Online Memorial for David Cline

David Cline passed away early September 15, 2007. Most of you know that David was a giant in the Veteran's anti-war and peace movements. A national coordinator and long time member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War as well as former President of Veterans For Peace, David was a crucial part of the explosion in VFP's growth and led us in our planning and actions as we have resisted the invasion and occupation of Iraq. David was a giant among people who motivated all of us to action by modeling leadership and providing inspiration.

David was my boss, mentor, friend and I loved him. He recruited me into VFP by simply being the person he was, a veteran working for peace. There are few people outside of my family whose death means such a loss to me personally. There are few in our nation whose loss means so much to our movement.

A quote David loved so much guided his thoughts and actions. He carried it in his wallet so that he could whip it out to motivate us at any time. Of course he also had it memorized.

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what a people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress." Frederick Douglass

David Cline We Salute You.

Letter from Executive Director, Michael T. McPhearson

I met David at the Our Way Home Reunion in Castlegar, B.C., Canada in the summer of 2006. Draft resisters and Vets gathered to talk and speak our truth to one another, and to listen fully. Immediately I knew David was a great American hero, the finest of the finest. People speak easily and loosely of spiritual warriors, but David is the real item, there is no doubt. His life is a shining example of peace and justice work. He calls us to carry on. I love you David.

Roger Davies
Vietnam War Draft Resister
Halifax Quaker Meeting

Anti-War Cadence: A Tribute to VFP Brother David Cline, RIP

Jozef Hand-Boniakowski

"Sound off....1-2...Sound off...3.4, Bring it on down...Sound off 1-2-3-4....1-2...3-4! I've heard and participated in the Veterans For Peace (VFP) cadence many times. I heard it shouted through a bullhorn on the streets of Washington, D.C. as VFP led a million plus demonstrators against the Iraq occupation. I heard it in the streets of Manhattan, where one-and-a-half million people said "No to War!" months before the Iraq invasion began. This unprecedented display of people power marched through the Big Apple even though the city refused to issue a permit for it to take place. I heard the cadence in Alexandria VA, Albuquerque NM, Duluth MN, San Francisco CA, Boston MA, etc., where Veterans For Peace called it as they saw it, "Bush and Cheney talk that talk...but they're only chicken hawks." And each time I heard that cadence being called out by the hoarse and distinctive voice of the David Cline, the president (Jan 2002 - Feb 2007) of Veterans For Peace.

David Cline passed away on September 15, 2007 at home in his home town and that of my childhood, Jersey City, N.J. David's body was severely affected by Agent Orange, PTSD, the Vietnam War, and the rigors and stresses of fighting imperialism and war full-time for four decades. The anarcho-Judaism web site correctly states,

"They killed Dave forty years ago, the government of the United States killed Dave in Vietnam; but Dave had too much in him to die right away. Too much heart, too much soul, too much spirit, too much of a passion to fight for what is right and true and just; it took him 40 years to die."

I clearly remember standing with Dave Cline and a few dozen VFPers on Constitution Avenue in Washington D.C. as many hundreds of thousands of anti-war marchers filed by. The Vets For Peace were shouting their anti-war cadence. A skinny guy dressed in his traditional olive drab shirt decked with Vietnam, Peace, VFP and VVAW patches was mesmerizing the fast moving crowd by leading the cadence. As people came into view of the VFPers they broke out into wild cheering. As one performance of the cadence came to end a new group of marchers would see the VFPers for the very first time giving up a new cheer and thunderous roar. The VFPer then started the cadence over again with Dave Cline's voice booming. This went on for hours. David inspired tens of thousands that day and millions throughout his activist life to do something about the insanity of war and to stop the neo-liberal war machine from using bombing, killing, imprisonment, torture and war as foreign policy.

David Cline was my friend. I had my disagreements with him. But David showed me that disagreements between brothers working for peace was a desirable and healthy thing. David was the first who instilled in me a sense of what it means to be a brother for peace. Before David Cline and Veterans For Peace I had no desire nor inclination to being considered a veteran. David showed me that there was honor and respect given to being a veteran who opposes imperialism, militarism, war, and the illegal and criminal behavior of those in power that make it possible and profit from it.

I did not realize how much he affected my life until there was no more David Cline around to hug, no more David Cline to call me "Bro!", no more David Cline to chant... "Heh heh Uncle Sam. We remember Vietnam...."

In August 2003 during the National Veterans For Peace convention in San Francisco CA David Cline presented a tribute to Father Philip Berrigan, a life-long worker for peace. David presented Phil's daughter, Katie Berrigan, with an inscribed plaque. I wrote the tribute contained on that plaque. Now, I write and present a tribute to David Cline:

Whereas David Cline was an anti-war veteran, a lifelong activist for peace and justice, civil-rights advocate, an anti-imperialist, a partner, a fighter for freedom and social justice; and a brother, and

Whereas Veteran For Peace David Cline and thousands of like-minded friends are building a nonviolent movement based upon the imagery of beating guns and rifles into plowshares; and

Whereas Neighbor David Cline lived in a big city community where he served as the city's official liaison to local veterans, and,

Whereas David Cline was a persistent and reliable counselor for and on the G.I. Hotline, and,

Whereas Witness David Cline kept a consistent and persistent vigil against violence during his post Vietnam life; and

Whereas War Resister David Cline was a favorite target of the Right Wing and neo-conservative war mongers that he successfully rebutted, and

Whereas Seeker of Truth David Cline was an implacable inspector of the United States foreign policy calling national and international attention to its inherent evil nature; and

Whereas Activist David Cline symbolically confronted the nation's war machine by returning military honors and medals and,

Whereas Teacher David Cline was and remains an example to the younger generation coming of age to resist militarism and fascism; and,

Whereas David Cline, a long time Veteran For Peace and its president, is a hero, and an inspiration to those who follow in the cause of Peace; and

Whereas it is with sorrow, regret and gratitude, that we as Veterans For Peace, mourn the passing of our friend, David Cline, September 15, 2007,

Therefore let it be resolved that, in order to honor and commemorate his remarkable work and life we as Veterans For Peace, and as people committed to social justice, honor our Brother and Comrade, David Cline, who continues to Wage Peace!

David Cline Presente!

I have many lapel pins on a canvas bag that I carry with me. David Cline gave me one of them, the Vietnam Veterans Against the War pin. He also gave me the 25th anniversary Veterans For Peace pin which celebrated a quarter century of educating people against the atrocities, horror and costs of war. I wear the 25th anniversary pin on my old Green beret which another Veteran For Peace has given to me. A few months ago I saw a showing of the documentary film, "Sir! No Sir!" about the G.I. resistance movement during the Vietnam War. David was featured in the film as he was a big part of the G.I. resistance. Today, the Iraq occupation G.I. resistance is taking on another illegal war. In 2004 David Cline witnessed the founding of the anti-war veterans group, Iraq Veterans Against the War. David knew that Iraq occupation veterans would be instrumental in ending it. And to that end, David Cline's cadence continues:

HEY HEY DAVID CLINE
DAVID WAS A FRIEND OF MINE

DAVID CLINE TALKED THE TALK
DAVID CLINE WALKED THE WALK

BUSH AND CHENEY'S WAR IS HELL
PROFITS FOR EXXON AND FOR SHELL

BUSH AND CHENEY LEADERS FAILED
BUSH AND CHENEY BELONG IN JAIL

DAVID'S BODY HAS PASSED ALONG
BUT HE'S HERE TO SING THIS SONG

WAR JUST MAKES THE CHILDREN DIE
WAR JUST MAKES THE MOTHER'S CRY

BUSH AND CHENEY STOMP AND SQUAWK
THAT'S BECAUSE THEY'RE CHICKEN HAWKS

SEND THEM BOTH TO A CELL
PACK THEM OFF AWAY TO HELL

HEH HEH DAVID CLINE
DAVID WAS A FRIEND OF MINE

DAVID'S BODY MAY BE GONE
BUT HE SINGS THIS CADENCE SONG

AM I RIGHT OR WRONG?
AM I RIGHT OR WRONG?
SOUND OFF...1..2...SOUND OFF...3..4
SOUND OFF...1..2..3..4
BRING IT ON DOWN! 1..2..3..4....
1..2..3..4.

If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what a people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. -- Frederick Douglas

Herein lies a riddle: How can a people so gifted by God become so seduced by naked power, so greedy for money, so addicted to violence, so slavish before mediocre and treacherous leadership, so paranoid, deluded, lunatic?

-- Philip Berrigan

I love you, Dave.

©2007 Jozef Hand-Boniakowski, PhD

Thank you, Dave, for your lifetime of work for peace and justice. I only met you a couple of times briefly last year at the VFP convention, but you stand out vividly in my memory. We talked about being in "Sir! No Sir!" together, and your presence and commitment stood out so clearly. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your lifetime of service to the world. We will carry on your struggle.

yours in peace,

Mike Wong

Veterans for Peace chapter 69

San Francisco

I would just like to pass on a sincere THANKS! I am the oldest daughter of Gladys Simer. She tells me every day, how she appreciates the Vets. Every day Dave lived for the rights of veterans he really considered his brothers every day that he lived and i have no doubt he's looking over you all now. You all have been supportive of my mom and besides me and my sister she has no one else to help her through losing Dave. We all lost him but she's lost him in a profound way. It really comforts my heart to know that the Vets are here for my mom.

Besides the veterans, he also lived for my mom. There is no question in my mind that he loved my mother. He and my mom had a crazy relationship but everything they did, they did with passion and love. In the first years, I was always on guard. I saw how much he loved my mom and how much my mom loved him but was always scared that he'd hurt her. As years passed I saw how love conquered all the obstacles they came through and they did together.

I have been trying to keep up with all the memorials and contributions posted on the website. My mom has not seen any of it, she's so busy with everything else hasn't been able to get online. IF possible i'd like for you to post this email on the memorial page.

Thank you all for the prayers, the comments, and for keeping David alive through your memories. I say this as a SIMER who feels the arms of support. Although Dave has passed we still have a bond.
I thank you for everything. I can't express how much it means to me, my sister and my mom to have the prayers and support. All I can do is pray for you all and ask God that He returns the blessings you all have poured upon my mother.

Malia Simer

My name is Ben Chitty. I'm here on behalf of Vietnam Veterans Against the War to say a few words about my friend David Cline. There are people here who knew him longer, people here who saw him more often, people here and everywhere who speak better than me. But Dave Cline recruited me back into VVAW more than twenty years ago, and that's why I'm here.

Cast your mind back to the mid 1980s. Reagan was in the White House, and quashing our country's all too brief flirtation with a new kind of foreign policy. The CIA and the War Department were reviving old tricks and rehearsing some new ones - in Afghanistan, in Lebanon, in Grenada, in Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua. The lessons we had paid so much to learn in Vietnam were being rewritten, or obliterated entirely. Meanwhile the Veterans Administration seemed to have decided that the best way to deal with Agent Orange exposure was to wait until we were all dead, and no one seemed to know or want to know how many of us were homeless or incarcerated. Being a Vietnam veteran in American in 1985 could be a very surreal experience, especially for someone like me who had put all that aside when Saigon fell in 1975. Dave Cline and Clarence Fitch had set about reestablishing VVAW as a presence in the city where the organization had started nearly twenty years before, and among others they found me - actually my wife introduced me to them.

Dave was energetic and charismatic. He was smart. And he had a very loud voice. But what made him a leader was his politics. He had taken the experience of soldiering for the empire, analyzed it in terms of American history and politics, seasoned with his natural-born sense of solidarity with working people. He studied peoples movements, liberation movements, veterans movements. He thought long and hard about how veterans fit into the broader movement for peace and social justice.

He worked to defend and spread the legacy of VVAW. Sometimes this meant organizing the 20^th reunion in 1987 and the 25^th reunion in 1992. Sometimes it meant helping to organize the 25^th reunion of the liberation of Saigon in 2000. Day to day and week to week it meant speaking to students about military service and about Vietnam. I guess he spoke to thousands of kids over the years.

He worked to organize veterans. He worked on the Agent Orange issue and more generally on military toxic exposures from atomic bombs to unexploded ordnance. He organized support for services for veterans. He organized forums and regional meetings, coalition after coalition. One of the projects nearest to his heart was the Jersey City Vietnam Veterans Memorial Committee, which he helped start ten years ago.

He looked for ways to confront the empire. Moral stances did not interest him, nor did imaginary impossibilities. But he did like to push the envelope, raise the ante, try something new. Like the 1987 Veterans Peace Convoy to Nicaragua. Dave helped organize the East Coast branch, led by the Mercedes deuce and a quarter diesel truck bought by the New York New Jersey Chapter. The convoy challenged the U.S. embargo on Nicaragua head on. After an epic confrontation with the Justice Department at the border in El Paso, the convoy slipped into Mexico and drove on to Managua. I heard a few years ago the truck was still running.

The Vieques campaign was another challenge to the empire. The Navy had been using the island for target practice for decades, and the people were determined to bring this to an end. In 1999 Dave started "Veterans Support Vieques" in New Jersey, New York and Puerto Rico to support the struggle. It became the longest-running civil disobedience campaign in U.S. history, and ended finally in victory in 2003.

When 9-11 happened, Dave Cline was probably the single best qualified person in the world to take on the leadership of Veterans For Peace. So he did.

The Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh introduced me to the concept of the hungry ghost. In Vietnamese culture the spirit of anyone who dies and cannot be properly buried at home with his family is doomed to wander around angry and hurt, breaking rules, stirring up trouble, devouring sustenance without satisfaction, until his body can be properly laid to rest. Dave always seemed to me to be a hungry ghost. As it turned out the wounds he got in Vietnam were fatal.

But Dave's story is more than the biography of one person. He is representative of a generation of veterans. The Vietnam experience has been the hungry ghost of American society for all my adult life. And because we never worked through what exactly that experience meant, we are making newer and hungrier ghosts every day in Afghanistan and Iraq. That story is far from over.

Dave was notorious for calling out cadences as he led contingents of veterans on marches and into rallies. A cadence keeps us in formation so we're not just strolling along the avenue. It trumpets our presence, heartens our friends, challenges our foes. It demands "who's the real patriot here?" and just asking that question answers it. And often it will get you on the radio, sometimes even on TV, which is cool.

A good cadence is deceptively hard to write, and harder to produce in the heat of the moment. I should know - I wrote a lot of them which Dave didn't much like. They went on too long, got too involved, tried to make too many points. But I did write one which made it into his repertory, and that's how I'm going to end.

Lift your head and hold it high
Veterans are passing by
Tell me what we're marching for
Freedom, justice, no more war
Freedom
Justice
No more war

Hoa binh, Dave Cline. Go in peace.

-----

Eulogy delivered at David Cline's funeral, September 19, 2007, Jersey City, New Jersey. Ben Chitty is a long-time member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

SAN DIEGO VETERANS FOR PEACE

SEPTEMBER 2007

Hi All. Dave Cline, Immediate Past President of the National Veterans For Peace died on September 18^th, 2007

Though he rarely spoke of it, he was a Vietnam War draftee who was severely wounded three times and was awarded two bronze stars for valor along with his purple hearts.

Dave was an original Winter Soldier who stood up early against the Viet Nam War. He was active as an original member of the Vietnam Veterans Against The War and later served as our leader for several years.

Dave had many health issues directly related to his service and was a regular at the V.A. Hospital in New York City. He died from them. Dave experienced the entire spectrum of Veterans Issues personally. He made a difference for all Veteran's issues.

I joined SDVFP as a default organization that was out there against the war. I liked the positive message of Veterans FOR Peace. But, I had doubts(as a recovering Republican) about what VFP was all about as an organization. Was it a "Commie Front"? Was it dominated by some elite group that could lead all of us astray? I went to the San Francisco VFP convention to find out.

I knew from the first few hours that this organization worked for me. It was clearly composed of motivated Veterans who were not only against the war, but against war in general. They were a proactive group who thought up what to do at the individual and club level and then went out and did it with little interference from the top. Dave Cline and his administration somehow herded this gang of individuals and did it with compassion for each member and somehow got us through our arguments without shattering anyone's dignity along the way.

Dave had a gruff demeanor and a drill sergeant's no nonsense authority. At the same time he was sharp and analytical and usually three steps ahead of what was going on. He somehow interjected just the right amount of humor as well. Away from the convention floor he would engage all in meaningful conversation and find time to shout out cadence songs when we would move to the streets on the Sunday peace event that ends each convention. The guy was a man's man and a veteran's hero. He clearly set the tone of VFP.

I knew I was at the right place and Dave was the shining example of what we could be. The new guys in charge are doing fine, but Dave...you were special.

Jim Brown

DAVE CLINE, YOU WILL BE GREATLY MISSED

We are stunned and grieved by the news of Dave Cline’s passing. He was the heart and soul of the US antiwar movement and it is hard to think he is no longer with us. Our thoughts are with Dave’s partner Gladys and other family.

We first met Dave in November 2002, when he spoke at a Veterans’ Day demonstration in Philadelphia that we helped organize against the war in Afghanistan. We were struck from the beginning by his energy and focus in bringing together different sectors of the movement, by his embracing of the contribution we were all making, including women and people of color, to the anti-war movement, and by consistently making the way for those with less power. He didn’t have a self-promoting or self-indulgent bone in his body: his concern always was the movement. Whether in his instrumental work in putting Vets for Peace behind Military Families Speak Out, or his bringing Vietnam veterans together with Vietnamese survivors of Agent Orange, or his planning the “Walkin to New Orleans” Veterans’ caravan and march with Katrina survivors, among many, many examples, Dave made it his job to encourage and fight for a movement that was anti-racist and anti-sexist at its root.

A number of women in the Strike are sisters, mothers, and grandmothers who have cared for and in some cases lost loved ones to Agent Orange. Dave came down off the platform of a showing of “Sir, No Sir!” to talk with those of us whose pain still cuts so deep. We appreciated Dave’s work demanding accountability from Dow and its US government. Dave was also a periodic and popular guest on the Pacifica radio show Sojourner Truth hosted by Margaret Prescod of Women of Color in the Global Women’'s Strike.

Dave Cline was a great grassroots spokesman, a courageous man not afraid of the consequences of the truth. He was always winning because he had no reservations to giving his all to the movement. He was joyful because his mind was made up: he was free to be absolutely opposed to the powers-that-be. That’s an example we can all use. He was one of our most important movement leaders, and his passing is a hard loss to bear. Our work will be harder without him. He will be greatly missed around the world.

We speak for a network of women and men in many countries who continue to show “Sir No Sir” at our women’s centers and elsewhere, to great amazement at finding a movement they never even heard of,and so always to great pleasure and applause. Dave’s legacy among much else is this film, which will go on to inspire and organize until we win.

Global Women’s Strike
Women of Color in the Global Women’s Strike
Payday Men’s Network
www.globalwomenstrike.net
www.refusingtokill.net

I first saw and met Dave Cline when he limped through the front door of The Oleo Strut coffeehouse in September, 1968. The Army had released him from hospital, even though they had not been able to heal the wounds that he would deal with for the next 39 years.

I was the Vietnam Vet-in-residence among the civilian staff then. My apotheosis about Vietnam had happened 4 years earlier, when I was a participant in the Tonkin Gulf "Incident" - the lie that created the war in Vietnam. Little did I know on August 4, 1964, but there was an ally out there on the South China Sea, Lt (jg) Fred Gardner, Assistant Gunnery Officer on the USS Turner Joy - one of two destroyers "attacked" that night - Fred ran down from the gunnery tower to his CO and informed him that "the only target out there is the Maddox." Four years later, Fred would take the money paid him for writing the (awful) movie "Zabriskie Point" and fund the GI antiwar coffeehouse movement with that paycheck, and he and I would talk about that night before I left to go to Killeen Texas that July and staff The Oleo Strut. (Just so you know, while Fred was convincing his CO not to open fire, FT2 Dave Johnson - my good friend from USN firefighting school while we awaited transport to WestPac the year before - was manning the fire control tower of USS Maddox and telling the Commodore "the only target out there is Turner Joy, sir" as he refused the order to open fire three times; Dave was courtmartialed and reduced to FTSN for "failure to obey a direct order" in September 1964. There's a bit of history that needs to go in the books; hearing his story was what "turned" this reporter - more Vietnam history not in the books. Imagine what would have happened had one opened fire and sunk the other.)

Soon after his arrive, Dave was the main anti-war organizer on-base. Whenever an officer gave him shit for what he did, his response was "What are you going to do - send me to Vietnam?" Stopped them every time.

Dave became the soldier editor of our "underground" newspaper, "The Fatigue Press." I was then and am now a professional writer and journalist, and I remember many times doing "all nighters" down in Austin, working over the stuff submitted, getting it onto those @#$%$#@!! mimeograph sheets, and getting it done. Dave could curse for ten minutes without repeating himself when we had to deal with that fershlugginah mimeo machine (those who have been in the military will know what a wonderful thing that was).

As Dave Zeiger has told his story, after my wife and I left the Strut in December 1968, Dave and we parted company, for the kinds of idiot reasons Dave Zeiger points out. While Dave Zeiger was working on Sir No Sir (in which I appear for a whole 25 seconds - I timed it) he put Dave Cline and me back in touch. We hadn't talked in 30 years, and when we did, it was like the last time we had talked was yesterday. That was Dave. I was glad to be back to being his comrade these past four years.

As a writer who has had the opportunity to write historically about some Real American Heroes, I would compare Dave Cline with my old friend, the late Richard H."Dick" Best. History knows Dick Best as the guy who changed the tide of battle at the Battle of Midway by sinking the Japanese carrier "Akagi." He really did change the course of history, and create the world you and I (the readers of this) grew up in (the world where the United States won the Pacific War), but for Dick, he always believed the greater service he gave his country was as the Librarian of the RAND Corporation, where he helped Daniel Ellsberg publish "The Pentagon Papers." He believed that was his great service to the true America he believed in all his life - more important than changing the course of the Pacific War.

Dick Best and Dave Cline were - as individuals - about as different as men could be, but they were both the same guy: American Patriots willing to sacrifice everything for what America really is. Both gave up their health for the rest of their lives as a result of their ultimate act of sacrifice for their country, and both learned from that what was truly important and worth sacrificing for.

It was a privilege to know both of them and my life is better that I coulf call both good friends.

BTW: many of you may not know this, but Dave Cline was the character Charlie Sheen played in the movie "Platoon." He was remembered by his squad-mate Oliver Stone, upon whom he made as memorable an impact as he did with the rest of us. The movie character may have sat up and looked out the helicopter as he left; but Dave Cline lay on a stretcher taking 7 pints of plasma on his way to the first MASH. I learned this direct from my friend Oliver Stone when he and I were in competition for whose "vet-writ" Vietnam script would be the first to make it to screen (and history declared the winner) 23 years ago.

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver

I knew he was very sick and this is still not easy. We shared a room in Crawford for almost a week a couple years ago and I marveled then at his stamina, dedication and the way he would just not stop. He possessed that old Wobbly intention of organizing till the day he died! And he did and he lived his vision and we are all the better for it!

I first heard of Dave sometime in '69 or 70 when I was still on active duty and involved in our coffee house at Ft Dix and later Ft. Knox. A network had grown (USSF) that allowed us to easily share our newspapers which meant communication & connection.

Two campaigns are memorable, at least one of which came from the fertile minds of Dave and his friends at The Oleo Strut. One was the Tyrells Jewelry Store boycott which we in Mauldraugh, KY got behind and which got us all jailed. The other was "Armed Farces Day" when we successfully managed to shut down the U.S. military's annual celebration of militarism, when many bases canceled their celebrations in the face of our country-wide actions. See, "Sir, No Sir!"

The fact that Dave Cline was very much present during the initial days of Iraq Vets Against the War not only attested to his indefatigable desire to ceaselessly work for and organize veterans for peace, but speaks highly to how he visioned veterans leading our communities to turn from war and support those in uniform, who do.

Don't be surprised, if during some political or strategic discussion, someone takes a break to "go to speak with Cline."

He'll be with us forever because of what he taught and shared.

Hal Muskat

"Sir, No Sir!" cast member

VFP San Francisco

He was of great heart and resolve to educate the public about the costs of war ... I feel a sense of his strength always when I look at the photo. I was always in awe of his courage to walk through his experiences and stand before people telling his truth. The longer I stayed with VFP the more I learned about him. Whenever we met he was always with a hug and such warmth ... not many men I am willing to be around in my life now and I am honored to say that only the men I have met, including David, in VFP are the ones I will ever consider my brothers and friends.

RIP dear comrade ... we will continue to hold the beacon for those coming home knowing you will recieve the ones who don't on the other side ... they will be in good, loving hands.

Chante Wolf
Chapter 27, MN
1980-92 Air Force, Persian Gulf I

This is send my condolences to you and others who were close to David Cline. His passing is a great loss. In St. Louis when I last saw David, he looked so thin and it seemed to take all his remaining strength just to attend the VFP Convention . I was fortunate to hear him and see him in Seattle and St. Louis. I believe he has finally found peace.

Peace, Chuck

My deepest condolences to Dave's family. He was a righteous brother and an inspiration, as feisty and fearless watching death approach as he was in the struggle against war and injustice.

Love to Dave ... may he rest in peace.

Jean Carey Bond

Vietnam Agent orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign

David Cline spoke to the press with me and in support of me at a press conference where I announced my intentions of saying no to the Iraq war as a soldier. That was on February 15, 2003. I didn't think much of him at the time because we had just met. As I grew to join Veterans For Peace (NYC) and other peace groups I witnessed the high level of respect all types of people within and outside of the peace movement had of him. Thats when I realized that the man who supported me on that crucial date was a great man of courage and fortitude. Since then he always greated me as "brother Khalil", and I had shaken his hands several times thinking, "wow, this is Dave". He never lost his smile and he never judged me for being a Muslim in these times of Islamaphobia. He really was a brother. When I heard of his passing, I couldn't express my grief, so I didn't. It has taken me a while to realize he is gone. I know he meant alot to alot of people. But he meant alot to me as David Cline. Thank you for supporting me that day David, and many days after. You will be remembered.

Ghanim Khalil

USMC/ANG-NYC

Crawford Peace House, TX. Aug. 10, 2006, The day I meet Cindy and Dave...

I heard through the internet and my South Texans for Peace, email notification group, that Cindy Sheehan was moving to the Crawford Peace House on Saturday Aug. 6 and was going to campout there during all of George Bush’s vacation until he talked to her for just one minute, during one of his unscheduled work days at his leisure.

I also heard that she may be arrested on the morning of Aug. 11, as a threat to our national security. How absurd! A grieving mother a threat to national security? That was all I could take, I had go to Crawford and stand between her and anybody that tried to do her harm. Not bad for an old man who used to protest the war in Vietnam, a Vietnam-era submarine veteran, a federal union labor activist, who always stood up for a good cause. I had a mission and this time I wasn’t going to miss the revolution. Cindy was becoming to the stop the war movement what Rosa Parks was to the civil rights movement.

The time has come help stop this war...

After work on Aug. 10, I drove 330 miles in my van, straight to the Crawford Peace House. Upon my arrival I was greeted by strangers who asked where I was from and if I needed anything. I asked where I might find Cindy when she walked by me with a telephone headset, as she was constantly on the phone doing interviews with newsgroups from across the country. I introduce myself and she remembered from our emails that I was from Vacaville and the magnets that I sent her, as she gave me a hug and invited me to join her at Camp Casey, whom she named after her son.

What is going on here? Where’s the revolution? These people coming to Crawford are committed to speaking the truth to the power of the government; practicing non-violence, keeping a drug-free environment and using non-confrontational dialog with safe and peaceful gatherings of everyday people. Where is the revolution?

I rode out to the camp on a shuttle van with many others to help reduce the traffic, on Prairie Chapel Road to Bush’s ranch, only to see many people forced to camp and stand in ditches with the water and fire ants. I helped put up a few small white crosses along the roadside with the names of soldiers that were killed and to honor their memories. I sat up at the top of the hill over looking the road passing the camp to wave at cars and trucks speeding by the encampment and to warn people to get out of the middle of the road.

Later that night I came back to the camp in my van to see how far I could get into Bush’s homestead and I only got down the road about two more miles before I ran into a Texas State Trooper wearing a flax jacket standing by a barricade checking identification and turning unknown persons, like me, back down the road.

I returned to the Crawford Peace House and met more people who came to show support as they were being drawn to this event just to find out for their selves what was going on and to see if this can really be happening? Come to Crawford, says Randi Rhodes on Air America Radio, "The New Vacationland of America, go now, and support Cindy”. You have to see what is going on up there, it is so surreal and yet so wonderful at the same time, to see all the diverse groups and people that are coming from all over America just to donate their time, money and share a common goal to stop this dirty little war and to support Cindy. I got to meet with many people, Bill Mitchell who lost his son in the war, David Van Os who is running for Texas Attorney General, David Cline who is President of VFP, fellow members of VFP, members of Code Pink, members of Gold Star Families for Peace, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War, members of Military Families Speak Out, Air America, etc. Of course the right wing radio stations like, Darrel Ankarlo of KLIF AM 570, (America’s Talk Radio out of Dallas, TX), were circling like hawks everywhere. One DJ from that radio station was talking live on the radio while sitting out in front of the Peace House in his SUV saying that Cindy would not come out to talk to him, (she was out at Camp Casey). He claimed that as he drove by the house the occupants began throwing plastic water bottles at his SUV and when he stopped to get out they all ran away like chickens. This was so funny because when one woman walked over to offer him a friendly cup of coffee he drove away at high speed.

On Friday morning Aug. 12, we had to get out to Camp Casey before they shut down Prairie Chapel Road, due to a local rancher holding a major Republican Party fund raiser and Bar-B-Que at his ranch which put Camp Casey between Bush’s place and his. I hurried to give David Cline and another couple a ride in my van and as we turned right on the road out to Camp Casey we found ourselves right in the middle of the six executive buses carrying the Bush supporters out to the fund raiser. We had to laugh because as we got to the entrance to the Bar-B-Que event the Secret Service surrounded my van and realized very quickly who we were and made us drive around the check point to the ranch. When we got to Camp Casey, the Texas Rangers, State Troopers and the Secret Service, S.S., made everybody stand one hundred feet off the road behind yellow barrier tape as State Troopers escorted Bush and his friends as they drove by at about fifty-five miles an hour with S.S. sharpshooters aiming laser sighted M-16s, riding shotgun in three black SUV's, on the way to the Bar-B-Que at the ranch down the road. They made everybody stay behind the police line until Bush ate his Bar-B-Q, as he raised campaign money. It was about three hours before anyone was allowed to return to town.

The sight of such tight security against peaceful people exercising their right to gather, who weren’t any different, except their beliefs, from the people down the road handing out money to support this current administration, was such a stark contrast that it felt so strange to me that Bush had to speed by on his way home instead of stopping his SUV and asking Cindy to visit with him for a minute on the road. It would have been so easy for him to end Cindy’s vigil at that moment.

I felt the long hot, dog days of summer inch slowly along as the stand off in Crawford was making people nationwide think about how to finally end this war. I wasn’t saving Cindy as I had thought, she was saving us! Saving us from political groups that are not listening to what she is really saying, saving us from having to speak up for what is right, saving us from having to explain to our kids why our soldiers are dying, saving us from our own excuses to stand up and say publicly what is wrong with this war in Iraq, Cindy is saving us all.

It was my time to go, so I gave Cindy a big hug and kiss and told her she is in my prayers. I hope to return before it all ends on Sept. 3, and I hope you and my family can support her, either in person or by writing your own feelings to those that may listen between now and the end of the standoff.

This is for you, Cindy Sheehan, as you camp out in Crawford, TX and for your actions, respect and honor your have shown to your son Casey as you stand for all those who've lost their lives in this war in Iraq.

Thank you Dave Cline for the ride!

Peace, Tom

Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign

Dear Mrs. Ratner and friends,

It was a great shock for us to hear that sad news that our mutual friend, Mr. David Cline, passed away on Saturday, September 15, 2007.

We are grateful for and highly appreciative of David for all his affection and his action in support of Vietnam and the Vietnamese people. He made great efforts and carried out countless activities as President of the Veterans For Peace and founding leader of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and as a founder of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign. We will forever keep in our mind his image of a fighter for peace and justice against wars, racism and oppression.

It is painful o see that over 30 years have passed since the end of the American War in Vietnam, many Americans, especially veterans like Billy David, Joan Duffy of the U.S, Nguyen Van Quy, Nguyen Thi Hong and different generations of other Vietnamese people are still suffering and dying from the lethal impact of Agent Orange/dioxin and other toxic chemicals used during the war in Vietnam. They have been coping with fatal diseases such as cancers of all kinds, resulting in tens of thousands of people dying in tremendous pain and hundreds of thousands of children born with birth-defects and disabilities. As a founder of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign, David Cline did the best he could, together with his comrades in the Campaign, to fight for justice for victims of Agent Orange/dioxin of both Vietnam and the U.S.

The Vietnam Union of Friendship Orgnizations (VUFO) and its member organizations including the Vietnam-USA Society, the Vietnam Peace and Development Foundation extend deepest sympathy and heartfelt condolences to David’s wife, Gladys Kauinohea, his loved ones and relatives as well as all comrades and our mutual friends at the Vietnam Agnet Orange Relief and Responsibility and the Veterans For Peace, in Santa FE, New Mexico. We hope that they and his fellow veterans will soon overcome such a great loss.

We all join you in wishing David Cline an eternal rest in peace and promise to continue our common struggle for peace and justice on earth for all and everyuone, especially for the victims of AgentOrange/dioxoin in Vietnam and the United States and elsewhere in the world.

Yours in peace and friendship,

Vu Xuan Hong

President

The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations

I express my sincere condolence and regret on the passing away of the former President of Veterans for Peace, David Cline. He has contributed greatly to the world's anti-war and peace movements as well as he development of the VFP.

He deeply impressed me and some of my colleagues when we met him last year in the United States and concluded a memorandum of mutual cooperation for peace of the world. We will miss him, and console the VFP for the loss of its great leader. May his soul rest in peace!

Pyo, Myong Yol

Chief Representative

Korean Veterans for Peace

Seoul

There's this photo in my mind of Dave Cline and Clarence Fitch and Grace Paley and me. The actual photo, used in the film Another Brother, was from a War Resisters League dinner in the late 1980s. As chair of the WRL at that time, I had the distinct honor and pleasure of sharing the emceeing responsibilities with Grace, presenting our annual Peace Award to Dave and Clarence as representatives of VVAW. Now Dave joins the ancesters, along with the other two from that frozen memory, and my sadness is mixed with the fact that they must be giving whomever it is one faces upon death one helluva hard time!

Over decades of demonstrating, celebrating, speaking out, and strategizing (about this war and that, about intervention and imperialism, about South Africa and south Jersey and everywhere in between), I can't begin to describe the ways in which Dave inspired and educated me and my generation of resisters. Though the words were not originally his own, he embodied a phrase that I still repeat often, and that seems important to hold onto at difficult times like this: Mourn for the Dead, Fight Like Hell for the Living. We will miss and mourn you, dear Dave, and will redouble our fight in your spirit and memory.

Matt Meyer, War Resisters League

There's little I can add to the eloquent words already posted here, except to say that I was always impressed by the level of energy, enthusiasm, focus, honesty and heart which Dave displayed.

Following Veterans Peace Council meetings on 43rd Street, we'd sometimes walk together to Port Authority Bus Terminal to catch our respective buses home....often talkin' about the early days of VVAW, and music.

We shared a love of music....I love to listen to it, but Dave could really play it.

In October of 2005 we both happened to arrive early for a meeting at Community Church.

Dave was listening to his CD Walkman. He said "Here Brother, listen to this." It was the first time I ever heard Robert Cray's "Twenty."

We had a float with a sound system in the NYC Veterans Day Parade that year, and "Twenty" was one of the songs Dave included in the mix he made for the occasion.

I will never listen to that song again without thinking of Dave. He was a true patriot, and in every sense..a Veteran For Peace

Rest easy my Brother. Your Brother loves and misses you.

"Twenty"

words and music by Robert Cray

When you're used up, where do you go

Soldier

Mother dry your eyes, there's no need to cry

I'm not a boy, it's what I signed up for

When you're used up, where do you go

Soldier

I can't take the heat, and I hardly sleep anymore

What'd we come here for

Standing out here in the desert

Trying to protect an oil line

I'd really like to do my job but

This ain't the country that I had in mind

They call this a war on terror

I see a lot of civilians dying

Mothers, sons, fathers and daughters

Not to mention some friends of mine

Some friends of mine

Was supposed to leave last week

Promises they don't keep anymore

Got to fight the rich man's war

When you're used up, where do you go

Soldier

Late in 2004

Comes a knock at the door

It's no surprise

Mother dry your eyes

George Weber USN '66-'69

VFP Tappan Zee Chapter 060

VVAW Clarence Fitch NYC Chapter

Bye, Dave, youth, tomorrow, war --

Your ripples still spread on the fabric of life.

Bye, Dave

Steve Goldsmith

FTA - Louisville, KY 68-70

I never met Mr Cline but I honor a fallen brother.My brother came home shattered from Vietnam and there is not a day I do not miss him.I have not seen him since 1978.
My condolences to the family and I will send a contribution
JJB

I met Dave Cline on August 4th, 2005, just two days before myself and about 40 members of the Veterans for Peace (and about 2 dozen others ranging from Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Vets Against the War, Vietnam Vets Against the War, and my group, Gold Star Families for Peace and Texas peace activists) made our historic walk down Prairie Chapel Road on August 6th.

I regret that I made Dave’s life a wee bit harder those few days during that August. Being one of the main speakers at the VFP National Convention that year was just incidental to my determination to ask George “what noble cause” did he kill my son Casey for and what noble cause was keeping our troops in Iraq, dying and killing innocent Iraqis.

Dave got a hold of me that first night at the Bar-be-que and he told me that I was causing a division at the Convention because most of the Vets wanted to go with me and their very important annual business meeting was happening the same day I had decided to confront George in Crawford. I had already told the world I was going on August 6th, so Dave and I reached an agreement that a “platoon” of Vets would go with me (some defied “orders” and followed us to Crawford, anyway) and the rest would stay at the Convention. In fact, I rode from Dallas to Crawford (the first of what would become many such trips) on the Veterans for Peace Impeachment Bus.

The VFP and Dave turned out to be huge supporters of Camp Casey that year and throughout these past years, as they had supported me and Gold Star Families for Peace when I first learned of them at the Arlington West display in Santa Barbara. Dave spent a lot of time in Crawford that summer and his experience in the peace movement and beyond have always been a touchstone in my life as a budding activist.

Each time I have seen Dave since then, I have been troubled at the seeming deteriorating condition of his health, and amazed and inspired by his energy and resolve to see the end of the Iraq occupation. The last time I saw him a few months ago, I hugged him and was shocked at how thin he was and how tenuous his connection to life was. I am deeply saddened by his passing, honored by our friendship. Our country has sadly lost a true warrior for peace.

Many of you know already that Dave was wounded three times in Vietnam and was a major leader in the GI resistance to that horribly messy lie. I would recommend watching the film Sir, No Sir! to get a great historical perspective on that important movement which had a great impact on ending the war and which Dave Cline had an enormous impact on.

I have been contemplating how to honor Dave and his lifelong sacrifice for peace.

For myself, I will be making donations to two organizations: Courage to Resist (for Iraq war resisters) and Veterans for Peace to help continue their very important truth in recruitment work. I am continually puzzled that after 4 ½ years of a proven illegal and immoral war that our dreadfully abused troops are repeatedly allowing themselves to be misused and sent into a situation that is inherently evil. With over one million Iraqis dead and millions wounded, or displaced, our troops must have the courage to resist being used as pawns in a deadly game of genocide and destabilization of an entire region. A growing GI resistance movement would honor Dave’s memory. Preventing our young people from enlisting in the imperial forces of the USA is imperative for reining in a destructively out of control war machine which Dave fought against so courageously.

Dave’s death is also a wake-up call for how our veterans from Vietnam are still dying from war related causes (either directly, or indirectly). A friend of mine from Houston who is in MFSO just lost her Vietnam veteran husband this past week, too. It is abominable that a country which sends its young people to die for lies and does not care for them when they come home broken in body and spirit.

It will be so hard to go to peace events and not see my friend Dave there. He worked so tirelessly to end the imperialistic occupation of Vietnam and prevent the corporate/military invasion of Iraq and I hope he passed knowing he did everything humanly possible and his life had high value, deep meaning, and his work honored the memory of Casey, almost 4,000 Americans killed in Iraq and almost 60,000 needlessly KIA in Vietnam. His work and inspiration has helped thousands of other veterans channel their anger and PTSD into positive activities for peace.

I also believe a way to honor Dave’s life would be for the present peace movement to recommit itself to this immensely important work and find peace within our ranks and put aside egos and personal agendas to achieve that for which Dave sacrificed so much:

True and lasting peace.

- Cindy Sheehan

Dave Cline: Veteran, Father, Fighter, Hero - R.I.P.

by Pham Binh

http://prisonerofstarvation.blogspot.com/2007/09/dave-cline-veteran-father-fighter-hero.html

Dave Cline, a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and president of Veterans for Peace, passed away this weekend.

His loss is hard to bear even for those such as myself who were not very close to him on a personal level. I can't even begin to imagine how hard this must be for his family.

His loss is hard to because he was such a fine human being, a warm, radiant, down-to-earth stand-up working-class guy with a great sense of humor and an unbelievable dedication to the fight for social justice. His activism spanned almost four decades after returning from combat in Vietnam. I had the pleasure of working with him on and off again starting in 2002 at various anti-war demonstrations and events when it became clear that the Bush administration was going to risk the lives of thousands of Americans and Iraqis by invading Iraq.

His third combat wound in Vietnam led to the beginning of his political transformation. Before that traumatic event he "thought life was drinking beer, chasing girls and listening to rock and roll." Shortly before the Tet Offensive in 1968, Dave was involved in a night time firefight near the Cambodian border. He saw someone approaching his foxhole but held his fire until he saw the barrel of an AK-47 and a muzzle flash. He opened fire, killing the Vietnamese soldier.

The next morning, someone congratulated him, saying, "here's the gook you killed." But to Dave, he wasn't a "gook." He began to wonder: did that man have a girlfriend? What about his mother? And he realized that he had lived while the other man died only because of pure, dumb luck.

Dave was hospitalized in Japan for the injuries he suffered in that fight. In the hospital, he picked up a book by anti-war Vietnam vet and Green Beret Donald Duncan called "The New Legions," which helped turn him against the war he once fought.

After returning from Vietnam, Dave threw himself into the burgeoning anti-war movement and helped establish the Oleo Strut coffeehouse next to Fort Hood to do anti-war work among active-duty troops. An oleo strut is a shock absorber for a helicopter, and that's what what the coffeehouse was for troops returning from Vietnam and for those who were questioning or opposed to the war. This approach to doing political work - providing comfort and a social outlet in addition to politics - was one of the things that separated Dave and many anti-war veterans from the rest of the anti-war movement and the American Left.

At the coffeehouse, there was radical literature, bands played shows, and Dave helped publish a GI newspaper there. He also met Jane Fonda, whose Fuck the Army (FTA) tour travelled to Fort Hood and other bases around the world to entertain anti-war military personnel. At this time he also helped found and lead Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

At some point in the 1970s, Dave moved to New Jersey, worked at various jobs with the NYC Port Authority and became a union activist. Like most combat veterans, he struggled with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and went through a few marriages.

Despite personal difficulties Dave may have faced, he fought the good fight. He fought the Veterans Administration for proper care and benefits for all Vietnam vets; he fought for both American and Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange; he fought against America's murderous intervention against the Central American revolutions in the 80s fearing that it would turn into another Vietnam; he stood up against the attack on Panama, the Gulf War, and intervention in Somalia in the early 90s; he opposed the bombing of Serbia and Kosovo in 1999; he travelled to Vieques to show his solidarity with the people of Puerto Rico in their fight to stop the U.S. military from using it as a practice range; he organized against the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq; and he organized a Veterans for Peace caravan to bring relief to New Orleans after it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina and neglect by every level of government.

The thing that kept Dave going throughout the years, I think, was his desire to stop anyone from having to go through what he and millions of Americans and Vietnamese had to go through in the Vietnam war. That's what kept him motivated through the ups and downs of movement activity. That's what gave him the fire and the passion that came through in his hoarse voice whether he was speaking at a large anti-war rally or to a dozen middle and high school kids.

It was this deep, personal level of commitment to the cause that made him so dear to everyone he worked with, spoke to, and had an impact on. It was why he had little patience for the sectarian, ideologically-motivated infighting or ego-tripping that he saw between groups that ostensibly were on the same side of the issues. He felt that fighting over trivial issues, nitpicking, and sneaky maneuvering within the Left strengthened and aided the enemies of working people, soldiers, and people of color. He felt that getting overly-involved in ideological debates meant losing sight of the people whose lives are put in harm's way every day all over the world by the system.

Despite his hostility to what he would call ideology, Dave was a socialist. He wanted a fair, just, and equal world without wars, insurance companies running rampant, and war profiteering. His genius was in being able to make these complex ideas relevant and compelling to any audience he spoke to, whether they were political or not, by humanizing them in terms of his own life experience. Imperialism wasn't some lifeless abstraction about the concentration and centralization of capital reaching its highest point of development. For Dave, imperialism was about people's lives being destroyed in a hail of gunfire, bombs, and napalm, it was about Agent Orange crippling veterans and their children decades later, it was about rich people sending poor people to die for money and power, and it was about veterans not getting anything but the shaft by the government that sent them to kill or be killed for no good reason.

Dave Cline will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him. The best way we can honor him is by continuing his fight to get all of our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan immediately, making sure they get the care they deserve when they get home, and fighting for a world where there are no more wars for power and profit.

I would like to add some personal reflections on the part of Dave's life with which I was deeply connected–the GI Movement against the Vietnam War. I hope you will indulge some nostalgic reminiscing here–there really is a point to it.

Let me say up front that without Dave Cline, Sir! No Sir! would not have been made.

I met Dave in the Spring of 1970, when I joined the staff of the Oleo Strut Coffeehouse outside Ft. Hood in Killeen, Texas. My introduction to him and the GI Movement was riding in a broken down Chevy with Dave driving 120 mph through central Texas and me convinced I would never get out of there alive. I’m not sure anything defines Dave Cline better than that wild ride.

Dave and I were from different worlds. I was a middle class kid who came to my opposition to the war and growing radicalism intellectually. Dave, a working class kid from Buffalo, had joined the army and been wounded three times in Vietnam. It was his last wound, from an NLF soldier at point blank range, that changed everything. The soldier shattered Dave’s knee, and Dave killed him with a bullet in the chest. His first realization was it was “pure luck” that he was alive and the other guy was dead. Then it hit him that there was no real difference between the two of them. Finally, the epiphany: It was the NLF soldier who was fighting for a just cause, while Dave and his comrades were fighting for a lie. In typical Dave Cline fashion he concluded in 1970, “I had to kill a revolutionary to become a revolutionary.”

And revolutionaries we were. Right there in Killeen fucking Texas. In 1971–with literally thousands of GIs rebelling against the war and joining groups like the Black Panther Party–planning demonstrations by day and hotly debating the writings of Marx, Lenin and Mao by night was a very practical thing to do. And boy could Dave debate. Even in his sleep. It wasn’t uncommon for him to jolt up from his bed at 2 am to continue a discussion from earlier that day, only to have no memory of it the next morning (Dave claimed he had even slept through a mortar attack in Vietnam).

And it was in that cauldron that we grew up. We were part of an unprecedented political upheaval, and we were alive in a way that is very rare–even though we could barely afford to eat two skimpy meals a day. Terry Davis, Dave’s wife at the time, reminded me recently that one of her happiest moments was when Mark Lane donated a sack of potatoes to the staff.

Dave was intense, determined, and maddeningly stubborn. In 1970, the last thing a GI wanted to do after getting out of the army was live in a military town–even if he had been active in the movement. But here was Dave, during high points and low (which were most of the time), refusing to let go or give up. His connection with the GIs, whether they agreed with us or not, was deep and seamless–and it made the Oleo Strut something special. I can’t begin to quantify what I learned from Dave those two years.

Then the war ended, and we all moved into other arenas, believing deeply in the possibility of revolution right here in the United States. For a while we stayed close, but through the years political disagreements developed, and in those heady times that meant a lot. By the end of the 70s and beginning of the 80s we weren’t in contact any more. Those were very difficult times. In one of the last conversations I had with Dave back then he told me that every morning he woke up thinking “Oh fuck, another day!”

So when I started to make Sir! No Sir! Dave was the first person I wanted to talk to, but I had no idea what or whom I would find. What I found was the person so many have been writing about these last few days. Wracked by illness, he was extraordinarily energetic and eager to tell his story. The day of our interview, he had just come home from a grueling three-day VFP convention and was worried he wouldn’t have much energy. We talked for four hours.

And here’s the most important part. After decades of both political and personal conflicts, there are still some out there who would say “Don’t talk to so-and-so, ‘cause he’s a yada-yada.” Not only would Dave have none of that, he actively spoke against it. Dave knew the tremendous importance of telling the story of the GI Movement today, in this world and with this war. Because of him, several people are in the film alongside others they wouldn’t have been in the same room with a few years ago. And he carried that spirit into the dozens of screenings and Q&As he participated in these past couple of years. He has played a tremendous role in making Sir! No Sir! the spark for today’s GI Movement that it has been. And that’s on top of his superhuman energy in building the work of Veterans for Peace.

In these last years of his life, I don’t think Dave was saying “Oh fuck, another day!” anymore.

This has been a tough year. Along with Dave, two other veterans of the GI Movement who were integral parts of the film have also died–Oliver Hirsch of the Nine for Peace, and Terry Whitmore, who deserted to Sweden after watching federal troops invade his home town of Memphis as he lay wounded in a hospital bed in Japan. Along with Dave, their lives had deep historic meaning.

David Zeiger
Displaced Films, Director of "Sir! No Sir!"
www.displacedfilms.com

I only spoke to Dave over the telephone, but he touched me. He was an unseen friend.

There is a part of me which just wants to forget altogether I am or ever was a veteran. But I also feel resentment anybody younger than me should have to become a veteran. War is just no longer necessary for the human race!

Dave told me if I that, I needed to renew my VFP membership and sign up for a little extra donation. And we chatted, and hoped to meet.

I am glad I did. I believe for Dave, his is the kingdom of heaven, because he was a Peace Maker.

Kurt Thornbladh
(82nd Airborne 1970-1972)

"Impermanence is the nature of all things"

And so it is with the life of David Cline as well as every battle, every war, every nation, every struggle. Thank you, David, for your true dedication to end the special kind of suffering that only those who experience war can really understand. It was an honor and a privilege and a sad necessity to march with you on so many occasions.

An anonymous member of VFP, DAV, and Syracuse Peace Council.

Peace,
http://nengaku.blogspot.com

David meant so much to so many. It’s a great loss to even those of us who only met him a few times. The lessons he taught us and the contributions he made, as a man dedicated to peace, will be passed on for many generations.

Mourning death is a part of life. David’s legacy, however, will not die and for that we need to rejoice.

Sam Feldman
VFP Alex Arredondo Chapter – Miami

I looked for Dave at every anti-war rally, march, or veterans event I have participated in since the war in Iraq began. He was always there. I will continue to look for his presence at every anti-war rally, march and event I attend. And he will be there, too. But I will still miss him.

Stacy Bannerman
Military Families Speak Out

Dave Cline, along with Clarence Fitch who preceded Dave into the next world, are two of the most profound anti-war grunts I ever met who, in addition, possessed an astute structural understanding of how capitalist war-making society functions, decade after decade. Knowing them from the 1980s, each was always present nearly everywhere, so authentic and unpretentious, in their passionate journeys and struggles toward peace and their absolute disgust of war and the political/economic structures that profit from sending off men and women to kill and die for a lie. Each of these beautiful souls was very instrumental in validating my own shaky recovery from being a typically conditioned, obedient White Male, a journey that first started in a flash moment while witnessing the after effects of an inhabited village that had just been vaporized by napalm in Vinh Long Province in April 1969. Presente! Presente! Presente! Your examples will shine forever!. Thank you, thank you, so much for your example of walkin' the talk of truth and empowerment.

Brian Willson

I first heard Dave Cline speak at Rutgers University during the first invasion of Iraq. He connected the dots scrambled in my head and that gave me the courage and vision to continue on.

Years later, I got to organize with Dave in Jersey City, where we both lived. He was involved with many projects including the Hudson County Coalition for Peace and Justice where we were instrumental in getting one of Jersey's first resolution against the war in Iraq, the present one, past at the city council level.

Also, as fellow labor movement activists, Dave and Italked about the need for democracy in the workplace, the unions and our country. Dave's words, lessons and actions have impacted my work and helped prepare me for the long winters ahead.

Bill Bradley

I mourn the death of David Cline. I never met him in person, only in spirit. I'm sure his spirit is okay. He remains a leader for peace. The good David did will not disappear.

David Giffey
Clarence Kailin Chapter 25
Wisconsin

I met Dave a few times in recent years, though I doubt that he would have remembered my name, he met, supported, and inspired so many peace activists. The last time I met him, though, was fun. At the 2006 VFP convention, I was outside at a press conference wearing my "peace uniform": black BDUs with a variety of military decorations and peace symbols, and my red beret.

Dave sidled up to me, and asked, "Hey, Airborne. Special Ops?

"No, sir. I'm just allergic to camouflage." He laughed, and then I continued to explain the uniform: black being the color of mourning, wearing a patch from a humanitarian mission instead of my actual combat patch, etc. He seemed to like the idea of it, but I think he enjoyed my first answer best.

Sean T Lewis
Secretary, VFP72
Portland, Oregon
The Bill of Rights is my Patriot Act.
The Angry Patriot: http://pdx42.livejournal.com/

David was a great friend of the peace movement, and a remarkable leader of VFP. I did not know him well, but he was quick to share a very initimate reflection of his Vietnam experience with me in Albany, NY one time concerning his war experience and his belief in life after death. If his family does not know this, I would like to send them the details which I will not tell here. Perhaps it was not something that he often discussed, but it came up one day, and David eagerly defended his belief in the soul, based on what he knew from war.

I will miss him, and know that we are significantly less without him. I also know that the best tribute to him is to continue his work.

Attorney Harold Burbank

REMEMBERING DAVID CLINE
by Woody Powell

“That’s no good. This is what I think.”
.. and a strategy would appear
tailored perfectly, fitting the problem
grounded solidly
in the years-deep experience
of this remarkable man
who refused ever
to accept an injustice
-- or a half-baked idea
of how to confront it.

“That’s no good. This is what I think.”
.. words that could have raised my hackles
if I hadn’t respected
the thoughtful objectivity
that characterized perfectly,
the man, David Cline;
if I hadn’t respected
the humanity borne of suffering shared
driving him to labor
in this difficult vineyard
where the most abundant crop
is weariness.

David listened, watched closely,
wary of bullshit,
challenging us all to think,
to really know our minds
before forging a message or
designing an action.

“Yeah. That’ll work.” Or “Good idea.”
.. and the clouds of doubt would part,
actions would form
our struggles would elevate
to new heights of significance.

David lead the unleadable;
the authority-phobes,
the misfits, if you will,
unwilling to buy lies
or empty promises of glory
and gain.

He led us well,
with heart, with humor,
with wit and wisdom
and, most of all, with a keen awareness
of the faults we all live to overcome.

Thank you, David Cline.

September 17, 2007

It is with great sadness that I learned of the death of Dave Cline. I knew and worked with Dave at various times for more than 35 years. It is the veterans community's loss. Please pass my condolences on to his family and friends. Thansk, John

John Rowan, President, Vietnam Veterans of America

I still hear Dave's voice at the annual meeting of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, speaking to us about how there are no " good wars." This was a deep-thinking person, who could be counted on to raise the right questions at the right time. It will take all of us raising our voices together to equal the loss of his.

As I write this, there is a letter from me waiting in Dave's mailbox, asking him to speak at the Homage/Homenaje to Moe Fishman, leader of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, who died in August. Moe's respect for Dave was heartfelt.

Two great voices are silenced. La luta continua.

Georgia Wever

My first memory of Dave was hearing him speak before the invasion of Iraq at an event organized by Somerset Voices for Peace in Central New Jersey. I was invited to sing a song before Dave began his talk. After he spoke to our group, Dave walked over, looked into my guitar case and said, “new guitar.” “How did you know?” I asked. Dave smiled and said, “I could smell it.” To my surprise he then proceeded to tell me about his love of music and his beloved guitar collection.

When I heard the news about Dave’s passing this morning the memory of Dave speaking passionately about his formative experiences in Vietnam came to mind. When he spoke he painted vivid images of pain and transformation that will stay with me always. The most memorable was his description of the impact that the death of a Vietnamese fighter had on his psyche and how he struggled to resolve it within himself. That Dave used his horrific experiences to become a powerful speaker and organizer for peace is a gift that will keep on giving through the actions and words of the many people who were influenced by him and worked by his side. Our re-commitment to the struggle to end war is Dave’s great legacy. Dave would not want us to rest until our children can live in a nation which has joined the community of peace-loving nations. I will carry the memory of his powerful spirit and potent words of truth force forever.

Rest in peace, dear Dave . . . I will miss you terribly.

Sincerely,
Sharleen Leahey
Songs for Peace
http://www.songs4peace

If it were not for the David Clines' of the world,
I would not get out of bed in the morning.
When you take your last breath,
your eyes open to a new world.

Mike Hastie
Vietnam Veteran
VFP Chapter 72
Portland, Oregon

Letter of Condolence

Dear friends,

We are deeply saddened and feeling an incalculable loss in hearing that David Cline, a great friend of Vietnam, and her victims of Agent Orange/dioxin, a resolute fighter for peace, justice, friendship among nations, and for anti-racism movement has passed away in his home town, Jersey City, on September 15, 2007.

David Cline, the former President of Veterans For Peace, a founder of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and a founder of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign.

On behalf of the Vietnamese veterans and innocent civilians who are victims of Agent Orange/dioxin, I would like to share all the sorrow with Gladys Kauinokea, with all of our American friends and colleagues and herein confirm that David Cline will never leave us, because his pictures, his cause will forever greatly inspire us.

Let’s pray that he’ll enjoy a peaceful eternity.

On behalf of VAVA

President,
Dung Vu Hieg

Dear VFP,VFP Chapter 021 Members & Friends

I've been trying to put my thoughts together over the last few days since I received that telephone call early Saturday morning informing me of the passing of our dear brother, Dave Cline. Since then, a lot of memories have passed through my mind about the many times Dave and I worked together for our cause.

To begin with,I myself am a late comer to the peace movement. I got my start about the time the Bush administration started it's run up to the current situation in Iraq. At that time, I reached out to Vietnam Veterans Against the War. They in turn put me in contact with Dave, who was their New Jersey representative. I first met actually Dave during the demonstration at the RNC convention in New York back in 2004.
Since then, Dave and I participated together at many demonstrations, marches and other events together. Dave subsequently talked me into joining Veterans For Peace shortly after our first meeting.

At the time I joined the VFP, the Northern New Jersey chapter was not having regular meetings and Dave asked me if I would be willing to take over as the chapter president to replace Michael McPhearson, who as we all know, was elevated to the current post he holds. Anyway, we started holding meetings and subsequently had an election where I was elected chapter president and Dave was elected chapter vice president, a post he held until his death.

Even though I was the president and Dave was the vice president, I always relied upon his knowledge and personal experience to guide our chapter. At our last meeting on September 1st., a question was raised from the floor which I really could not answer. Dave quickly came up with a response and bailed me out, again.

Another thing I'll miss about Dave are just the times we were just talking as friends. I would usually pick him up at his apartment on meeting days. While we were either hanging out in his kitchen or driving down to our meeting site, we would have conversations ranging from historical facts about Jersey City, the war we were veterans of, to the current political situation in Iraq and this country.

In closing, on behalf of all the members of the Alan Reilly-Gene Glazer Chapter 021, New Jersey, the death of Dave Cline will be a personal loss to all of us. However, I'm sure that Dave would not want us to even flinch. Even though death may have silenced our dear comrade, I know he would say as I remember him saying many times in the past, " Bring the troops home and treat them right when they get home!"

Rest in peace brother Dave.

Kenneth A. Dalton, President
Alan Reilly-Gene Glazer Chapter 021
Veterans For Peace, New Jersey
Life Member, VVAW

This memory of Dave was recently posted on the Sept. 15 Fire on the Mountain 'blog memorial where a number of friends have shared their thoughts.

The People's Organization for Progress, the North Jersey-based African-American community organization that pulled together the Peace & Justice Coalition of over 130 groups, the alliance which sponsored the recent People's March for Peace, Equality, Jobs & Justice, has begun discussing a fitting memorial tribute to our friend David Cline along with recently deceased POP member and supporter, Gene Glazer. One idea is a showing of "Sir, No Sir!" at a major venue with the Peace & Justice Coalition, as well as other anti-war groups.

On a personal note, Dave's passing is a loss of almost incalculable magnitude. He was, along with his close friend, fellow veteran and VVAW member, the late Clarence Fitch, a major influence on my life. Both of these guys shaped my tactics as well as strategy in the anti-war movement, the labor movement and the popular efforts to defeat racism and national oppression in the U.S.

Their humanistic approach to fighting capitalism taught reams more than textbooks or theoretical journals to many young activists in the 1970s. And here we are, a full generation later with scores of the self-appointed theoretical leaders of that era having long-ago abandoned the struggles of the people. DC's example of life-long activism, even through a series of personal health crises that would lead most of us to think only of ourselves, is one we all must learn from. It is our job to continue the many battles that only his untimely demise could force him to abandon.

-Jon Levine
People's Organization for Progress
—and—
Alan Reilly-Gene Glazer Chapter 021
Veterans For Peace, NJ

The Pensacola/NW Florida Chapter of Veterans for Peace wants to send our condolences to the rest of the organization, especially those with whom David Cline was closest to. He meant a lot to a lot of people. Even those he didn't know. Thank you, David. Wherever you are.

As Joe Hill said, Don't mourn, ORGANIZE!

But don't be afraid to cry if you need to. We'll keep going in his memory, as well as those others who fought for peace that he now joins.

Sincerely and in solidarity,
Scott Satterwhite, Chapter 135, NW Florida Veterans for Peace

A Death in the Family - From MFSO

We received word early on the morning of September 15th that Dave Cline had passed away at his home in Jersey City, New Jersey the night before. We are saddened beyond words to lose this extraordinary hero, warrior for peace, and friend.

We first met Dave before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, in January, 2003, when the drumbeats for war were getting deafening. Dave was the president of Veterans For Peace, and he invited Military Families Speak Out to march with the Veterans For Peace contingent in a national demonstration in Washington, D.C. opposing a U.S. invasion of Iraq.

MFSO had formed just two months before, in November, 2002. We were at that time a small group of military families with loved ones already on their way to the Persian Gulf, or being prepared in various ways for deployment. The Veterans For Peace contingent included Vietnam Veterans and Veterans from other conflicts. They had signs calling out President Bush and Vice President Cheney as chicken-hawks who had never served in combat but were all too happy to send our children, our loved ones and another generation into a war on false pretences.

As we marched, Dave led us in cadence that spoke to us in a very special way:

HEY, HEY UNCLE SAM
WE REMEMBER VIET NAM
WE DON’T WANT YOUR IRAQ WAR
PEACE IS WHAT WE’RE MARCHIN’ FOR

IF THEY TELL YOU TO GO
THERE IS SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW
THEY WAVE THE FLAG WHEN YOU ATTACK
WHEN YOU COME HOME THEY TURN THEIR BACK

BUSH AND CHENEY TALK THAT TALK
BUT WE KNOW THEY’RE CHICKEN HAWKS
IF THEY THINK THEY’RE SO DAMN RIGHT
LET BUSH AND CHENEY GO TO FIGHT

Military Families Speak Out and Veterans For Peace became a family that January, and we have never been apart since. For this, we have Dave Cline to thank.

Dave brought Military Families Speak Out into the planning for a Veterans For Peace event in Washington, DC called “Operation Dire Distress”, to take place at the end of March, 2003. As it turned out, Operation Dire Distress took place about a week and a half after the bombs began dropping on Baghdad. Operation Dire Distress ended up being the first national event protesting the U.S. invasion of Iraq. While many other groups seemed to suffer a set-back in organizing once hostilities began, Operation Dire Distress helped Veterans For Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Military Families Speak Out move forward strategically and together, without missing a beat, to build our voices as Veterans and Military Families speaking out to separate “support for our troops” from “support for the war,” and to urge an end to a war we had hoped would never have started.

Dave Cline’s phone number was entered in our ‘speed dials;’ and his counsel, advice, vision and strategic sense helped MFSO grow during those first months of hostilities and beyond. On July 2, 2003, when George Bush uttered his infamous “Bring ‘em on!” in response to a reporter’s question about the presence of an armed Iraqi resistance, we were on the phone with Dave Cline in a heartbeat. With Dave and others we formulated a response, a campaign to challenge Bush’s statement and the U.S. military occupation of Iraq. As George Bush was saying “Bring ‘em on,” we said, “Bring ‘em home!” Out of these conversations grew the “Bring Them Home NOW!” campaign in August, 2003. This campaign planted a pole for the peace/anti-war movement and the country as a whole; as the months and years went by, more and more have moved to this position.

Dave Cline continued to be a large part of the heart and soul of the movement to end the war in Iraq. He supported Military Families Speak Out in more ways than we can ever express. On the painful first anniversary of this unjust and unjustifiable war, VFP, MFSO and others went to Fayetteville, North Carolina to hold a “Support Our Troops – Bring Them Home NOW” rally. Dave’s new set of cadences included a special one for Military Families Speak Out:

MILITARY FAMILIES SPEAK OUT
WE KNOW WHAT WE’RE TALKIN' BOUT
SONS AND DAUGHTERS, HUSBANDS, WIVES
BRING OUR LOVED ONES HOME ALIVE

With all due respect to those who have led cadence during demonstrations over the years and across the country, no one could do it quite like Dave. His voice would echo in our ears; now and for all time it will echo in our hearts.

In July, 2004 at the Veterans For Peace Conference in Boston, Massachusetts we stood proudly with Dave Cline and other members of Veterans For Peace and Military Families Speak Out as the eight founding members of a new organization – Iraq Veterans Against the War – held their first press conference. Dave was there at the beginning of that organization as well, and shared advice, counsel, vision and strategic planning with IVAW as it grew into the powerful organization it is today.

There is so much that Dave Cline helped to accomplish, building the movement for peace and justice over the years, across the country and around the world. We are so thankful that Dave Cline came into our lives when he did. His wit and wisdom helped guide the formation of Military Families Speak Out and our growth from 2 military families in November, 2002 to almost 3,700 today. We thank Dave for the inspiration, guidance and love that he gave to us, and to so many others.

Rest in Peace, Dave Cline!
With Gratitude and Love - In Peace and Solidarity,
Nancy Lessin and Charley Richardson
Co-founders, Military Families Speak Out
September 16, 2007

The message of the true lessons of our failed policies of War were heard, Sadly not by those we hire to lead nor many of our military leaders.

But to watch All the young, who have come forward, and the Respect for Veterans For Peace as well as VVAW have in Tens of Thousands shows the lessons, and your long time leadership, were heard and embraced!

You touched more people than will ever be known, and you led in such a way, by Example, the way everyone should be living their lives, and the way this country of ours should be led by, not just using words to describe but the real example of those words so other countries will embrace those examples and live in Peace!

POEM

He fought alongside you, then
He fought to honor you.
He fought that others like you not suffer your fate.
He has joined you in death but his memory, like yours, lives on.
We will continue his work.
We will fight in your names, and now in his.
You have fallen, but you are not forgotten.
Your sacrifice was not in vain.
We remember.
We always will.

James Starowicz
Member VFP Chapter 150 Charlotte NC

Dave taught me quite a few things about activism as a veteran. Although he is gone his message lives on, and it is the responsibility of the younger veterans to see that the progress of our elders is not lost. Thank you for your dedication, Dave. And thank you for your friendship. Gone, but not forgotten.

Nicholas Przybyla
OEF Veteran

Goodby Compañero,

I'll never forget the day we met in Vieques, Puerto Rico. You came with this bunch of great people, Gene Glazer, Gideon Rosenblum and the Vazquez brothers among them. Your solidarity, constant help and advise will not be forgotten. How can I forget the help you gave to Rolando, one of the many victims of the more than 40 years of bombings in Vieques. You took him to the best Drs. in NYC.

How can we forget all the meetings where you presented the struggle of the Puerto Ricans against the abusive presence of the US Navy in Vieques, your voice serveas a loudspeaker of our struggle. But the longer I knew you the more impressed me, your antiimperialistics positions and the way you presented them, your defense of the veterans, and your devoted search for peace made you an example for all of us. You are a true soldier for peace and the USA and the world lost a great man and citizen.

You'll live in the struggle.

Peace Bro. Un abrazo,
Lisandro (Andy) Rivera

Dave Cline…

15th September 2007, 03:09 pm by Stan

…was a friend and comrade. He died last night at home.

Dave was former President of Veterans For Peace, founding leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and a founder of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign.

He was prominently featured in the film Sir, No Sir!, a film about GI resistance during the Vietnam occupation, reviewed recently by DeAnander on this site.

I met Dave when a handful of us began the Bring Them Home Now! campaign in 2003. He came across like a Jersey street person. He drank and smoked to excess, even though his health was under assault from a lifetime of hardship and ill health, beginning with disabling combat wounds from Vietnam. This first impression was deceptive. He had one of the sharpest political intuitions of anyone I’ve ever known. He was a mentor of the first order, and a patient, fearless revolutionary.

A lot of people knew Dave longer and better than me; and it is they who have the wherewithall and right to pen the fullness of his epitaph.

I just want to acknowledge this loss and his example, because I owe him very much.

The last time I was with Dave was during the six-day hike and caravan from Mobile, AL to New Orleans, LA in March 2006, during the Veterans and Survivors March for Peace and Justice. Dave was a wildly eclectic music afficionado, and he named the march after the New Orleans native Fats Domino’s song: Walkin’ to New Orleans. Dave was also a tremendous admirer of Dr. Martn Luther King; and Dave paraphrased Dr. King’s words to make the motto of the march: Every bomb dropped over Iraq Explodes along the Gulf Coast of the United States.

Dave told an interviewer during the march that he was old and crippled, that it was hot and his feet hurt… and that there was nowhere else he’d rather be. He, as much as anyone, was responsible for conceptualizing that march/caravan, because Dave Cline understood that the war in Iraq, the war in Vietnam, the Black Freedom Struggle, and the treatment of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina were all intimately connected; and that we were duty bound to make those connections clear.

He looked fragile as a ghost then, rail thin with trembling hands and the bones pushing out against his face. But neither his words nor his actions were ever self-indulgent. His every thought was for a social revolution, that is, for a future where joy is embraced, creativity is encouraged, and suffering is minimized for all people.

What he did not see, and something he desperately wanted to see, was an end to the war in Iraq. Now we have to see that for him; and when that time comes we will not feel triumph, for who can triumph at the end of such a horror.

Something they should never drum into soldiers is the idea of honor, because people like Dave Cline will take that seriously and try to live honorably.

When we finally succeed in stopping this war — and we will, because we will never quit opposing it — we can feel that we were honorable in our persistence, and to Dave Cline we can offer gratitude for his example.

Roll Call. David Cline… David Cline… David Cline…
Written by Stan Goff

http://www.feralscholar.org/blog/index.php/2007/09/15/dave-cline/

When I heard of Dave's passing these poems came to mind. I marched with Dave a few times, and he will always have a place in my memory. Dave will live on in everyone he ever touched. Rest in Peace Brother Dave.
Barry Sussman, First Infantry, Vietnam, 67-68.

"Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.

(Mary Frye – 1932)

Rest well in God's loving embrace brave solider. You Sir, are a True American Hero and are remembered by a grateful nation."

"If you are able,
save them a place
inside of you
and save one backward glance
when you are leaving
for the places they can
no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say
you loved them,
though you may
or may not have always.
Take what they have left
and what they have taught you
with their dying
and keep it with your own.
And in that time
when men decide and feel safe
to call the war insane,
take one moment to embrace
those gentle heroes
you left behind.
Major Michael Davis O'Donnell
1 January 1970
Dak To, Vietnam"

Please email submissions breznicek@veteransforpeace.net.

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