We are writing to you in the wake of the October 10, 2014 New York Times article, “Pentagon’s Web Timeline Brings Back Vietnam, and Protesters,” which documents efforts to counteract the Pentagon’s 50th anniversary commemoration of the war in Vietnam. We – the Full Disclosure campaign of Veterans For Peace – represent a group of veterans many of whom fought in Vietnam, as well as others who protested that war over the years. We are very concerned about government attempts to whitewash the war and US actions in Vietnam and are prepared to explain and present, now as we did then, the case against that war.
The Full Disclosure Campaign represents a clear alternative to the Department of Defense's current efforts to sanitize and mythologize the Vietnam War and to thereby legitimize further unnecessary and destructive wars. The war in support of a corrupt South Vietnamese regime resulted in the deaths and displacement of millions of Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians, as well as the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans and the disruption of millions of American lives.
We have launched a web site called FULL DISCLOSURE: TOWARD AN HONEST COMMEMORATION OF THE AMERICAN WAR IN VIETNAM. The web site features articles on the commemoration efforts, an alternate (to the Pentagon’s) chronology of the war, resources for teaching about the war, war legacies – including Agent Orange and Unexploded Ordnance -- as well as movie reviews, art work, and other ongoing events. We see ourselves as representing a substantial constituency that cannot be ignored by anyone interested in honestly confronting the realities and consequences of the American war in Vietnam.
We believe that we are part of a generation of Americans who stood up against an unjust war and understand it as a test case of the American experience. There is still much for us as a people to learn from this traumatic experience. We intend to keep you informed of our ongoing work, and respectfully request to be included in your forums and reportage whenever you subject the Vietnam period to historical reexamination. Requests for interviews, articles, panelists or speakers can be sent to vncom50@gmail.com .
For the Full Disclosure Campaign,
Daniel Ellsberg
Paul Cox (media contact: paulcox890@comcast.net, 510-418-3436)
Doug Rawlings
Susan Schnall: (media contact: susanschnall@gmail.com, 917-620-0189)
Michael Uhl
(For biographical information go to http://www.vietnamfulldisclosure.org/#!about/cmmk )