467. ベトナム戦争中の兵士の抵抗についての米研究書、日本のＯＷＬにも触れる。 （2007/04/29掲載）
467. ベトナム戦争中の兵士の抵抗についての米研究書、日本のＯＷＬにも触れる。 （2007/04/29掲載）
ベトナム戦争下での米軍兵士の反戦抵抗運動についての研究書が、昨年、アメリカで
復刊された。
David Cortright による"SOLDIERS IN REVOLT ――GI Resistance During the Vietnam War"
(Haymarket Books Chicago, Illinois) である。 Amazon に注文すると、1,783円で買える。
同書によると、ベトナム戦争中、前線のベトナムをはじめ、米本国内の基地をふくめて、250もの反戦グループが結成されれたり、地下新聞が刊行されていたとのことで、それらを本書は、かなり総合的に深く検討し、明らかにしている。そのなかには、岩国の米海兵隊基地内での反戦活動が詳しく記述されており、この闘争には、日本の反戦グループ「ベ平連」が積極的に支援したとも述べられている。また、日本に設置された「パシフィック・カウンセリング・サービス」のことや、青森県の三沢基地前につくられたベ平連の反戦スナック「ＯＷＬ」にも触れられている。
その一部を、英文のままだが、紹介しておく。
| ……The main center of political activity among
troops in Asia was the huge American Marine base at Iwakuni，Japan. The
outpost，southwest of Hiroshima，witnessed several major uprisings and
possessed one of the most consistently successful GI organizations in Asia．
The first anti-war activity at Iwakuni surfaced in late l969，inspired by the
Moratorium demonstrations in the United States．Corporals Lonnie Renner and
George Bacon along with other Marines formed a local chapter of the American
Servicemen's Union and，in January l970，began publishing the newspaper
Semper Fi． From these modest beginnings the group grew rapidly，thanks in
part to valuable assistance provided by "Beheiren" the Japanese Vietnam
Peace Committee． Long before their counterparts in the United States，
Beheiren recognized the importance of resistance among American servicemen
and for years carried on an extensive program of aiding deserters and
leafleting servicemen on furlough from Vietnam． When Marines at Iwakuni
began organizing from within，therefore Japanese civi1ians quickly came to
their aid． One of Semper Fi's earliest actions
was an April 12 “Love-In”attended by approximately fifty local Marines，at
the traditional Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival．The group also was one of
the few organizations outside the United States to participate in the first
Armed Forces Day，in 1970．During the May l6 observances，many Marines on post
wore black armbands，while from outside the base，peace messages were
broadcast to the troops on a loudspeaker
system set up and operated by Beheiren．Because of the success of the
original Semper Fi group，military authorities launched a crackdown on
the principal organizers． On June 2，1970，Corporal Renner was hurriedly
transferred back to the United States，while Bacon was given simi1ar orders
to Vietnam． The actions only served to solidify the group and
extend its influence, however; both Bacon and Renner were hailed as heroes
at their departure by cheering supporters. Indeed, a Japanese press report
at the time estimated that the Semper Fi organization had 350
active supporters at the base. Far from being crushed, the group
remained active throughout 1970 and following years, and is still in
operation today. Iwakuni was also the scene of a number of GI rebellions. On July 4, 1970, a few weeks after the attempted suppression of Semper Fi, a major uprising rocked the local brig. Many of the prisoners were members of the ASU who had been active with Semper Fi or who had refused orders to Vietnam. On the evening of the fourth, after fruitless efforts at petitioning for improved stockade conditions and an end to repression, the inmates declared their own independence. They occupied the main detention center and set fire to several buildings, holding out against armed guards for some fourteen hours. The largest uprising occurred in late 1971, when black and white Marines at the base engaged in a savage New Year's Eve brawl. Beginning with a scuffle at an enlisted men's club, fighting quickly spread throughout the base, involving several hundred troops and resulting in a number of serious injuries. In the aftermath of the incident, fifty-seven blacks were investigated or charged for their role in the fight. No whites were implicated.…… (from p.104-105) ……Situated close to Indochina and deeply immersed in the war effort, the vast American Air Force network in Asia also witnessed important GI resistance. The very first overseas organization in the Air Force, Hair ("Human Activities in Retrospect"), appeared in August of 1969 at Misawa AFB in northern Japan. The usual problems of cadre turnover and repression initially overwhelmed the fledgling group, but by the summer of 1970 it achieved a more stable footing, thanks to support from Beheiren and the opening of the first GI coffeehouse in Asia, the "Owl." Political action also surfaced in 1971 at Yokota AFB near Tokyo, where airmen and civilians from the Pacific Counseling Service and Beheiren launched the paper First Amendment． On July 18，1971，a rock and peace festival sponsored by the group attracted over two hundred servicemen． Clark AFB in the Philippines was a principal staging area for American operations during the Vietnam War （despite official U.S.-Philippine agreements to the contrary）and was，as well，a major center of enlisted resistance. The first group at the base，publishing The Whig，emerged in the summer of 1970, while another organization, aided by activists from the National Lawyers Guild, appeared in the fall of 1971 with the journal Cry Out. Operating out of a military counseling center in the village of Santa Maria, this second effort played an important role in mobilizing opposition to the air war. The center was attacked three separate times by Philippine policemen and was closed down completely in October of 1972, following the Marcos Government's declaration of martial law. Organizing also occurred at Kadena AFB in Okinawa, where black airmen in late 1970 founded the paper Demand for Freedom. Openly supporting Okinawan demands for removal of U.S. bases, the brothers at Kadena adopted a strongly anti-imperialist program. When "Zengunro," the Okinawan base-workers' union, staged a violent anti-American strike in December of 1970, thirty black airmen issued a public statement endorsing the union's aims.…… （from p.128-129) |
なお、この本には、ハワード・ジンさん（右の写真）によって新に書かれた序文が5ページ、つけられている。
ハワード・ジンさんは、やはり昨年暮、新に編集した政治論、歴史論などの評論集 "A POWWER goverments cannot
suppress" を出された（左の写真）。（CITY LIGHTS BOOKS, San Francisco) この本は、ハードカバーは
3,338円だが、同じもののペーパーバックなら、 1,783円で、AMAZONから購入できる。この本もお勧め。
