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)
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