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Issue: October, 1998

LISTEN UP, TROOPS!

It's the old Drill Sgt. here. In my last column I said that there might be a quiz in this column. Well, here is the question:

What organization is celebrating their 50th birthday on November 1 & Nov. 8 1998. 50 years of service to active duty GIs, draft counseling, and help with Conscientious objectors? Don't know?

Why it is CCCO, Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, that's who. Now I know that I did not mention CCCO in my last column, but what the heck it's nice to throw in a little confusion now and then. Moving right along, CCCO is having a birthday and you are invited. It will be held at two locations in the country. Be there, it will be fun. These folks have done a lot of good work for a lot of years, time to say thanks.

CCCO would like very much to have Veterans be part of this, to tell their stories and experiences, as far as having to deal with the Machine (U.S. Military) while on active duty. Who knows, some of you may have been helped by these folks.

So here is the order of the day: The Old Drill Sgt. says, Go party with CCCO in the above locations, or do push-ups forever! Drill Sgt.'s never change do they? But that's what makes us so lovable, and leaves such a warm spot in the hearts of the people we have worked with.

The following is a history of CCCO, straight from the people that do the work. I'm glad to pass on this info in my column.

CCCO
Central Committee
for Conscientious
Objectors

FIFTY YEARS OF RESISTANCE

THE EARLY YEARS

November 1, 1948. World War II had passed into the annals of history. In June 1948, a new draft law had been passed—and peace groups had met to discuss what would become of the next generation of draftees. Who would advocate for all conscientious objectors, regardless of religious affiliation? The answer: a new organization, the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors. Our first board meeting, on Nov. 1 included legendary pacifists David Dillenger and A.J. Muste.

In its new offices in Philadelphia, CCCO immediately began to publish information bulletins about the rights of CO's, as well as a newsletter, CCCO News Notes. In the 1950's, as Congress and President Truman went about extending the new draft law and going to war in Korea, CCCO was there. We helped stop the Army from assigning 1-A-O COs (those in noncombatant service) to mine-laying and weapons testing. We published the first of many editions of Handbook for CO's, selective service: A Guide for Attorneys and Conscientious Objectors in the Armed Forces. We also began for the first time to work with members of the military, attorneys and military chaplains to meet the needs of CO's behind barracks walls.

In the early 1960's, CCCO advocacy created the first CO discharge regulations for those whose beliefs changed while in uniform. As CCCO continued to push resources and counsel clients, CCCO attorneys were instrumental in a series of Supreme Court decisions that extended the definition of conscientious objection. US vs. Seeger established that agnostics, like young Daniel Seeger, could still qualify as CO's: this decision, and others confirming it, opened the door for many young men to declare themselves CO's. The Seeger decision was brought in March 1965. Four months later, as the U.S. war against VietNam escalated, the Johnson Administration doubled the monthly draft call, setting the stage for unprecedented resistance.

THE VIETNAM ERA

As draft calls mounted, so did the calls to CCCO. In 1966, CCCO's first regional office opened, in San Francisco; by 1972, we had offices in Chicago, Denver and Atlanta, and a national staff of fifty. In addition to direct counseling and legal representation, we were training literally thousands of draft counselors nationwide. CCCO's Handbook for Conscientious Objectors was an unofficial bestseller, exhausting each printing in its 12 successive editions. As the rebellion within the ranks grew, so did printings of Advice for Conscientious Objectors in the Armed Forces, as well as Getting Out: A Guide to Dischargesand GI Bulletins used by G.I. coffeehouses and counselors internationally. CCCO staff were also part of growing resistance to the war itself—including the National Council to Repeal the Draft (NCRD), established by CCCO and others in 1968, and countless local resistance groups.

By war's end, 171,000 young men had been granted CO status, and assigned civilian alternative service. Easily ten times that number had consulted CCCO, CCCO-trained counselors, and CCCO publications as they sorted out their options—including the half-million who burned their draft cards, refused inductions, or went to Canada. <32>THE END OF CONSCRIPTION—NEW CHALLENGES, NEW STRATEGIES

When conscription ended in 1975, the Pentagon's strategies shifted, and so did those of CCCO. As conscription was replaced by the poverty draft—the Pentagon's billion-dollar campaign foisting promises of opportunity on low-income youth without mentioning war, abuse, or combat-related illness—CCCO began to work with educators and schools to provide much-needed alternative information. Meanwhile, CCCO continued at the forefront of GI counseling, publishing a new edition of the Military Counselor's Manual and continuing to train new counselors, attorneys and congressional caseworkers.

AS DRAFT REGISTRATION RETURNS, SO DOES RESISTANCE

In January of 1980, in the wake of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter announced the return of compulsory draft registration. CCCO sprang into action, training a new generation of draft counselors across the country. CCCO attorneys were deeply involved in the defense of public registration resisters, and CCCO staff on both coasts mobilized against the "Solomon laws" (named after their chief sponsor, Gerald Solomon, R-NY) denying Federal aid and employment to non-registrants. As the Cold War proceeded, so did the search for new strategies.

CCCO counsel were also key to the first federal appeals court decision, Searsy vs. Crim (1987) in Atlanta, which established the principle of Equal Access: that when military recruiters are allowed in schools, veterans, parents and peace activists have the right to the same level of access to students, to present aspects of military life left un-mentioned by recruiters. In the meantime, CCCO staff traveled overseas to train new GI counselors, and CCCO published the fourth edition of the Military Counselor's Manual.

THE 1990s: THE PERSIAN GULF AND BEYOND

As soon as President George Bush began his military buildup in the Persian Gulf, CCCO's offices were flooded with calls. Some feared a new draft; others were reservists, National Guard members, and active-duty personnel for whom the war raised new and unexpected questions. By the time U.S. bombs began dropping on Baghdad in January 1991, GI counselors were helping military CO's from coast to coast, CCCO worked with attorneys for Erik Larsen and Tahan Jones as they were threatened with death sentences for desertion in time of war, with reservist Aimee Allison as she took her appeal to federal court; and coached scores of others through their claims and other applications for discharge.

The war brought into sharp relief for us that conscientious objection can initially come in the form of simple revulsion, anger or other distress within the institution—and renewed our commitment expanding our G.I. advocacy program. In 1994, in the wake of the U.S. deployment in Haiti, CCCO spearheaded the formation of the G.I. Rights Network, an alliance of ten organizations that answer the G.I. Rights Hotline, 1-800-FYI-95GI. In 1996 CCCO began an outreach campaign to help veteran survivors of assault and abuse speak truth about the institution; in 1997 a new organization was thus founded, Survivors Take Action Against Abuse by Military Personnel (STAMP). On Memorial Day, 1998, CCCO will publish Helping Out: A Guide to Military Discharges and GI Rights, a completely updated successor to the Military Counselor's Manual.

Our work to stop the poverty draft grows ever more powerful. The 1992 expansion of the Junior Reserve Officers Training Program (JROTC), instigated by former Gen. Colin Powell, proved the catalyst for a national campaign that mobilized parents, educators, veterans, and peace activists against military training on high school campuses. Now that the expansion is concluded, the Military Out of Our Schools Program continues to gain momentum, including CCCO's youth organizing initiative, SCREAM: Student Committee Resisting Enlistment and Militarism—where youth are taking the lead in getting the word out to other young people.

CCCO's Founders

CCCO's Mission Statement

O.K. troops that's it, I would like to add a post script to this: in 1979, May to be exact, President Carter declared the first "VietNam Veterans Recognition Week." And guess who got an award for his outstanding service to the country during the time of peace and war. You got it, me, the old Drill Sgt. Hassna. I asked the presenters of this here award, "Does this mean I have been right in opposing Militarism and War since my discharge from the Army in 1969." The silence was my answer! I figured that the Government needed to make Nam Vets nice guys again in the public eye, so they could Draft the next generation. Sure enough, six months later, registration for the Draft. Only to the chagrin of the Gov., more young men refused to register in the first two weeks of registration then during the whole VietNam War. I guess they hadn't forgotten the last period in American History. Ain't U.S. history just grand?

Today's tips are:

• 1. See the injustice being done
• 2. Understand that injustice
• 3. And Fight Like Hell Against It!!!

See you around the Base Camp..... Drill Sgt. Hassna....... OUT!

copyright Steve Hassna, 1998

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