are for peace and against war no matter what the

consequences may be.

While these pacifists, like other

Americans, have every right to protest any action of their

Government with which they disagree, the communists and

d that the pacifists"

Of paramount importance, there was the opportunity

to foster an impression that

widespread opposition--especially

noncommunist opposition--exists in this country relative

the Government's policies

Vietnam.

This would serve

lend encouragement to the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong

to continue the fighting despite adversities and might lead

to domestic discontent similar to that which contributed

to the earlier French military disengagement from events in

Indochina.

Thus, the CPUSA and other subversive organizations

with nonconists to accomplish as

to a proven tactic- engaging

a united front

objective,

one that would have different meaning for the participants.

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for the noncommunists, It would be an end to hostilities and

the potential threatof

For the communists, it

woula be another country added to their camp..

Even beyond their immediate goal, the communists

viewed the situation in Vietnam as a direct confrontation of

the two opposing world systems.

The history of communism does

not suggest that the absorption of South Vietnam would be an

end in itselt.

It must be reckoned that a successful communist

effort in Vietnam would signal further attempts at conquest in

Asia and possibly in Africa, Latin America, and even aurope.

their antivar propaganda

especially that slanted to:

" (I)" describe

the war in Vietnam as

eat ustration of "imperialist aggression"' and (2)

claim thất the var has racial overtones

not only because it

involves nonwhites in Asia but also because it consumes funds.

that might otherwise be expended for the war on poverty at

home.

the communists also recognized that these demonstrations

provide them with a convenient forum ior lace-to-iace conver

sations designed to locate and indoctrinate potential recruits.

since other organizations

have been demonstrating

Ior an objective wnich coincides in many

respects with

of the communists. This not surprising

to discover that

communists have followed the practice of leaving the formal

sponsorship of demonstrations to others while they concentrated.

on those phases relating to initiation, plans, guidance, pro-

motion, and participation.

Since peace is a noble effort for

all to strive to achieve honorably, it is also por surprising

to find that there have been some demonstrations in the united

States against the war in Vietnam which did not

erganization.

have lacked communist

participation are however, definitely in the minority.

liDarticular significance is the large number of

former members of communist and other subversive groups who

have taken part in anti-Vietnam demonstrations.

Participation

by these individuals lends some credibility to a statement made

by CPUSA General Secretary Gus Hall.

In October, 1966, he

stated that there are 100,000 to 150, 000 people in the united

States who could be considered communists, but economic and

other sanctions against known communists keep the active farty

membership down.

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In what way have communist and other subversive

organizations contributed to and influenced protest demonstra-

tions against the war in Vietnam?

An obvious device used fre

quently is to direct their members to become participants and

to influence others to participate in demonstrations organized

by noncommunist organizations.

Several pacifist groups,

acting either independently

or in association with other pacifist organizations and even

with communist front groups, have sponsored

many--including

mose of the major--demonstrations against the war in vietnam.

Prominent among these pacifist organizations are the

Committee

for a sane Nuclear PoliCy (SANE, the Committee +

Action Women Strike

*for Peace,

AmeriCan Friends service,

Committee,

League:

Comnon among r

absence

Ol any serious etforti to exclude participation by communists

LAmany eveRtS they sponsor.

Deserving of special mention in connection with

demonstrations against United States intervention in Vietnam

are two militant youth groups. One of these, the students for

a Democratic Society SDS.

has been a frequent sponsor or co

sponsor of these demonstrations. SDS, which works hand in hand

on campuses with the communist-controlled W. E. Be DuBois Clubs.

Of America (DCA)., has also received support from the CPUSA

regard to its protest demonstrations against United States

military activity in Vietnam.

In fact, Gus Hall has character-

ized

the sos, along with the

DCA, as a group which the CPUSA

has "going for us."

Officials and members of the other militant youth group

the student. Nonviolent coorcinating committe

rights organization, have been active in anti-Vietnam demonstra-

tIons.

• SNCC has been praised by the CPUSA for moving rapidly to

the left and for being among the first to make the tie between

civit rightsand reace.

Communist and other subversive organizations have also

used.theirfront.groups-particularly theiryouth affiliates

to sponsor independently or in cooperation with noncommunist

organizations antivar or peace demonstrations.

Included among

these organizations is the previously mentioned DCA,.

Another

is the Young Socialist Alliance,

the youth section of the

Trotskyite Socialist Workers Party.

A third is Youth Against

Wax and Fascism. the youth group of the Workers World Party,

which was formed in 1959 by a splinter group of the Socialist

Workers Party. A fourth was the now-defunct May 2nd Movement,

a youth front group which was dominated and controlled by

pro-Peking Progressive Labor Party.

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In addition, communist and other subversive organi

zacions establish front exoups to promote anti-Vietnam var.

activities.

An example is the

Brooklyn Residents Committee

Peace Now,

a front established by Kings County

members of-the

New York District of the CPUSA. Another example is the

Pittsburgh committee

to End the far in lecnam, Which was formed

for the DCA chapter in Pittsburgh by members of

the Western

Pennsylvania Distriot of the CoUs.

Local committees to end

the war in Vietnam have been similarly organized in many major

American cities.

Several other examples of communist fronts

designed to promote antivar activities could be listed,

including Trade Unionists for Peace, which was established

by the New York District of the CPUSA.

Members of communist and other subversive organi-

zations also infiltrate and participate in the activities 0f

organizations established

specifically. to promote antiwar

demonstrations.

One of the prime examples is the National

Committee to Ind

the was in vietnam, which has

Les

Madison, Wisconszn.

n. Tes

Steering Committee

includes representatives from the DCA and Arnold Johnson,

CPUSA Public Relations Director.

Its chairman, Frank Emspak,

has attended DCA meetings.

He is the son of the late Julius

Emspak, who was a CPUSA member and a labor leader. Another

instance of this type of infiltration is provided by a highly.

publicized young member of the CPUSA National Committee,

Bettina Aptheker.

She has played a leading role in the

Lietnam Day Committee of Berkeley, California.

In addition, representatives of communist and other

subversive organizations are usually found within the many ad

hoc committees created primarily to promote a particular.

demonstration against United States participation in the

Vietnam War.

For example; the Fifth Avenue Peace, Parade,

Committee, was initiated by the Reverend Abraham J. Muste, to

Sponsor a massive parade on October 16, 1965, a date desig-

nated by the Vietnam Day Committee and

• the National Coordinat-

ing Committee to End the War in Vietnam as a day of inter-

national and national protests. Muste, an octogenarian

clergyman, is chairman of the Committee for Non-Violent Action,

has a long history of association with many pacifist organi-

zations; and has been a leading figure in many of the protests

against. the

war in Vietnam.

The Fifth Avenue Peace Parade Committee succeeded

in getting 25 000 New Yorkers to march down Filth Avenue on

October 16, 1965, under the slogan, "Stop the War in Vietnam

Now! "

The Steering Committee-Ofthe Fifth Avenue Peace

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Parade Committee Incudes members of the socialist lockers.

Party and the Progressive Labor Party.

However, the overr101n&

force is the CRUSA, represented by members who are also members

of women Strike for Peace and the Committee for a Sane Nuclear

Policy.

A recently formed ad hoc committee-- the November 8th

Mobilization Committee-has as its chairman the durable Abraham

J. Muste.

• This Committee was established for the purpose of

planning a mass mobilization for peace during the four days in

November immediately preceding the 1966 elections. The proposal

for this Committee was made by Professor Sidney Peck of Western

in Cleveland, initiated and

hosted by the Inter-University Committee for a Public Hearing on

Vietnam, which works closely with the leadership of Students for

a Democratic Society. Peck was a member of the l

Wisconsin District

Committee of the Communist Party in the 1950's.

Listed among the sponsors of the November 8th

materi

Mobilization Committee were the following:

Herbert Aptheker,

Teading CPUSA theoretician and father of Bettina Aptheker;

Franklin Alexander, Chairman of the DCA and a CPUSA member;

Carl Oglesby, former National President of the SDS; and Yale

Professor

Staughton Lynd, who accompanied Aptheker on a trip

to North Vietnam in

and who was a member of

the now-defunct American Youth for

Democracy, a communist youth

front.

It is typical of these ad hoc committees to include in

the list of sponsors individuals like Aptheker, Lynd, and Muste,

who have been prominent in many antiwar demonstrations, and names

that might attract attention, such as that of Norman Thomas,

perennial Socialist Party candidate for President of the United

States.

The CPUSA National Board agreed to give full cooperation

to the

November 8th Mobilization Committee.

The cumulative effect of communist and other subversive

influence and participation in Vietnam demonstrations in the

United States has been to give aid and comfort

to the e

enemy,

tO

advance the goals and

interests of world communism. and to

detrimental to this Nation's security and welfare.

The pages that follow contain information relating to

the policies of the CPUSA and other subversive organizations on

the war in Vietnam.

Selected examples of participation by

members of these organizations in major anti-Vietnam demonstrations

appear in the latter portion of this document.

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COMMUNIST PARTY, USA, POLICY ON VIETNAM

End the Nar

As early as the Fall of 1961, condemnation of United

States military presence in Vietnam appeared in "The Worker,

east coast communist newspaper.

By the Spring of 1963, CPUSA

national headquarters was issuing instructions for May

• Day

celebrations which urged Party members to press demands for an

end to the war in Vietnam and to criticize the Administration

for its "aggressive" policies in South Vietnam and in Cuba.

Condemn "American Imperialism"

At a meeting of the CPUSA National Board held in

September, 1963, CPUSA Public Relations Director Arnold Johnson

claimed that "American imperialism" had perpetuated the division

of Vietnam. He proposed that the Party become more active in

campaign to urge the withdrawal of American Armed Forces from

Vietnam and the replacement of the Diem regime with a "democratic

coalition government." Gus Hall instructed that a statement be

issued by the Party to condemn "American imperialism" in Vietnam.

Contact "Peace Forces"

In a subsequent meeting held to discuss Hall's proposed

statement regarding developments in Vietnam, the late Jack Stachel,

a prominent CPUSA functionary, stated that, after the issuance of

the statement, the Party should contact all the 'peace forces" in

New York City

in an effort to organize a mass meeting. In addition,

he said the Party should issue a call for everyone to write letters

to Congressmen and Senators demanding an end to the war in

Vietnam.

Protest Visit

At a meeting of Party leaders in the Northern California

District held in October, 1963, District Chairman Mickey Lima

announced that all Party

members should be instructed to take

part in a demonstration to protest against the visit of Madame

Ngo Dinh Nhu to San Francisco.

in the demonstration should carry placards urging the recall of

American troops from Vietnam.

Party Directive

In March of 1964, CPUSA national headquarters sent

directive, entitled "The U's. and South Vietnam Dovelopments, to

all Party districts. This directive reviewed developments in south

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Vietnam,

assessed their repercussions on the United States, and

described the situation in Southeast Asia as an even greater threat

to peace than Cuba or Berlin.

All Party districts were urged to

send telegrams to President Johnson protesting American "military

aggression" in South Vietnam,

to place advertisements in newspapers,

throughout the country, to organize protest meetings and picket lines.

and to enlist the support of noncommunist groups in these activities.

Demands for Withdrawal

Southeast Asia was the principal topic of discussion at a

meeting of the Party's Secretariat held in June, 1964. In the main

report, Jack stachel proposed, among other things, that the Party

raise the slogan "Bring the Boys Home?"

proposals, the Party called upon veteran member Margrit Pittman to

discussion outline on the topic "Vietnam and Peace."

this outline, Pittman urged telegrams, letters, resolutions, meetings,

and other forms of demonstrations to demand that the United

States withdraw isom South Vietnam and not intervene in Laos or:

"Dirty Aggression"

The CPUSA quickly came to the support of Communist North

Vietnam and characteristically criticized United States foreign

policy when United States aircraft attacked selected targets in

North Vietnam following torpedo-boat attacks against American

destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin in early August, 1964.

Speaking at

a meeting of the Party's Southern California District, District

Chairman Dorothy Healey called this action against North Vietnam

"dirty aggression."

She suggested that 50,000 letters be sent to

President Johnson

to protest the action against North Vietnam and

to warn the President that he did not have a captive vote.

"Speak Out for Peace"

As Healey was speaking in California, CPUSA national

headquarters was issuing a press release in New York City in which

it condemned the "retaliatory strike" against North Vietnam and

charged that United States warplanes had brought death to innocent

people. The release called for all people "to speak out jor peace"

through petitions, letters, and telegrams to be sent to President

Johnson, Senators, and Congressmen naging negotiations and the

settlement of all

the issues through the existing machinery of

the

14-power Geneva conference and the "good offices of the United Nations."

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Stimulate Pressure

By letter dated August 19, 196%, and addressed 60 21

districts, the CPUSA National Organization Department referred to

this press release.

All Party members were urged, because of the

role of "United States imperialism" in Southeast Asia, to use even

greater initiative to stimulate pressure for a negotiated settle-

men't and the convening of a l4-nation conference concerning Vietnam.

Strive for a Conference

At an enlarged meeting of the CPUSA National Board heid

D. C., which would represent the totality of American opinion on

Vietnam and would attempt to bring about a change in United States

policy in Vietnam, In this connection. Johnson suggested that the

Party prepare by the end of November, 1964, a definitive document

on Vietnam and distribute 50,000 copies of

document was prepared and sent to all Party districts with instruc

tions that it be given wide circulation.

Demand for Peace

During a meeting of leading CPUSA functionaries held in

late November, 1964, Arnold Johnson again stressed the need for the

Party to fight against extension of the war in Vietnam.

He stated

that the CPUSA could do this with the "forces striking

for peace."

He suggested that a memorandum on the Party's position be sent to

all districts.

The key point in the memorandum would be the demand

for peace and

an end to the war in Vietnam.

"Key Test"

Following through on Johnson's suggestions, the CPUSA

National Organization Department sent an avalanche of instructions

to all Party districts for activities designed to achieve communist

objectives in south Vietnam. CrUsA district leaders were instructed

to organize activities in the trade-union movement, in youth

organizations, and in religious organizations until peace was

achieved.

The Party directive pointed out that at that time of year

church

and other organizations raised the question of "Peace on

Earth," but the "key

test" was

What

they said on Vietnam.

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"Peace on Earth"

The CPUSA National Organization Department issued another

directive in early December, 1964, in which Party members were urged

to pay special attention to the full use of the

"Peace on Earth"

sentiment of the people during December.

Party districts were

requested to advise CPUSA national headquarters what was being planned

and

what was being done by labor, youth, women, church organizations,

and

"professionad peace organizations" in their areas to make the

greatest use of the season when the world was calling for "Peace on

Earth."

Appeal to America's Conscience

in still another directive issued in December, 1904,

the

National Organization Department warned all Party districts that

every passing event made it more urgent that all sections of the

population speak out "to end the war in South Vietnam."

Party

districts were urged to make special efforts for mass activities

and expressions of peace during the weekend of December 19-20.: This

Party directive called attention to an enclosed leaflet which

urged

the reader to "join in an appeal to the conscience of America to

end the war in Vietnam." The

"appeal" leaflet called for public

action on December 19, 1964, in the form of leailet distributions,

vigils, and "poster walks"

to protest against actions of the United

States Government in South Vietnam.: Abraham J. Muste and other

well-known pacifists were among those sponsoring this leaflet.

"Aggressive and Barbarous"

Herbert Aptheker spoke on

February 8, 1965, to a rally of

approximately 1,300 students at the University of California at

Berkeley held to protest United States policy in Vietnam.

Aptheker

described an American bombing mission into North Vietnam on

February 7, 1965, as "aggressive and barbarous." During his remarks;

Aptheker Characterized the Viet Cong as "a national libertarian

movemen't front" embraced by the people of Vietnam.

Dramatize the Situation

At a meeting of the New York District Board of the CPUSA

held on February 8, 1965, the late District Orgnizer Robert Thompson

stated that the situation in Vietnam must be dramatized.

In this

regard, he suggested discussions with civil rights leaders, peace

leaders, and trade-union leaders. His other suggestions included

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promotion of activities by students in city colleges and the sending

of telegrams and delegations to Senators and Congressmen for the

purpose of denouncing the situation in Vietnam.

Major Point

In a February 9, 1965, memorandum to all districts from

the National Organization

point on the agenda for all the American people was obviously to

bring a halt to the war in South Vietnam, to demand an end to all:

acts of aggression against North Vietnam, to insist that all

military personnel and forces of the United States be withdrawn

from South Vietnam, and to insure that the Vietnamese be given an

opportunity to determine their own destiny and to exercise their

right of self-determination. By means of this memorandum, Party

districts were instructed to take immediate steps to cooperate with

all national peace organizations in regard to activities involving

picket lines, peace walks, student assemblies, delegations to

Washington, and statonents by trade union leaders.

Brink oi Disaster

A CPUSA press release, dated March 2, 1965, contained a

statement by Gus Hall in which he asserted that the bombing of

North Vietnam by United States "forces of aggression" had brought

The press release demanded

an end to all bombing, withdrawal of all troops, ending of the

war in Vietnam, reconvening of the Geneva Conference, and activation

of any agencies of the United Nations which could facilitate peace.

Threat of Nuclear War

Also on March 2, 1965, CPUSA national headquarters sent

a letter to all districts stating that it was obvious that the

major crisis facing the American people was the threat of a world

nuclear war arising from the escalation of the unjust war in Vietnam.

The letter urged that every step be taken quickly to express every i

form of protest against this threatened world war.

"Atrocious War"

In a memorandum to all districts dated March 31, 1965,

the

CPUSA National Organization Department referred to the

"atrocious

war" in Vietnam and urged protest actions.

In this regard, it was

stated that April 17, 1965, was becoming the major point of concen-

tration for youth, for adults in peace organizations, and

for the Left,

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including conmunists.: The Party directive also described the

planned Aprid Ji, 1965, Student March on Washington to end the

war in Vietnam as the

"biggest single action cabling for an ena

to the war in

Vietnam."

Testing Ground

On March 30, 1965, Herbert Aptheker spoke to some 200

persons in New York

City and attacked United States policy in

Vietnam, He stated that this country was using Vietnam

as a

testing ground for new weapons, was exploiting the people and

resources of Vietnam, and was continuing the war for its

an, ant was continent

imperialist designs.

He urged those in his audience to write

letters to their Senators and to President Johnson for the purpose

of showing their indignation over United States policy and asking

for the withdrawal of United States troops from Vietnam.

said he would participate in the April 17, 1965, March on Washington

and he urged young people in his audience to do likewise.

Leading Role Claimed

At a CPUSA National Committee meeting held in late April,

1965, Gus Hall charged that the United States was guilty of

"imperialist aggression" and that its activities in Vietnam could

be compared with fascism in Nazi Germany. Hall contended that the

United States had been able to escalate the war because the Sino-.

Soviet dispute had prevented the "socialist countries" from

presenting a united front.

In concluding his report, Hall claimed

that CPUSA officials and members had taken part in the leadership,

planning, and initiation of recent mass actions to protest the

war in Vietnam.

Need for More Militant Activities*

Among those participating in the discussion of Hall's

report was James Tormey, a leading member of the Party's New York

District.

Tormey stated that there was a need for more militant

and demonstrative activities and an intensification of the fight

against United States "imperialism" in Vietnam.

Top Priority Project

Gus Hall told the CPUSA Secretariat on April 28, 1965, that

the "peace struggle" was one of the main projects for the Party

and would be pushed on a full-time basis. He instructed Party

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leaders to have the CPUSA work with all kinds of people in demon-

strative actions and in putting pressure on the administration,

Senators, Congressmen, and other Government officials. The idea

of pressure, Hall added, must be maintained in every possible way,

including the use of advertisements.

Hall also stated that this

had to remain a major and top priority project for the CPUSA and

suggested that Arnold Johnson work full time on it.

Escalation of Protest Movements

Hall claimed, in a speech made at Los Angeles on May 2,

1965, that the most significant recent development was the

escalation of mass protest movements by the American people.

a period of a month, he noted, there were two historic mass

mobilizations-one in Alabama and one in Washington, D. C.

most popular slogan in the Alabama mobilization, Hall maintainea,

"Bring the troops back from Vietnam and send them to Alabama."

Thus, Hall concluded, civil rights leaders were also becoming

peace leaders and

peace leadors were becoming civil rights leaders

a150•

Cumulative Effect

At an appearance at Oberlin College on May 12, 1965,

Herbert Aptheker again criticized United States foreign policy.

He described American policy in Vietnam as illegal, immoral,

militarily untenable, and diplomatically disastrous.

Urging a

united front against the war in Vietnam, Aptheker supported an

appeal in "The New York Times," signed by 800 college professors,

which called for a "cease fire," negotiations with the Viet Cong,

an end to air raids, the use of the good offices of the United

Nations, and assurances to the world that America would not use

nuclear

weapons in pursuit of victory or peace.

Addressing himseli

to protest demonstrations, Aptheker

contended that they were

having

a cumulative effect.

Number One Priority

By memorandum dated July 8, 1965, the Communist Party's

New York District called attention of all clubs to the need for

peace activities. It was stated in this memorandum that the

further escalation of the war in Vietnam and the continuing inter-

vention oi United States military forces in the Dominican Republic

made peace activities the Number One priority of the entire CPUSA

organization.

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No Relaxation

The Party's New York District issued another memorandum

on july 26, 1965, calling attention to the fact that the CPUSA

had undertaken and had been involved in many actions, protests,

educational forums around the burning question of war and

peace.

The memorandum went on to say that no relaxation or

slowing down of

activities could be allowed.

On the contrary,

activities must be multiplied and must involve more people in

the communitie

Be More Active

On August 14, 1965, young Party members of Seattle

and Portland met in Portland, Oregon.

The main speaker was

Bettina Aptheker.

She stated that Party youth must be more

active and must not be afraid to take open action.

She said

that she had been at the scene earlier in the month when troop

trains had almost been stopped at Oakland, California.

According

to Aptheker, young communists from the San Francisco area had a

part in organizing the efforts to hait troop trains in California.

Slogans Approved

A feature of the CPUSA national youth cadre conference

held near Monterey, Indiana, in mid-September, 1965, was a three-

hour lecture by Gus Hall.

Predictably, a major portion of Hall's

lecture was devoted to the war in Vietnam.

He instructed that

the CPUSA must use slogans in an effort to force the United

States to retreat in Vietnam.

Hall then cited with approval the

following slogans, which he attributed to the Women Strike for

Peace:

Stop the Bombing! No More U. S. Troops in Vietnam?

Negotiations Based on the Geneva Agreement!

Slogans Supplied

In a letter to all districts dated September 10, 1965,

the CPUSA national office advised that the following slogans

should be used to strengthen the campaign to end the war in

Vietnam and for greater unity of all "peace" forces:

*End

the

War in Vietnam!

Stop U.S. Aggression Against Vietnam, Bring

Our Boys Home?

Withdraw All U. S. Troops! Let the People of

Vietnam Determine Their Own Affairs? End Bombings!

Stop

Escalation!

Create the Climate for

Meaningful Negotiations with

the National Liberation Front! Halt All Acts of Torture!

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Gas and Chemical Warfare! Restore the 195% Geneva Accord for

the Independence

and Unification of Vietnam!

Peace in Asia!

Recognize People's China!

U.S. Imperialist Aggression in

Vietnam Endangers World Peace!

With All Energy

At a September, 1965, meeting of a press club of the

Party's New York District, the

late Jack Stachel told the

communist editors present

that they must continue with all

their energy to expose American imperialist policies in Vietnam

and elsewhere.

Stachel urged them to support the demands of

the Women Strike for Peace, which, he said, included a

cessation of bombing to create an

atmosphere for negotiations;

implementation of the 1954 Geneva decisions; and negotiation,

with all concerned, particularly with the National Liberation

Front (Viet Cong).

War Hysteria

and

Gus Hall held a press conference in October, 1965,

stated that the time had come when all nations must have

the right to determine their own affairs. Therefore, he

said, the United States had no right--moral or legal--to be

in Vietnam.

He condemned efforts of the United States to

"whip up" an atmosphere of war hysteria against the peace

novement.

The United States policy of "imperialism and

aggression," Hall added, was the basis for this Nation's

problems.

Washington Weekend

In the Fall of 1965, the National Coordinating

Committee to End the War in Vietnam issued a call for a four-

day National Antiwar Convention to be held in Washington, D. C.,

on November 27, 1965.

Plan To Influence

The subject of the antiwar convention was introduced

by Arnold Johnson at a meeting of leading CPUSA functionaries

held in New York City on October 23, 1965. He said the Party

should make plans in advance to influence the convention and

expressed the hope that the convention would form a loose,

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all-inclusive organization which would have the ability to launch

and coordinate action on Vietnam, Helen Winter, who is on the

stafi of the Party's national office, stated that there would be.

people-Trotskyites, for example-at

the convention with whom

the Party would not

want to work ordinarily, but it was important,

under the circumstances, to work with the whole group.

Major Peace Events

In a November 12, 1965, letter to all districts!

"CPUSA

national headquarters described

the march and the convention to

be held in Washington as two major peace events calling "for

urgent and constant attention."

Party headquarters requested

information on what was being done to support these events by

sending delegates and participants, In a reference to the

march, the directive stated that all areas could afford to raise

their sights and goals to make this a major peace demonstration,

because the "Johnson Administration is bringing every pressure

and using every device to suppress the protest." Concerning

the convention, CPUSA headquarters asserted that this could be a

major event to establish coordination among "varied

organizations" and that it deserved cooperation.

Points for Peace

in a document dated November 17, 1965, addressed to all

districts and captioned "Memo on End Vietnam War Action," CPUSA

headquarters referred to its November 12 directive and reiterated

that both events scheduled for Washington called for the most

urgent and maximum attention as the "major points for peace

mobilization."

This communication informed the membership that

several communist "spokesmen" would be at the convention and

would have available relevant material.

Party Mobilization

It did not take long for the messages from CPUSA

headquarters to reach the membership, It was announced, for

example, at a meeting of the Lower East Side Section of

Party's

New York District held on November 21, 1965, that there

should be an "all-out" effort to influence people to participate

in the march. On November 18,

there was a meeting of the

steering committee of Trade Unionists for Peace,

As noted

previously, this organization was formed by the CPUSA to mobilize

the laboring class for the cause of peace, especially in Vietnam.

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At this meeting, it was announced that members of this organ-

ization would travel to Washington in a special bus to

participate in the march.

The District Organizer of the Party's

Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware District ordered that as many

CPUSA members as possible should participate in the march.

november 16, a functionary in the Party's New York District

stated that the CPUSA planned

to send delegates, openly identified

as CrUSA members, to Washington for the march and the rational

antiwar convention.

"Unjust War"

Gus Hall made several statements about the war in

Vietnam during a news conference he held in Chicago on December 6,

1965.

The most critical question before the world today, he

said, is the unpopular, "criminal" action of the United States

in Vietnam.

The position of the CPUSA, he pointed out, is that

this is an

"unjust war." Hall also declared that the CPUSA has

been active in demonstrations urging that the war be ended

quickly through negotiations with the National Liberation Front,

the only legitimate government of South

Vietnam.

Expanding and Unifying

Vietnam was mentioned prominently in a report made by

Hall at an enlarged meeting of the CPUSA National Committee

held in January, 1966. He claimed that the peace movement was

expanding and unifying. Hall told his audience that the CPUSA

had been participating openly in the peace movement and that the

Party's participation changed the character of the peace movement

by helping it to develop a more "anti-imperialist corscwusness."

the base of the peace movement, specifically in regard to trade

unions and veterans?

groups.

He also ordered that every CPUSA

member must be active in some aspect of the fight for peace.

"Any and All" Slogans

At the National Committee meeting held in January, 1966,

Herbert Aptheker reported on a trip he had made to North Vietnam

in late December, 1965. Aptheker announced that he had met with

leaders of the Communist Party of North Vietnam who told him

that they were "deliriously happy" that the CPUSA had finally

established contact with them, because they want "close fraternal

ties" with the CPUSA. Aptheker also reported that the North

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Vietnamese communist leaders urged that "any and all" slogans

be used in antiwar demonstrations, if this would result in

incredsod protest activaty in 6ie

United States.

"Rocks the Nation"

Robert Heisler, who was elected to the CDUSA National

Committee in june, 1966, delivered a report to a joint meeting

of all CPUSA youth clubs in New York City in April, 1966.

his report, he stated that the peace movement had already begun

to "rock the Nation." He described it as a movement which had

shiited its center of gravity leftward and as a movement whose

full weight of criticism and confrontation was directed against

Washington in a challenge to American foreign policy in Vietnam.

Historic Date

Heisler recalled, in his report, that the first mass

action to protest the war in Vietnam occurred on April 17, 1965--

called this date historic because it brought about a major

breakthrough--the policy of "non-exclusion" of communists in

activities for peace.

Also in regard to peace demonstrations,

Heisler praised the National Coordinating Committee to End the

War in Vietnam and described it as an organization whose main

forces were

"left-oriented."

Central Issue

In the Spring of 1966, Dorothy Healey, Chairman of the

CPUSA's Southern California District, announced

be a candidate in the june 7, 1966, primary for the office of

Tax Assessor for Los Angeles County.

at a May Day Rally held in Compton, California, Healey stated

that the war in Vietnam would be the central issue in her

campaign. The American people who rejected Barry Goldwater's

finger on the atomic trigger" in 1964,

Healey declared,

• Vietnam.

surrendered its congressional authority, Healey added, must be

compelled to end this dishonorable war and "bring our

troops

home."

Healey also stated that the problems stemming from the

need

for education,

housing, and welfare in Los Angeles County

will remain unsolved as long as the war in Vietnam continues.

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In her concluding remarks, Healey stated that the war in Vietnam

overshadows all other issues

Keynote Speech

The 18th National Convention of the CPUSA opened on

June 22, 1966, with Gus Hall's keynote address delivered before

representatives of the press.

The Party's campaign against

United States participation in the war in Vietnam was featured

in his address.

He stated that the United States is engaged in

cold-blooded imperialist aggression and compared its actions in

Vietnam to the savagery of Hitler's Germany.

The CPUSA, Hall

contended, has contributed much to the movement for peace and

each of its members in some phase of the struggle

for peace.

Peace Panel

At the convention, a report of the peace panel was

adopted by acclamation.

The peace panel recommended a strong

and effective trade-union committee for peace; a merger of the

peace movement with other mass struggles; and

a significant.

increase in mass participation throughout the United States

parades, picket lines, and other demonstrations in behalf of

The peace panel also urged participation in demonstrations

on August o through August 9, 1966,

to mark the bombing of

hiroshima: This panel also declared that peace in Vietnam should.

be the central issue in the November elections.

Grass-Roots Crusade

The CPUSA held a two-week national "youth educational

encampment" at Camp Webatuck, Wingdale, New York, during the

period from August 29 through September 11, 1966.

A portion of

the final day of the encampment was set aside for a lecture by

National Chairman Henry Winston. He told his listeners that it

was imperative that the CPUSA organize a nationwide grass-roots

crusade for peace in Vietnam. Winston claimed that labor and

minority groups are the key to the development of oppositionto

the war in Vietnam,

Solid opposition to this war, Winston

added, must be developed by the Party during the coming political

campaigns.

Crucial Issue

Following this encampment, the CPUSA held a three-day

national youth conference at Camp Webatuck from September 12 through

September 14, 1966. In the principal report, CPUSA National Youth

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Director Michael Zagarell described the war in Vietnam as the

crucial issue facing the CPUSA.

Zagarell told the young Party

leaders that the war in Vietnam is responsible for inflation,

for the drafting of students, for a curtailment of funds for

education, for a cutback in the war on poverty, and for worsen-

ing conditions in the Negro community.

The CPUSA, Zagarell

stressed, believes that it is possible to end the

war in Vietnam

through the election of Congressmen who oppose the war.

He then

urged support for independent candidates, support for outspoken

antiwar candidates of the two major political parties, and

promotion of "peace ballots" if all the candidates are prowar:

Student Strike

Among a number of goals for Party youth proposed by

Zagarell at this youth conference was the organizing of a CPUSA-

initiated national student strike.

The conference also heard a

special report from Bettina Aptheker, who originated the proposal

for & national student strike.

She announced that a planning

meeting for the strike will be held in Chicago during the

Christmas, 1966, recess.

International support will be obtained

so that

simultaneous strikes will occur in several countries.

Aptheker stated that the purpose of the strike will be to protest

the draft, weapons research on college campuses, and the effects

of the war in Vietnam on domestic affairs.

numerical goal,

according to Aptheker, is a student strike with halt a million

participants in the United States.

Mobilization Committee Supported

The CPUSA National Board at a meeting held in late

September, 1966, agreed to give full cooperation to the

November

Sth Mobilization Committee. This is the ad hoc

committee chaired by Abraham J. Muste and established to plan a

variety of activities for peace in Vietnam from November 5 through

November 8, 1966.

Join Other Forces

On September 30, 1966, Henry Winston spoke at an open

meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sponsored by the CPUSA.

In his speech, Winston stated that the CPUSA advocates withdrawal

of all American troops in order. to bring about an end to the war

in Vietnam.

Until the troops are withdrawn, Winston contended,

true peaceful negotiations

cannot be conducted. The Party will

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join other forces, Winston stated, in advocating peace.

peace is achieved, he added, the money being spent on the war

can be devoted to

the problems existing in the United states,

particularly those of the Negroes,

Deciscalation Advocated

CPUSA Vice Chairman Claude Lightfoot held a press

conterence in Chicago on October 14, 1956, in Which he describec

himself as a write-in candidate for United States Senator Ixon

Illinois. Lightfoot stated that his program consists of

immediate de-escalation of the war in Vietnam in order to provide

funds necessary to finance a crash program of in-plant and

apprenticeship training for Negro youth with adequate living

costs to be provided during the training and a Government-backed

program for securing guaranteed jobs at prevailing union scales

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DUBOIS CLUBS POLICY ON VIENAN

As a communist-controlled group, the W. E. B. DuBois

Clubs of America (DCA) follows the CPUSA line on Vietnam, just

as it has paralleled other communist policy since it was

founded in June, 1964, on the orders of CPUSA General

Secretary Gus Hall.

Vietnam Resolution

A Midwest Regional Conference of the DCA was held

in late February, 1965, at the Student Memorial Union,

located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin.

Conference adopted a resolution on Vietnam calling for the

withdrawal of United States troops, cessation of all aid io

Jnited States "aggression" and

Conference also instructed each DCA unit in the Midwest Region

to establish an educational committee on Vietnam.

"Stepped-Up" Campaign

In March, 1965, the DCA National Office sent to 211

its branches an "Emergency Memo on Viet Nam Crisis."

In this

memorandum, the opinion was expressed that it was possible to

mobilize massive support for a movement to bring peace to

Vietnam. It was further stated that the DCA was circulating

in colleges and universities a petition of refusal to serve

in the Armed Forces against the people of Vietnam.

In

conclusion, the CA memorandum called upon all chapters,

members, and friends of the DCA to join with all groups and

individuals in. a "stepped-up" campaign to end the war in

Vietnam.

Coordinators Conference

A national conference of area coordinators and "friends"

of the DCA was held in Chicago during May, 1965. At this

conference, it was concluded that DCA efforts throughout the

Summer of 1965 must be directed toward building mass pressure

and protest against the policy of the United States on Vietnam.

The conference also passed a motion that it is the position of

the DCA that the National Liberation Front is the only true

representative of the

people of south Vietnam.

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End "Aggression"

The National Coordinating Committee, which is the

policy making body of

the DCA, adopted a resolution in june, 1965,

calling for an end of United States

"aggression" in

South Vietnam; an immediate end of United States bombings in

North Vietnam; the immediate withdrawal of United States troops

from Vietnam; and the recognition of the National Liberation

Front as the only true representative of

the South Vietnanese

people.

Main Objective

Bettina Aptheker spoke to a group of young CPUSA

members from Seattle and Portland, Oregon, on August 14, 1965.

At this meeting, she stated that the main objective of the

DaA was to work on the issue of

United States out of Vietnam.

Hugh Sterling Fowler 1I was elected as DCA Chairman at a

national conference held in Chicago.

of the DCA Peace Committee in Berkeley, California, and had

"in a betterey,

Fowler had been Chairmes

been active in the Spring of 1965 organizing demonstrations

against United States foreign policy concerning Vietnam.

Committee Decisions

The DCA National Coordinating Committee met again

from November 30 through December 2, 1965, at Philadelphia,

Peansylvania.

At this meeting,

it was decided that the DCA

would work closely with the National Coordinating

Committee

to and the war in Vietnam. It was also decided that the DCA,

either alone or jointly with other groups, would sponsor a

march on Washington in August, 1966, to end the war in Vietnam.

Following this meeting, Fowler held

a press conterence, at

which time he was wearing in his lapels the official pin oi

the DCA and the pin of the Vietnam National Liberation Front.

How Much Longer?

An article by fowler, who has attended CPUSA national

cadre training schools, appeared in the January-february, 1966,

issue of "Insurgent," a bimonthly DCA magazine.

Fowler alleged

in this article that the United states is murdering hundreds of

thousands of women and children in Vietnam and that the "power

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structure" wants the war to continue because it is profiting

financially from

the war.

Fowler asked how much longer the

Presidert and "his cohorts" would be allowed to kill, maim,

and destroy American and Vietnamese people.

Public Not Kept Informed

Herbert Aptheker was one of the featured speakers

at the second National Convention of the DA held in Chicago

com June 17 through June 19, 1966. In his remarks, Aptheker

claimed that the administration is not keeping the public

informed about the situation in Vietnam. He advocated removal

of all United States troops from Vietnam, diversion oi all

funds being spent on the war in Vietnam to the war on poverty,

and United States participation in a peace conference in

Geneva.

"Militant Forms"

The DCA National Executive Committee, which governs

the day-to-day activities of the organization, issued a learlet

on june 30, 1966, which stated in part:

"In every area the

DuBois Cluos must help initiate a balanced program aimed at

a variety of people and utilizing a variety of forms of

opposition to the bombing and to the war."'

The leaflet called

for demonstrations and mass distribution of leaflets as the

first part of an intensified campaign to end the bombing and

the war and stated further that "militant forms" of protest

should not be excluded or discouraged.

"LSS"S Useless War"

in late July, 1966, the dcA was distributing a

leaflet which protested "LBi's useless war" in Vietnam.

leaflet alleged that the war in Vietnam is a racist war being

waged by black soldiers against colored people. The leaflet

also contained a charge that those in Washington who are

directing the war and ordering bombings in Vietnam are

criminals.

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SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY POLICY ON VIETNAM

The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) was formed in

1938 and is a militantly revolutionary party based upon the

theories of Marx, Engels, and Lenin as interpreted by the late

Leon Trotsky, Its national membership is estimated at less

than 500.

Withdraw Troops

In the elections of 1964, the SWP ran Clifton DeBerry

and Edward Shaw for President and Vice President of the

United States.

Shaw is the SWP National Organizational

Secretary.

DeBerxy is the son-in-law of SWP National Secretary

Farrell Dobbs.

In its political campaign, the SWP advocated,

among other things, withdrawal of United States troops irom

South Vietnam. DeBerry received a little over 33,000 votes.

"Contact Work"

Members of the SWP and its youth affiliate, the

Young Socialist Alliance (YSA), attended a closed membership

meeting of the New York SWP Local on April 8, 1965.

At this

meeting, both SWP and YSA members were urged to participate

in the April 1?, 1965, March on Washington to end the war in

Vietnam sponsored by the Students for a Democratic Society.

It was stated that the main purpose of their participating

waS

"to make YSA and SW intervention, to do contact work,

and to sell copies of 'The Militant'" (SWP newspaper) "and the

'Young Socialist'" (YSA publication). At this meeting, it was

stressed that SWP members participating in the march should

concentrate on selling these publications so that YSA members

would be free to do "contact work" among the students.

Detroit Committee

By memorandum dated March 16, 1966, Jan Garrett,

Detroit SWP Organizer, detailed for SWP members only

a two-page

case study of the Detroit Committee to End the War in

Vietnam.

Garrett stated in this memorandum that the YSA had originally

proposed the creation of a united

front committee to support

the April 17, 1965, March

on Washington. As a result of this

proposal, Detroit members of the YS,

"a couple of SDS members,"

and a "couple of stalinists," formed the Detroit Committee to

End the War in Vietnam.

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Press Campaign

The following is a sampling of headlines which

appeared during 1965 in "The Miiitant," the SWP newspaper:

"Johnson Presses Vietnam War in Defiance of World Opinion";

"Johnson's Bombings Keep World at Brink in Vietnam"; "Johnson's

Trigger-Happy Aggression Brings U. S. to New Brink in Vietnam';

"Why Are the People Denied a Voice on Crucial Issue of

War in Vietnam? Should One Man

Endanger Lives of All Mankind?"

The SWP also uses "The Militant" to try to exploit antiwar

sentiment by promoting the slogan, "Bring the Troops Home Now."

Copies of "The Militant" have been handed out freely during

Vietnam demonstrations.

Principal Task

SWP National Committee member Joseph Hansen,

who had

been on foreign assignment for the SWP as an

"observer" of

developments in the international Trotskyist movement, made a

report at the 2lst National Convention of the SWP held in

September, 1965.

Hansen maintained that, if the Soviet Union

was really a revolutionary country, it could have made the

United States think twice about increasing its support to

South Vietnam.

Hansen also asserted that little revolutionary

Cuba took the

correct revolutionary position when Fidel Castro

called on all "socialists" to bury their differences and support

the "Vietnam freedom fighters."

At this same National Convention,

Dobbs stated that the principal task of the SWP in the year.

ahead was to

give full

support to the "antiwar movement" led

by the youth.

Dobbs also said that the Swp would continue to

support existing antiwar groups and would organize others where

none existed.

Very Fortunate

Farrell Dobbs spoke at a closed membership meeting

of the Detroit Local of the SWP which was held on October 10, 1965.

The SWP was very fortunate, Dobbs said, to have a situation such

as Vietnam, because the members could take full advantage of it

to introduce the SWP line.

being placed by the SWP national office on the demand for

immediate withdrawal of United States troops from Vietnam was

evidenced by the steps that had been taken in regard-to the

four-day National Antiwar Convention to be held in Washington

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from November 25 through November 28, 1965, under the sponsorship

of the National Coordinating Compittee to End the

War in Vietnam.

Dobbs then listed these steps:

a comrade was being moved to

Washington to facilitate communications with all SWP locals

and YSA members; (2) a steering committee composed of SWP and

YA members had

been designated to attend the convention; and

(3) SWP comrades had been established in the Madison, Wisconsin,

national headquarters of the National Coordinating Committee

со вла еле тах. 10

Vietnam®

YSA Newsletter

At the National Antiwar Convention held in Washington

in November, 1965, the YSA tried to promote the SWP line that

the antiwar movement should be based on the single issue oi

immediate withdrawal of United States troops from Vietnam

rather than multi-issues, including promotion of negotiations.

When the YSA position was defeated at the convention, YSA

members and other militants disassociated themselves

from the

dominart position of the National Coordinating Committee to

End the War in Vietnam.

Since that time,

the YSA has printed

in Boston and distributed nationally the "Bring the Troops

Home Now Newsletter." At the present time, the YSA regards

Vietnam demonstrations as forums to sell its literature, make

contacts, and recruit members.

Primary Area of Work

By letter dated February 10, 1966, Edward shaw set

out policy on behalf of the SWP Secretariat.

In this letter,

Shaw stated that the antiwar movement-opposition to

United States presence in Vietnam--is the primary area of work

at the present time.

"Fort Hood Three"

Al & July:

7966. mastian

a000

United States Army soldiers who were court-martialled and found

guilty on charges of disobeying an officer's orders to embark on

military aircraft for Vietnam--was

now the

most important issue

on the SWp's agenda.

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PROGRESSIVE LABOR PARTY POLICY ON VIETNAM

Of the militant Marxist-Leninist organizations in

the United States whose policies closely adhere to those of

Communist China, probably the most important to the

Progressive Labor Party. Progressive Labor groups were

formed as early as January, 1962, by dissident elements of

the CPUSA, led by Milton Rosen and Mortimer Scheer, both of

whom held positions in the New York District of the CPUSA

before they were expelled for factionalism in December, 1961.

At an initial national convention, held in New York City ID

AprIl, 1965, Progressive Labor Party (PLP) was the name

selected by

the members of the Progressive Labor Movement.

Headquarters of the PLP is in New York City. In

fact, most of the members of the PLP are located in New York State

and in California.

Estimates of total PLP membership vary from

160 to 500.

Principal PLP publications are "Progressive Labor,"

"Challenge," and "Spark."

Special Edition

The February 9, 1965, issue of "Challenge" was a

special four-page edition containing a Progressive Labor Move-

ment statement on Vietnam. This issue had a press run of

60,000 copIeS.

The statement blamed the Vietnam war on

"President Johnson's government," said the war was an excuse

to send poor Negroes and. Puerto Ricans out of the United States

to be killed, and called for demonstrations by people and

organizations

in the United States to show that they would not

support "president Johnson's war."

Immediate Withdrawal

During the PLP's four-day convention in April, 1965,

resolution which would have called for the impeachment of

President Johnson was defeated.

However, a press release issued

after the convention stated that one of the resolutions adopted

condemned "United States aggression in Southeast Asia." It

also called upon all workers,- students, intellectuals, and others

to demand immediate withdrawal of all United States Army

personnel from South Vietnam. In addition,

the resolution urged

all United states citizens to protest the bombing of North

and South Vietnam.

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Press Campaign

The

following are a few examples of headlines

that

have appeared

in PLe publications:

"pL Protests U. S.

Aggression"; "U, S, in Vietnam Aiming at China"; "U.

Goverrment Guilty"; "GIs in Vietnam Say;

'Get the Hell Out'";

"Documented U. S. Atrocities in Vietnam"; "LBJ Lie Machine."

Peace Efforts Termed "Phony"

In an article by PLP President Milton Rosen in the

February 15, 1966, issue of "Challenge," he referred to efiorts

by the United States to achieve peace in Vietnam and stated

chat the attempt of President Johnson to blackmail the Vietnamese

people into abandoning their fight for freedom had collapsed.

Further, he said that President Johnson's "peace offensive" was

"phony"

and the resumption of the borbing of North Vietnam

underlined

the deceit of the rulers in Washington.

Rosen aiso

stated

that the Vietnamese were winning the war and that

opposition to United States action in Vietnam was developing

in this country.

Selected Statements

From time to time, PLP leaders have made oral state-

ments critical of United States participation in the war in

Vietnam, For example, William Epton, PLP Vice President and

Chairman of the PLP's

Harlem Branch, has been quoted as saying

that he strongly opposes

the war in

Vietnam and has urged his

brothers and sisters not to fight against the people in Vietnam,

because the fight for freedom and liberation is right here in

this country.

At a May 21, 1965, anti-Vietnam demonstration

at the University of California at Berkeley, PLP National

Student Organizer Levi Laub claimed that United States policy

in Vietnam is based on the need for expanding markets and

foreign investments. On January 20, 1966, PLP Organizational

Secretary Edward Lemansky spoke at the campus of the University

of Washington at Seatile.

In an attack on United States policy

on Vietnam, he stated, "We must destroy

this Government and

build a new system."

Youth Group Defunct

The PLe's youth front group, the May 2na Movement

(M2M), is delunet.:

However, the MM's spirit of protest is

perpetuated by the PLP. The M2N was established in March, 1964,

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to plan and execute a demonstration in New York City on

May 2, 1964, demanding withdrawal of United States troops

from Vietnam.

"Free Student," a publication of the MM,

contained an article in its third issue in which it was

stated that the waM was formed to fight against a politics

of default by organizing student protest and revolt against

the United States Government's "savage war" on the people of

Vietnam.

Vigorous Opposition

At the apex of its existence, the M2M vigorously

opposed the war in Vietnam, joined in a number of campus

protests, and sought to stir up student grievances.

During

the 1965-1966 academic year, M2M endeavored to (1)

form an

alliance besween students and workers, (?) conduct an anti-

Armed Forces induction campaign, and (3) send medical and

material aid to the National Liberation Front in South Vietnam.

"Get Out of Vietnam Now"

The PLP held a "student conference" in New York City

in early September, 1966. It was decided at this conference

vital task for the coming period will be the

destruction of the barriers that separate workers and students

and isolate the student-based antiwar movement. In addition,

it was decided that, on the campuses,

priority

must be given

to building a "Get Out of Vietnam Now" movement, because the

issues of Vietnam and the draft can "unite the student,

workers, and black movements" and bring "students into

direct

confrontation with the university administration and sometimes

with the government."

Student-Worker Alliance

In a report explaining the decisions made at this

conference, it was stated that students are being transformed

Irom "intellectuals" into cannon fodder for Vietnam and are

following in the footsteps of black and white working youth.

on the campuses. At the same time, it was said, there is a

need for working-class action against the war in Vietnam,

because the development of a student-worker alliance is crucial

to a strong movement against "imperialist aggression" in

Vietnam.

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WORKERS WORLD PARTY POLICY ON VIETNAM

The Workers World Party (WVP, is a small but very

militant pro-Peling organization.

It was formed ia 1959 y

a group of former SWP members headed by Sam Ballan.

Its

headquarters and many of its fewer than 100 members are in

New York City.

Fascism (YAWE), Was formed in the Summer of 1962 to bring

college and high school students into the periphery of WVP

activities.

The publication of the WWP is "Workers World"

and that of the YAWF is "The Partisan.".

Press Campaign

Issues of the "Workers World" since the Gulf of

Tonkin incident in August, 1964, have contained articles

critical of United States policy in Vietnam.

The following

are typical headlines:

"Sneak Attack"; "Stop the War Against

Viet Nam"; "Johnson Plots Sneak Attack on China?"; "More GI's

Die As LBJ Steps Up War; Bring Them Home Now?";

"U. S. Pushing

For A Wider War In Asia; Now Seeks To Provoke China"; and

"L.B.J., Like Mitler, Uses Poison Gas; Wages Racist Wor

Against

Viet Nam."

Liberation Front Supported

The

September 16, 1965, issue of "Workers World"

reported that WWP Chairman Sam Ballan set the tone for a

Labor Day weekend conference by praising WVP cadres for their

outstanding work and reaffirming WWP

support for the "forgotten

lighters of the National Liberation Front of South Viet Nam."

It was also reported that Ballan said,

"The statement of the

Defense Minister of People's China calling for the isolation

and defeat of U.S. imperialism has our enthusiastic and

unqualified support."

At Every Opportunity

1966, issue of "The Partisan" contained

an article entitled

The March',Why and How to Organize Rapid Demonstra

tions." It was stated in this article that the United States

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war "against Asia" will be a prolonged one. Therelore, the

members of the antiwar movement must realize that the struggdo

against the war must be an extended one. It was further

stated that it would not be possible to

organize the masses

into large antiwar demonstrations if they cannot first be

mobassues anto limitod strugeles againot the war in vietnam.

The article concluded with the statement that flexibility

was needed in order to direct antiwar consciousness into

action at every opportunity.

Demonstrations in New York City

Berween May 21 and July 30, 1966, the YAWE sponsored'

ten anti-Viecnam demonstrations in New York City.

Two of,

these demonstrations consisted of picket lines near the

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

On one occasion, President johnson

was sonedded to attend a lunction at this hotel. "On the

other occasion, Vice President Humphrey was to be at the

same hotel.

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MAJOR DEMONSCRATIONE

Several of the hundreds of demonstrations in the

United

war

in

States to protest this country's involvement in the

Vietnan could be said to have reached major proportions.

There follows & briet

resune of some of the large demonstra

cions.

March on Washington

April I7, 1965

Sponsored by SDS

The Students for a Democratic Society claimed to

be the sole sponsor of the March on Washington to end the

war in Vietnam, which was held on April 17, 1965, the day

before Faster.

However, participating organizations

included practically every subversive organization in the

United States, such as the DCA, PiP, M2M, SWP, YSA, WWP,

and YAWE.

Among the participating pacifist organizations

were Women Strike for Peace, Committee fOr Non-Violent

Action, War Resisters League, and Student Peace Union.

15,000 Participants

In addition to representatives of the sponsoring

and participating organizations, members of the CPUSA were.

observed among the estimated 15,000 who participated in the

March. : The participants listened to speeches by Bob Parris,

Field Secretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating

Committee; publisher I.

F. Stone, who was reportedly a

Professor Staughton Lynd;

chan a Vietnam in ruins. Approximately 200 of the participants

attempted to present a

petition to Congress, which was

accepted by the Deputy Chief of the United States Capitol

Police.

CPUSA Comments

At a meeting of the CPUSA National Committee held

from April 23 through April 25, 1965, Gus Hall stated that

Ap 13 25, 196

individual communists had participated in the March on

Washington, which he described as an "unforgettable event."

Michael Zagarell Claimed that the CPUSA played a decisive

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role in the Maron even though the Party was not there in

Arnold johnsor,

who participated in the March,

praised it and claimed that Party people from all over the

country

were in Washington for the event.

Credit was due,

Johnson added, to the stimulus given

to the march by the

DuBois Clubs.

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National Teach- In

a national teachin, under the sponsorship of the

Inter versity committee lor a public nearing on vietnam,

was held on way 15, 1905, at the

Sheraton-Park Hotel,

Washington, D. C.

The Inter-University committee 201z,

Pulsearing On letnan is a

loose-knit organization of

educators from colleges and universities throughout the

United States.

in 1965, its National Secretary was

Anatole Rapopore, University of Michigan professor, who has

admitted that he was a CPUSA member while a student at che

University of Chicago Irom November, 1938, until December, 1941.

Rapoport was Laculty sponsor of the dee campus

chapter at

University of Michigan in the Spring of 1966.

Proceedings Brozdcast

Discussions and speeches at this teach-in were

broadcast to numerous colleges and universities throughout

the United States which were holding teach-ins to support the

national teach-in.

Some 1,700 people attended the sessions

at the Sherator-Park Hotel.

The first speaker was

ProfesSor Hans Morgenthau of the University of Chicago.

Morgentnau stated,

"If we succeed in our present policy,

South Vietnam will become a colony of the United States."

Another speaker was Isaac Deutscher of London, England,

who describes himsels as a Marxist and who was expelled

from the Communist Party because of his opposition to Stalin.

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Washington Summer Action eJect

August 6 through 9, 1965

Sponsored by CAll

In late June, 1965, Abraham I, Muste, Chairman of

the Committee for Non-Violent Action (CNVA)

informed CPUSA

Public Relations Director

Arnold Johnson

that preparations

were being made for a period of activity in Washington, D. C.ỳ

from August 6 through 9, 1965, which would involve

rights people."

This sathering was referred to var busly as

the lashington Summer Action Project, and as an Assembly of

Unrepresented People to Declare

Peace.

It was sponsored by

CNVA •

Participating organizations included DCA, SWO, YSA,

Phag

MIM, and SNCC,

Prominent Communists Present

The size of the Washingion Summer Action Project

did not live up to the advance billing of its organizers.

While they expected 6,000 participants, the total was nearer

600.

The CPUSA requested its east coast districts to send

only 20 representatives.

Michael Zagarell allegedly stated

that the CPUSA and the DCA were not supporting this demon

stration because the leadership of the demonstration had

been taken away from the Dea.

Nevertheless, CPUSA National

Committee members Gilbert Green, George Meyers, James Jackson,

and Zagarell were observed among the participants.

On August 6,

jackson was distributing copies of "The Worker," an east

coast

communist newspaper, in Lafayette Park across from the

White

House.

White House Sit ins

While this project was deficient in the number of

participants, it provided an abundance of action.

Speakers

in Lafayette

Park on August 6, included Muste; Staughton

Lynd; Bradford Lyttle, representing the New England CNVAi

and Harry Boyte, an assistant to Martin Luther King. In his

remarks,

Boyte stated that his son would refuse to serve in

On

the afternoon of August 6,

demonstrators Jou by Muste, Lyttle, and folk singer Joan Baez

requested a mecting with President

Johnson

When their request

was denied, about 70 demonstrators staged

a sit-in near the

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White

house,

On August 7

night sitin near the

Into hout 21 Individuala staged in 211-

Ten of these demonstrators

were arrested on August &, alter they sat down in Pennsylvania

Avenue near the white House.

Also on August 8, a group of 80

poople, led by Donnà Allên

• Womon Sta 268 fOr

Peace, picketed

in frort of the White House.

Many Arrests

The climax came on August 9, with a march to the

Capitol led by synd,

Parris, and David Dellinger, an editor

of the CNVA publication,

"Liberacion."

When the demonstrators

were stopped by policemen as they attempted to enter the

Capitol Grounds, between 200 and 300 of them sat down on the

spot.

Two American Nazi Party members were arrested aiter

they hit several demonstrators and reporters with red paint.

Four demonstrators, who attempted to break through police

lines, were arrested.

SHP, YSA, and DCA members, and sons and daughters oi former

Cause members, were arrested for disorderly conduct after they:

ignored a police order to disperse.

bellinger, Who Was

described

as the "ring leader"

in the attempt to have the

demonstrators

enter the Capitol Grounds, pleaded guilty and

was sentenced to 45 days in jail.

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International Days of Protest

October 15 and

• 16;

1965

Vietnam Day Committee

October 15 and 16, 1965, were designated as

"International Days of Protest Against American Military

Intervention" by the Vietnam Day Committee (VDC) of

Berkeley,

Califorala.

The VDC originated as an ad hoc

organization to promote demonstrations against United States

policy in Vietnam. it was the main force behind efforts to

halt troop trains proceeding to the Oakland Army Terminal in

Oakland, California, during August, 1965.

mailing list used by the VDC Steering Committee were obtained

from the SWP, YSA, DCA, PLP, MaM, susa SNce, and the

"National Guardian," a New York weekly newspaper which has

been described as "a virtual propaganda arm of Soviet Russia."

VDC Leaders and Aim

Among the VDC cochairmen were University of California

professors Stephen Smale and Paul E. Ivory.

Smale is a former

member of the labor Youth League, a defunct CPUSA youth

organization.

It has been said of Ivory that he generally

supports communist causes.

Another cochairman was Jerry Rubin,

who went to Cuba in 1964, disregarding State Department

held at the University of California at Berkeley on July 29, 1965.

Principal speakers on this occasion included Bettina Aptheker

and

Mario Savio, who had previously been leaders of the Exee

-Speech Movement at this University. In his remarks, Savio

stated that the aim of the VDC on October 15 and 16 was to put

President Johnson on trial.

Activities in California

On October 15, 1965,

the VDC held

a teach-in at the

University oi California at Berkeley.

Some 3,000 persons, in

attendance listened to speakers criticize United States policy

in Vietnam and call for the impeachment of President Johnson.

After the teach-in, 2, 500 demonstrators marched toward the

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Oakland Army Terminal. Ey the time the marchers reached the

Oakland city limits,

where they were stopped by the police,

their total had swelled to 8,000.

Some of the demonstrators

spent the night at the Berkeley Civic Center Plaza.

ocrober 16, nearly 3,000 marchers started toward Oakland but

were prevented by authorities from marching through oakland.

Between 700 and 800 people participated in a parade in

Hollywood and Los Angeles on Ostober 15.

A bus driven by

current CPUSA National Committee member

Robert Duggan

accompanied the marchers.

A paper peace dove, constructed

by DCA members, was fastened to the top of the bus.

Fifth Avenue Parade

Un October 16, 1965, approximately 12,000 individuals

paraded down Fifth Avenue in New York City under the siogan,

"Stop the Was in Vietnam Now?"

The parade was sponsored by

the Fifth Avenue Peace Parade Committee, one of whose chairmen

was Abrahan j. Muste.

prior to the parade, wake stead,

Organizational Secretary of the CPUSA's New York District,

stated that the Party had good influence in the filth Avenue

Peace Parade Committee and "should really be able to do some-

thing here, because some of us work on the committee." At a

rally held after the parade, David Dellinger asked the audience

to salute Dave Miller, who had burned his draft card in a

demonstration on October 15.

Dellinger also announced that

Robert Thompson (CPUSA District Organizer in New York), whom

he described as a sponsor oi the parade, had died that

morning.

large number of CPUSA, SWP, and WWP members participated in

the parade and rally.

Other Activities

On October 15 and 16, 1965, other demonstrations

were held in over 30 cities throughout the United States. For

example, SDS members sponsored a "death march" from the

University of Texas campus to the Capitol Building in Austin.

In Salem, Oregon, approximately 300 people attended a rally

sponsored by the Portland Committee to End the War in Vietnam,

which included CPUSA members.

Representatives of the CPUSA,

DCA, SWP, and YSA spoke at an outdoor rally a the University of

Pennsylvania campus.

Other demonstrations were held on the

campuses of Pennsylvania State University, Johns Hopkins

University, University of Bridgeport, Yale University, Wayne

State University, University of Michigan, Roosevelt University,

and the University of Chicago.

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National Peace ConventzO8

March on Washington for Peace in Vietaan

November, 1065

Peace Convention

A call

for a National Peace Convention to be held in

Washington, D. Co, during the 1965 Thanksgiving weekend was

issued by

Franks Emspak, Chairman of the National!

Coordinating

Committee

to End the War in Vietnam (NCCEWV) • Announced

purpose of the convention was to lay a foundation for che

construction of a broad, militant, antiwar movement involving

21] civil rights organizations and all peace groups on 2

-national scale. At a meeting of leading CPUSA functionaries,

Arnold Johnson stated that the Party should make plans in

advance to incluence the peace convention

March Coordinator

Meanwhile,

a flyer was isued by the Committee fOr a

Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE) announcing that it was sponsoring a

march on Washington for peace in Vietnam.

The flyer stated

that the march would be held on November 27, 1965, and would

start at the White House and end at the Washington Monument,

where an outdoor meeting would be held, SANE's political

action director, Sanford Gottlieb, was named march coordinator.

On a number of occasions since 1959, Gottlieb has been in

contact with officials of the Soviet Embassy and with officials

of the Embassies of various Soviet-bloc countries (S) During

August and September, 1964, Gottlieb was one of four SANE

members who toured the Soviet Union and met with the Soviet

Peace Commissione

In the Summer of 1965, he met with

representatives of North Vietnam and the National Liberation

Front in Paris and Algiers on behali of SANE.

Convention Activities

The National Peace Convention, also known as the

National Antilar Convention, was held

as scheduled from

ovember 25 through November 28, 1965, with time out to permit

participation in the march on November 27. Some 1, 500 people

attended various phases of the convention.

These included

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CPUSA National Committee members Simon Gerson, Gilbert Green:

arnoid donnson, canes lest, and Michael Tagareil.

Participating

organizations neinded che

DCA, SWP, YSA, WWPA YAWEL

PLE& MANE

Tade Unionists for Reace, SDS, and

CNVA,+

Hugh fowler, chen DeA

national chairmad, conducted an antidialt workshop, among those

involved in panel discussion were Staughton Lynd, Jerry Rubin,

LIaRk LimspaR:

Donna Aliena

Dave Dellinger, and "National

Guardian" editor Irving Beinir.

20,000 in March

Approximately 20, 000 persons participated in the

November

27 march,

Participating organizations included the

DCA, SWP, YSA, WWP. YAWE, and the National Coorainating commiccee

to Ind the War in Vietnam, Speakers at the sylvan Theatre rally

noted pediatrician and SANE Cochairman Dr. Benjamin

Spock, Norman Thomas of the Socialist Party, MaS.

Martin Luther

and SOS President Carl Oglesby.' At least 43 CPUSA members,

33 WWe members puring the march, literature was distributed by

and 56 SWP members from New York State participated

in the march

various organizations, including the CrUSA.

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International Days of Protest

- Mrch 25 and 2ô, 1966

New sponsor

The National Coordinating Committee to End

in Vietnan (NCCTV) replaced

the Viernam Day Committee, as the

sponsor of the second in the series of International Days of

Protest. These demonstrations took place on March 25 and 26,.

1966•

SDS Active

The SDS,

which had decided in January

1966, to

coordinate its activities on Vietnam with the NCCEWV,

was very

active in the demonstrations.

For example, sus sponsored a

"speak-out" at Harvard University on March

25, which attractec

500 individuals

march on march zeus, swe, and YSA members coordinatod

from Cambridge to Boston, Massachusetts,

which involved some 1,000 demonstrators.

SDS leader. Thomas

Hayden, who accompanied Herbert Aptheker and Staughton Lynd to

North Vietnam in December, 1965, spoke to several hundred

demonstrators on March 26 in Detroit.

members participated in the Detroit demonstration. On March 27,

SDS President Carl Oglesby criticized United States intervention

in Vietnam in a speech given to 7,000 people in Rome, Italy.

New York City Parade and Rally

The silen avenue Peace Parade Committee sponsored a

parade and rally in New York City on March

26.

Included in

the

more than 20,000 marchers were over 50 CPUSA members and members

of the SWP, PLP, WWP, and

Special Forces in Vietnam,

Other Demonstrations

Demonstrations were held on March 25 and 26 in some

25 states and the District of Columbia.

There follow some

typical examples: In Chicago, 2,600 demonstrators were led by

a unit of the Veterans for Peace, which was organized by CPUSA

member Leroy Wolins.

In a rally at the University of Wisconsin

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on March

i action?

such as avoiding

the draft,

On March

24, herbert

Aptheler spoke at the University of Wisconsin and compared the

use of napalm by the United States to the cremation of Jews by

the

Nazis.

CPUSA member and DCA official jarvis Tyner spoke to

650

au Independence dat in Philadelphiao Crust see

and

wwe members were among 600 participants in &

demonstration

on March 26 at Seattle.

Dorothy Healey, Chairman of the CPUSA's

Souchern California District, was the leatured speaker at a

ceach-in in Los Angeles on March 25 attended by 3, 000.

same day, 6,000 attended a protest rally at the University of

Calliornia at Berkeley®

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EGRET

Voters' Plodeg yamara So vention,

and March

Sponsored by SANS

The Voters' Plodge Campale

was initiated during 1966

Committee; Women Strike for Peace; and the Women's

League for Peace an

reedom, which is sell described as

women's peace organization,

international in scope, having 25

its primary objective the attainment of world peace

through

multilateral disarnament.

Coordinator of the campaign was

Saniord Gottliel. The cochairmen were Norman Thomas and the

Reverend William

Sloane Coilin, Yale University Chaplain.

campaign was officially sponsored by 90 prominent Americans

from the fields of science, religion, at, and education.

Included among these were Dr. Benjamin Spock and Mrs. Martin

Luther King.

Purpose of Campaign

The campaign was designed to obtain one nillion

signatures of peopie pledging to vote for peace candidates in

the 1966 elections.

Climax of the campaign was a convention

and narch held in Washington, D. C., on May 14 and

15, 1966.

The Convention

At the convention, disappointment was expressed when

Gottliel announced that only 73,000 signatures had been obtained

on pledge cards distributed throughout the United States.

CPUSA

National Committee member James Jackson,

"The Worker" corre-

spondent Mike DavidoW,

"National Guardian" reporter James Smith,

and several current and former CPUSA members attended the

convention.

For example, Aaron Wool, a member of the Trade

Union Commission of the Party's New York District, attended the

convention as a delegate from the Trade Unionists

10r Peace:

Issues of "The Worker,.'

" "The Militant,

""Progressive Labor,

and the

"Nacional Guardian" were either sold or given away at

the convention.

The MarCh

The marchers, carrying placards which condemned

United States participation in the war in Vietnam, assembled at

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17th Street and Constitution Avenue on May 15, marched in front

the White House, and proceeded to the Sylvan Theatre.

They

chen listened to speeches by Gortileo, Norman Thomas of. stone,

Dr. Benjamin Spock, SANE Official H. Stuart Hughes,

and SNCC

memoer Julian Bond, who was refused a seat in the Georgia

Legislature.

It is estimated that 8,000 persons participated in

the march

Included among these were Arnold Johnson and numerous

current and former CPUSA members who traveled in three special

trains from New York City. Participants from Washington, D. C.,

included the Crusa chairman, YSA members,

and former CPUSA

members. Also in the march were CPUSA members from Baltimore.

.; :

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International Days of Protest

August o through 9, 1966

Another Sponsor

The third in the series of International Days of

Protest was held tron august o through august,

1966,

memorialize the victims of atomic bombs exploded in Japan

and to protest against United States policy toward Vietnam.

Sponsor of this demonstration was the Firth Avenue Peace

Parade Committee.

Announced slogans for these days of

probest included the Iollowing:

'No More Hiroshimas - Stop

the War in Vietnam Now"; "1776 Self Determination USA - 1966

Self Determination for the Vietnamese";

"1945 Hiroshima Atom

Bomb - 1966 Vietnam Napalm"; and "Bring the Troops Home Now."

New York Parade and Rally

On saturday, August 6, some 5, 000 demonstrators from

varIOUS

areas of New York City converged on Times Square and

marched to 48th Street between Park and Madison Avenues for

a rally.

Some marchers carried Viet Cong flags and others

carzied

American flags with the stars obliterated by siulls

and dollar signs. CPUSA, SWP, and PLP literature was

distributed during the march.

Demonstrators included CPUSA;

DCA, WWP, and PLP members.

Speakers at the rally, all of

whom were critical of United States policy in Vietnam,

included Abraham J. Muste; Dave Dellinger; WWP member

Mae

Mallory; a SACC representative; and Lincoln Lynch, Associate

Director of the Congress of Racial Equality a civil rights

group.

Herbert Aptheker and two PLP members were introduced

as "peace candidates"

'at the rally.

Carmichael Featured

At a demonstration in Cleveland, SNCC Chairman

Stokely Carmichael was the featured speaker.

He was introduced

by former CPUSA member Sidney Peck.

The audience,

which

included numerous SWP and CPUSA members, was also

addressed

by two SWP members.

Other Demonstrations:

There were many other demonstrations from coast to

coast during these International Days of Protest.. At Denver,

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for

example,

250 demonstrators heard United States policy in

Vietnam criticized by a DÇA member, an SWP candidate for the

United States Senate,

and a Mississippi Freedom Democratie

Party candidate for

the United States Senate.

CPUSA and

'SWP

literature was distributed at the rably.

Washington, D, C.,

a cawood, local sA leader.

led a rally at Dupont Circle

attended by 200.

Sardon Steel spoke tary doming

A Hiroshima Day Peace Walk in Atlantar

International Ramifications

During this

series of international. Lays of Protesty

supporting demonstrations against United States presence in

Vietnam were held in other countries in response to requests

from the sponsoring organizations in this country.

example, the Fifth Avenue Peace P

Parade Committee sent a letter

to Japan requesting the Youth Committee to Oppose War (Hansen

Linhare to protest Unated states astions in Vietnam during the

In the done sent inten

period from August 6 through August 9, 1966, In response to

this request, Hansen linkai held a rally and distributed 1, 500

copies of a protest handbill at Hiroshima on August 6, 1966.

Similar demonstrations were held in Tokyo on March 25

and 26, 1966, and the National Coordinating Committee to End

the War

in Vietnam, sponsor of the second in this series of

International Days of Protest, was credited in a speech as the

inspiration for this protest

activity in Japan.

Concerning this

Committee, its Chairman, Frank Emspak, met in Budapest, Hungary,

on March 20, 1966, With representatives of the Viet Cong and

obtained from them their conditions for an end to the war.

The sponsor of the first in this series of International

Days of Protest--the Vietnam Day Committee--also solicited support

in foreign countries. As a result of a letter it sent to the

Belgian Union for the Defense of the Peace, for example, various

demonstrations were held in Belgium on October 15 and 16, 1965.

"Second Front"

In a November 10, 1966, dispatch from Tokyo, United

Press International reported

that "Nhan Dan," official North

Vietnamese propaganda organ, had described the protest movement

of American people against the war in

Vietnam as Hanoi's "second

front against the U.

S, imperialists."

The dispatch also quoted

"Nhan Dan" as "admiring" American youths who tore up their draft

cards and American soldiers who went to prison to avoid fighting

against the Vietnamese.

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Demonstrations azalet use Committee Hearings

Defense Committee Formed

In connection with proposed legislation, the Committee

on Un-American Activities, United States Mouse of

Representatives

(CUA), scheduled hearings beginning on August 16, 1966, and

subpoenaed several persons who have been active in protests

against United States policy toward Vietnam.

Soon thereafter,

the National Committee to Defend the Civil Liberties of the

Anti-War Group was formed in Washington, D. C.,

to organize

demonstrations against the hearings.

Among the organizations

sponsoring this so-called defense committee were the SW?, YSA,

PLP, DCA, SDS, and Women Strike for Peace.

The defense

committee

headed by William Higgs, former attorney for SNCC.

The Hearings

On August 16, approximately 200 demonstrators gathered

outside the hearing room. During the day, 17 were arrested for

causing disturbances. Among these 17 were three PLP members

and five members of

either the WWP or its youth group, YAWF.

PLP member Richard Mark Rhoads was an uncooperative witness on

August 17. He described the United States as the most hated

ine unrea states

government in the world.

On the same day, Arthur Kinoy, Vice

President of the National Lawyers Guild, a communist front group,

was arrested when he refused to sit down at the hearing.

Kinoy

has long associated with

the CPUSA "legal brain trust.

addition, 25 persons, including three WWP members, one 'YAVE

member, and three PLP members, were arrested for causing disturb-

ances.

When Kinoy was arrested, other attorneys for the subpoenaed

witnesses walked out of the hearing.

On August 18, YSA member Stuart Allan McRae, a subpoenaed

witness, volunteered to appear at the hearing.

However, he merely

read a statement that was highly critical of

the HUA,

When other

witnesses stated that they were not represented by counsel, they

were advised that their subpoenas would be continued.

The hearings reconvened on August 19.

Six demonstrators

were arrested when they objected to the testimony of a representa-

tive of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.;

two are WWP

members and three are YAWE members.

of three PLe

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members consisted of critieism of the Committee on

Un-Anerican

Activities.

One of these, Seve Cherkoss, was arrested for

relusing to leave the witness stand after

he was cismissed.

When it was announced on August 19, that the hearings

were concluded and the subpoenaed withesses were excused, Jerry

Rubin, dressed an a Revolutionary War uniform, objected.

escorted fron the hearing doom has subseqketly arrested for

distributing literature.

Demonstrations

During these hearings, demonstrations in opposition

to them were held not only in Washington, D. C., but 2450 11

Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, St. Louis, Ann Arbor,

and Portland, Oregon.

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Mass Mobilizacion for Peace"

November, 1966

November Bth Mobilization Committee

the noveme

much Mobilizerion committee, was ad 20 hoc

group formed at Cleveland for the purpose of planning & mass

mobilization for peace during the days in November,

1966,

immediately preceding the elections.

Chairman of the Mobilization

Committee was Abraham J. Muste.

CPUSA and SWP members were anong

the Committee's sponsors. In addition, the CPUSA National Board

agreed to give full cooperation to this Committee.

Times Square RallY

Muste was one of the speakers at a rally held in Times

Numerous CPUSA,

square, Now York City, on November S, he 8, 000 participants in

YS., and WWP members were among

this rally, which was sponsored by the Fifth Avenue Peace

Parade Committee:

At the rally, Judy White, SWP candidate for

Governor of New York State, and

Herbert Aptheker, candidate for

United States Congress, were introduced to the crowd Defeat

carried by

the participants included the following:

the U.S.

Imperialists - Victory for NLF" and "Free the Fort

Hood 3."

Pennsylvania Demonstrations

A march through Philadelphia to City Hall on November 5,

1966, was led by & YSA member.

Among

the some 450 marchers were

DCA, Pus?

Peace.

several CPUSA members, attended a meeting in Pittsburgh sponsored

by the Pittsburgh Committee to End the War in Vietnam. All

speakers at the meeting demanded an end to the war in Vietnam.

Cleveland Meeting and March

Dr. Benjamin Spock and Lincoln Lynch, a Congress of

Racial Equality official, were the principal speakers at a

meeting held in Cleveland on November 5,

Both demanded an end

to the fighting in Vietnam as a prelude to negotiations.

meecing was followed by a march in which numerous CPUSA, SWP,

VSk, and WWP members participated. Among the sponsoring

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organizations for these events in Cleveland were SANE and the:

Swe-controlled Cleveland Conmittee to End the War in Vietnam.

Accivities at Harvard University

On November 6,

SWS member Linda Sheppard chaired a

protest rally at Harvard University attended by 100.

YSA and:

SDS representatives distributed literature at this radly.

SuS also sponsored a demonstration on November 7, during a

visit to Harvard by Secretary of Defense Robert MoNamara.

The

Secretary's car was blocked and the demonstrators attempted to

shout down the Secretary's answers to questions asked hin at

one scene.

Other Activities

Several similar demonstrations were held throughout

the United States during the days preceding election day.

For

example, Claude Lightfoot urged that "peace candidates" be

supported at a pre-election meeting attended by approximately

:1,000 in Chicago.

Also in Chicago, Earl Silbar, In SDS member

and son of a former CPUSA member, was the principal speaker

at a teachin on November 7 at Roosevelt University.

member Frank Batterson, who was seeking election to

the United

States Congress, was the principal speaker at a meeting in

Seattle. At the urging of a YSA member, some 250 demonstrators

formed a picket line on November 5 at the Washington, D. C.,

residence of

Secretary of Defense MCNamara

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