In The Course of Human Events
Font, Louis P.
'In the course of human events...' by LOUIS P. FONT On July 9, 1776, by order of Gen- eral of the Army George Wash- ington, the Declaration of Indepen- dence was read to soldiers assembled on...
...Here, sir, is something you'll want to see...
...I've got the Declaration, too.' " "Why didn't they arrest him...
...I felt like a subversive about to distribute a seditious doc- ument in a foreign and despotic land...
...The American citizen-soldier, I thought, should have every oppor- tunity to peruse this treasured doc- ument...
...We later learned they had been treated most cordially, for the Army is sensitive to ladies—and to others...
...I sure am, Major...
...These ideals are the ones we are supposed to be fighting for in Nam...
...One of them said to the MPs, 'Aren't you gonna arrest me...
...Good work...
...But this is the Declaration of Independence...
...Just like Tom Jefferson sat down and wrote it...
...Stand back and watch...
...We were searched, fin- gerprinted, and photographed...
...I had been staying in Bremerton, Washington, the past four days as a friend of Ron, speaking be- fore university and peace audiences about my year as a dissenting lieu- tenant in the U.S...
...Navy, strolled across the street and I joined him...
...That's right...
...At Travis Air Force Base, California, there had recently been a race riot, and the Army had received much un- favorable press coverage...
...The brothers stick together...
...The cakes looked good and sales were brisk, but the ladies looked flustered...
...Susan was passing out leaflets to the men standing in line to cash their paychecks...
...Army, discharged in April of this year, and as a representa- tive of the Concerned Officers Move- ment...
...That they don't want...
...Ron and I, leaflets in hand, headed for the Post Exchange and began dis- tributing...
...He found a used airline ticket in the inside coat pocket of my sports jacket...
...It was about noon, and I could see a long line of soldiers at the base bank, waiting to cash their paychecks...
...To remind everyone of our her- itage, and because it is almost Inde- pendence Day, and because these ideals are supposed to be the ones we are defending in Vietnam...
...Henry was the organizer of our little incursion...
...For the civilians, this was the preliminary to being banned from the base forever...
...He was the first West Point graduate to file for discharge as a conscientious objector to the war in Indochina and is now writing a book on his Army experiences...
...At the bottom of the second page was an announcement that the Declaration had been copied word-for- word by the GI Alliance, Seattle, Washington...
...An MP car raced past...
...Another soldier held his ground and began making a speech...
...Sergeant, I'm telling it like it is...
...As we crossed the street, I was in- trigued by the power handshakes among the black soldiers in front of the Post Exchange...
...Why are you handing this out...
...You have not been arrested, you have been detained by the military police...
...For what...
...A sergeant led me to a side room, placed my hands high on the wall, spread my legs wide apart, and searched me...
...I took a close look at the leaflet, noticing the underlined phrases...
...You keep it...
...Each had gathered a score of enlisted men, discussing the Decla- ration...
...One soldier, in civil- ian clothes, slipped his check into his shirt pocket, reached for a bundle of leaflets, and joined us...
...You might be arrested for passing out ideas...
...For distributing leaflets...
...flip, flap, clenched fists, touched elbows, more movement, and walk away, per- fect flow...
...He had recently been discharged from the Army and had formerly been stationed at Fort Lewis...
...He wrote that piece of 'dis- sident' literature...
...Of course the leaflet is the word- for-word Declaration," Henry replied...
...Seven people were just carted away by the MPs for passing it out...
...This seemed to make sense...
...I had recently spent three days in Los Angeles, visit- ing friends and accepting a social jus- tice award from a Unitarian church...
...J noticed a group of older women curiously eying the situation...
...L. Font, LA to Seattle, $67.00...
...The captain read aloud the Army Regulation we had violated...
...Racism and heroin are the Army's most tick- lish subjects these days...
...He sported a beard and blue jeans and plenty of knowledge...
...I handed the leaflet to someone else...
...Each of us was led down the hall for processing...
...for the military men, it was the first step toward either company punish- ment or court martial...
...What the hell is it...
...Read this, Sergeant...
...Before long, the MPs would have a full-scale race riot on their hands...
...Never—not even at West Point—had I felt such esprit...
...Now keep quiet and listen up...
...It's a verbatim copy...
...He has affected to render the Military Independent of and Superior to the Civil Power!3 And, "A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a Free People...
...I'll be right back...
...In the Navy," Ron Vanden- Bossche recalled, "that Regulation also covers 'soliciting ideas.' Imagine...
...Just a minute," he said...
...Is this word-for-word...
...You cooperate with us, and we will have you out of here as soon as possible...
...Our of- fense was failure to obtain the express approval of the base commander be- fore distributing any handbills, leaflets, or printed matter...
...Look, Ma'am, it's only the Declaration of Independence, what our nation is founded upon...
...He took the leaflet and walked on without another word, then crumpled the paper and dropped it on the ground...
...Before I try again to distribute the Declaration of Independence to the troops, I guess I'd better get an order from General of the Army George Washington...
...At Fort Meade, Maryland, the Brothers and Sisters for Equality, a black group, had been on the receiving end of flagrant racial discrimination, but as soon as their story appeared on the front page of The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post, their leaders had been invited to dine with Lieutenant General C. E. Hutchin, Jr., command- ing general of the First Army...
...Success...
...His voice faded as three MPs surrounded him, grabbed him by the arms, handcuffed him, and threw him into the back seat of the waiting sedan to join his friend...
...Things are happening on this base, I thought...
...The girls across the street were do- ing well...
...I also observed what may be the supreme satire on modern military discipline: a bushy Afro, with a green Army fatigue cap bobbing on top...
...Looks like it could be a dissident group from Los Angeles," said Sher- lock, feeding his fantasies...
...I felt sorry for her—I had struck a nerve—and I dropped the matter...
...Late in the afternoon, we civilians were led into a room and seated in classroom-like chairs...
...Notice, they didn't arrest any blacks," said a GI, pacing the prison cell...
...The Declaration of Independence, word-for-word...
...You can't even think and then talk about it...
...Major, here is a copy of the Dec- laration of Independence...
...I had never seen a hand- shake like that at Fort Meade, Mary- land...
...Three brothers were passing out leaflets as I was arrested...
...The eleven of us sat in the Fort Lewis jail cell, across from the main military police desk...
...If they arrest one brother, five brothers gather around, then ten, then twenty...
...I asked, glancing at the leaflet in my hand, beginning to read it, and looking at my circle of co-conspirators: four young women, neatly dressed...
...Almost 200 years later, on June 30, 1971, sixteen of us were arrested at Fort Lewis, Washington, for distrib- uting the same document...
...Ron and I continued distributing leaflets—but with a new tactic...
...she asked...
...They're com- ing back for us in a few minutes...
...Are you sure...
...Fifteen min- utes later the Military Police did re- turn for us...
...She stormed around the table to my side and handed back the Declaration...
...I handed one of them a leaflet, slowly and delicately...
...Ron and I walked back to the Post Exchange to pass out more leaflets be- fore it became our turn for arrest...
...Seven people were just busted down the block for passing this out...
...I moved closer for a better look, and saw MPs putting a GI in the back seat of a sedan—handcuffed...
...This is the Declaration of In- dependence," he shouted to the pas- sersby, and he began reading: "When in the course of human events, it be- comes necessary for one People to dis- solve...
...six young men, civilians...
...I don't want it...
...Henry, the orga- nizer, his head and one arm out a window, shouted, slowly and firmly, as the car went by: "They are taking me awaaaaay, for distribuuuuting the Declaration of Independence...
...We'll have to check this out...
...In the course of human events...' by LOUIS P. FONT On July 9, 1776, by order of Gen- eral of the Army George Wash- ington, the Declaration of Indepen- dence was read to soldiers assembled on the Common in New York City...
...LOUIS P. FONT graduated from the United States Military Academy in the top five per cent of the class of 1968...
...Sergeant, have this ticket Xeroxed...
...They stood behind a long table with a sign: Retired Enlisted Wives Cake Sale...
...You've got to be out of your mind...
...I suspect it was the first leaflet she had held in her sixty years...
...The major wore three neat rows of ribbons on his chest...
...He [the King] has erected a multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our people," I read...
...The lecturer was Captain Moore: "Now listen up...
...My husband fought in Viet- nam and my son is there right now...
...The leaflets went fast...
...He sounded officious and pleased as he stepped into the hallway and approached an agent of the Ar- my's Criminal Investigation Division, who wore civilian clothes...
...Blacks...
...I don't care...
...You may want to take a good look at it...
...Each of you civilians is going to be given a letter banning you from the base...
...Dissident literature,' " three of us shouted from the back seat, almost in unison...
...Two military police cars parked half way down the block, and the MPs piled out, leaving the doors open...
...What would Thomas Jef- ferson say if he heard you say a thing like that...
...and a few active duty GIs, resistance GIs...
...The last phrase obviously upset her...
...Impeccably dressed in a business suit, Ron VandenBossche, recently dis- charged as a lieutenant in the U.S...
...Our friends, arrested earlier, had been anticipating our arrival, and we were welcomed with shouts of "Power" and "Brother- hood" and "Right on...
...The agent eagerly reached for the ticket, pulled out his notebook, and wrote down everything: "Mr...
...Don't you know...
...His voice carried for a city block...
...Each handshake en- compassed some twenty counts...
...I don't want it," she said...
...At the MP station we were greeted by enthusiastic applause...
...Back in the jail cell, for the next hour or so we took delight in read- ing aloud from the Declaration, asking passersby if they had read it lately, wondering aloud why the military would want to suppress such a document...
...Why...
...His voice trailed off under the impact of a verbal barrage...
...If I ever return to Fort Lewis, I will be subject to six months' imprison- ment and a $5,000 fine...
...The women had been taken to another part of the building...
...You gotta be kidding...
...You keep it...
Vol. 35 • September 1971 • No. 9
