Guide to the GIs For Peace Records 1969-1971
Cage 4617

Summary Information

Repository
Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Creator
GIs For Peace
Title
GIs For Peace Records
ID
Cage 4617
Date [inclusive]
1969-1971
Extent
1 container., .25 linear feet of shelf space.
Language
Collection materials are in English.
Abstract
Correspondence, writings, newsletters, business records, and miscellanea, all regarding protest of the Vietnam war and other government policies, and concern for soldiers' rights and conditions.

Preferred Citation

[Item Description]. Cage 4617, GIs For Peace Records. Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Biography/History

GIs For Peace was an organization established by military personnel at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas in 1968. The organization aimed to: promote peace; end the Vietnam war, American militarism and institutional racism; support soldiers' rights, improve soldiers' conditions and provide them with counseling; and work for the betterment of the local community.

Resistance to the Vietnam war within the military began in 1966 with individual acts of resistance to authority. The first anti-establishment newspapers began publication in 1967. As the war and civilian protest escalated, so too did protest within the military. Those in the military were lagely isolated and alienated from civilian protest, as well as working in a more repressive environment. GI newspapers, a stateside phenomenom, were a means for GIs to develop a sense of solidarity with other protesters in the military and present a political analysis of local and national events from their own unique perspective.

GIs For Peace was one of many similar organizations in the country. It was typical in that membership was small and transitory, and that it was representative of the thinking of many in the military who were either not willing to chance the consequences of active involvement or chose to express themselves through other means.

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Scope and Content

This collection is a group of materials collected by Jim Jones, a founding member of GIs For Peace and editor of the organization's newsletter, Gigline. The mailing list for Gigline includes many listings of other GI newspapers and sympathetic leftist publications and organizations. The correspondence contains materials received by Jones both while he was editor of Gigline and after his discharge from the army. A Different Drum is Jones' recollection of the development of GIs For Peace, with an emphasis on his own participation.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections  © 2012

http://www.libraries.wsu.edu/masc/

Terrell Library

P.O. Box 645610

Pullman, WA, 99164-5610 USA

509-335-6691

mascref@wsu.edu

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open for research use.

Acquisition Information

The records of GIs For Peace were donated to the Washington State University Libraries in October 1983 (MS83-36) by James A. Jone

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Names and Subjects

Corporate Name(s)

Creator(s) :
  • GIs for Peace --Archives

Geographic Name(s)

  • Fort Bliss (Tex.)

Subject(s)

  • Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975--Protest movements
  • Military

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Detailed Description of Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Business 

folder

Gigline Mailing List 1969-1970 

1

Leadership Training Seminar Materials 1969 

2

Correspondence 1970-1971 

3

Miscellanea 1970 undated 

4

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Writings 

folder

A Different Drum 1970 

5

Gigline 1970-1971 undated 

6

The Old Mole 1969 

7

Press Releases 1969 

8

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