Dave Cline, VVAW and VFP activist, died September 15, 07 after a long struggle with illness. Dave was a combat veteran severely wounded in Vietnam. His health was never that of the young man he was on his return from Vietnam.
But Dave knew there was something terribly wrong with his country's leadership and the path it had taken in Vietnam.
Dave Cline never stopped being a patriotic American. He just came to realize patriotism wasn't blind acceptance of policies that fostered injustice and oppression.
Dave Cline had a better vision for his country. He saw a country that lived up to the words of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
He was a "winter soldier" that stayed the course of patriotic citizenship even in the dark times of our country.
He was rejected by those who failed to understand the responsibiltiy of being human, being citizens of the world and being patriotic. He demonstrated that the ultimate responsibilty of citizens was overseeing the actions of their government to prevent tyranny, immoral violence and injustice and oppression.
Stan Goff (The Feral Scholar) wrote an eloquent article about Dave on his website. Many who knew Dave or had been fortunate to be around him have left comments about this brother that we all knew as a true American hero.
I'm going to post my comments to Stan about Dave on my site because I want as many of you as possible who didn't know Dave to know about him and his values.
Peace to all on this day we come to accept the loss of a man who cared so passionately for justice and peace and walked the walk.
His legacy and the struggle will carry on.
Stan,
I marched with Dave without knowing him during Dewey Canyon III, I marched with him in D.C. following Camp Casey (Sept 05) and I marched with him during the march from Mobile to New Orleans in the Veterans and Survivors March.
I feel blessed to have been in the company of one of our true American heroes; a man willing to stand up in the face of his country's misguided and immoral actions.
Dave personified the "winter soldier" unwilling to give up his country to the evil of racism, imperialism, misogyny and the many tyrannical forces attempting to usurp "the people".
I have photos I was fortunate enough to take that caught the passion and the joy that resided in the heart of Dave. His smile was one that lighted up a room or a field he was standing in with a circle of comrades just wanting to be near him.
Besides the powerful words Dave spoke about ending the oppression he clearly saw in the actions of his country's "leaders", my lasting memory of Dave will be on the march to New Orleans near the Vietnamese section we stayed at before going to Congo Square.
A young woman had a small harmonica on a key ring which Dave happened to notice as we were taking a break on the roadside leading into NOLA. Dave asked her if he could see the harp and when she gave it to him he broke into a blues riff and seemed to almost be dancing as he played.
After Dave stopped playing with those of us standing around him laughing and amazed, he flashed a big grin at us.
I know there are so many that knew Dave much better than I did but the short time I did have being around him gave me reason to know I was in the presence of a brother who cared about people, cared about injustice and cared about more young brothers and sisters being exposed to the horrors of war once again for no legitimate reason.
I also know Dave cared about the people of the world that became victims of our aggression and insane dependence on violence by means of an arsenal of weapons capable of killing in every gruesome way imaginable.
Dave's advocacy for not only veterans but the Vietnamese people afflicted by the American use of Agent Orange was testimony of his belief we are citizens of the world before anything else.
I thank Dave and Stan for emphasizing that citizenship throughout the march to New Orleans.
I got word in the darkness of the night which my own personal insomnia often takes me to that Dave had passed.
Despite the few times I had to be around him, I felt I'd lost a member of my family...a brother. I realize today that's exactly what Dave was. He was our family.
I woke this morning and looked at the headlines of the mainstream newspaper and the idea the passing of the American hero, Dave Cline, was missing in the pages of that paper stung me like a slap in the face.
We are the keepers of the light of freedom Dave Cline kept burning. We have his example of perseverance and enduring passion for justice to honor and keep alive.
If there is any monument Dave Cline would want most, it seems it would be a unified movement carrying on the struggle he so righteously exemplified.
As I remember Dave yelling in a church we visited during the veterans and survivors march...."Can I get a witness!!".
Be at rest, Brother Dave. Let us take it from here.
Wm. Terry Leichner, RN
Denver VVAW member
USMC combat veteran ‘67-68 (RVN)
I just read an article by Catherine Fenton of Long Island’s CodePink chapter why she will go to the September 15th rally in Washington, D.C.. She has many legitimate reasons for attending but there are some of us who won’t go for legitimate reasons. Ms. Fenton says:
You know who not only won't stop the war that week, but who won't scare,
or change the vote of, one Congressperson? You who stay home, because
it's "hopeless." Because it's "just another protest." Because many
protesters will "go back to business as usual on Monday
I think this statement assumes too much about those who don’t attend the rallies and marches. I have no plans to go to this rally or any other rally in the near future as long as the peace coalition is predominately white and fails the communities of color and those marginalized.
I’m not taking a hopeless position but a realistic position of believing my time and energy are best served working at a grass roots level to help bring new people into the movement against the injustice and the imperialistic wars of our nation.
I’ve been to rallies and marches, dating back to the 70’s, and in all honesty feel they have no effect on the politics and policies of this nation. The money and time spent organizing and getting people to these national marches and rallies seems incongruent with the effects.
The mainstream media, which is the true indicator of whether the message gets out to all Americans and not just the “choir” of activists that predictably show up at the rallies and marches, seldom mentions the actions.
Getting arrested for the cause is an expensive proposition in emotional and monetary ways but, again, few people other than the activist community know or care about these arrests and the following court cases.
I don’t make this argument to discourage others from doing what their heart tells them to do. I do want to point out; however, the endless marches and rallies have done little to discourage the tyrants from doing exactly what they planned on doing. It seems new tactics and new measures are called for.
It seems new faces in a true “rainbow coalition” of American citizens must be gathered to confront these tyrants.
Where are the young and the black faces of this coalition?
Where are the Hispanic, Latino/Latina, Mexican and Chicano faces of the movement standing on the speaker’s podium?
Where are the clergy from all faiths?
Where are the labor unions besides those who are speaking from a Marxist mindset (and I do respect the Marxist philosophy)?
Where are the healers such as doctors and nurses declaring, as groups of professionals, the sickness of what occurs?
Where are the educators who must endure erosion of truly effective ways to educate for the sake of teaching young people false information and imperialistic motivation?
Where are our feminist sisters who may not desire to wear pink but have endured the misogyny and inequality of their nation since birth?
Where are the GLBT communities standing proud and equal next to all the other brothers and sisters of the activist community?
Where are Hip-Hop Nation and the youth movement they represent?
And the ultimate question must be why so many of the brothers and sisters mentioned haven’t joined in the marches and actions as groups of outraged citizens that have endured the neglect and outright oppression our government imposes?
This may be the failure of the activist community that seems stuck in reruns of the 60’s and 70’s but only has a portion of the coalition that existed at that time to go against the Orwellian tactics of a regime that has taken control of all branches of government, the media and the means to making a living.
Some in the movement talk about electoral process as if it’s a magic cure for the loss of all semblances of democracy in our country.
The Constitution and Bill of Rights are on life support and their existence is expected to end at any time.
I don’t say this as a hopeless citizen of the U.S. but as an outraged citizen who doesn’t feel marching and rallying is enough. And continuing with the charade of elections that can never bring change doesn’t meet the criteria of urgency needed.
Even should we stop the war tomorrow, what then? Does the oppression and injustice go away or just hide out until the masses go back to the “American dream” of watching the tube and hoping to stay employed in order to make a house payment?
It seems unless we become creative enough to bring the true face of the American people to the doors of Congress and the steps of the White House there is no fear by the tyrants oppressing the many.
Not only does it seem emergent to end the wars but we must begin to end the tyrannical grip of Democrats and Republicans on the governing of this nation.
When the true “rainbow coalition” of all Americans rallies in numbers far exceeding anything seen so far in this generation of wars, the tyrants will take notice and become fearful of losing power.
Right now the numbers of activists marching and taking part in rallies only brings smirks and laughter from the bastards who have co-opted the world’s justice and peace.
They see the divisions they’ve created among the large number of different groups making up the population of this nation.
They see their successes in fomenting racism, sexism, homophobia, sectarian hatred, social castes and militarism in the wedges driven between the many they’ve oppressed.
They don’t fear a large number of people in the streets because so many are the same people isolated from the rest of the oppressed of the nation.
Professional and dedicated activists are isolated from the men and women who can’t afford to take days off to march and rally for fear they’ll lose jobs and fail to feed children.
These activists don’t necessarily speak for the poor, the black or others unable to march and rally.
The movement presumes to know what the marginalized need and want but fail to lure enough of the actual people who are marginalized to the streets to demonstrate their outrage.
It saddens me to think of the money spent to do the repetitive actions the movement sticks with. It seems this money could do so much more in building a greatly diverse coalition of people demanding peace and justice.
It seems we need only look at the 9th Ward of New Orleans to see the possibilities of demonstrating our desire to bring those without voices into the movement.
It seems visiting churches and synagogues to question the spiritual leaders of this nation about their inaction in the face of such evil would be far more useful than a visit to a member of Congress bought and paid for by corporate interests.
It seems embracing Hip-Hop Nation as the powerful voice of the young it has become would be better than endless petitions that are ignored by the “selected” members of the Congressional tyranny.
I won’t go to the rallies and marches until we change ourselves into a movement to represent all people who are oppressed.
I won’t be arrested for symbolic reasons that won’t effect changes.
This is not a helpless position but one that recognizes the work to be done isn’t in marching but in networking and growing the movement into a healthy and diverse coalition that will strike fear in the hearts of the beasts.
The urgency to stop the wars is clear and palpable but we fail our future if we don’t stop the reasons we are continuously at war.
The military-industrial complex must be transformed into the peaceful-cooperative complex.
The wealth and power of this nation must be equally and justly distributed to all who contribute to it.
The social classes that have become caste systems and fiefdoms must end and a true democratic nation that truly practices “all men and women are created equal” must evolve.
Living wages, health benefits and adequate education must become the right of all citizens to have rather than a luxury given by the rich to the oppressed.
Marches and rallies, arrests and petitions have become weak tools to do this until we are truly representative of all the people of our nation.
So, I’m staying home to talk with people about the need we have for them to join us in a movement they can count on having a voice in.
I’m staying home trying to tell people about the horrible effects the wars have had on our young people and our entire nation.
God bless the peacemakers, however they choose to express the cause of peace and justice.
It doesn’t have to be in a march or rally, however. And the impact can be just as important.
Peace and solidarity,
William Terry Leichner, RN
VVAW member –Denver
USMC combat veteran
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