Cosponsors are listed in the program that you have received. My name is linda yar im a Research Professor here at the Elliott School and director of partnerships for International Strategies in asia. This is a program here at the Elliott School that partners directly with universities and Research Institutes across asia. And since 1994 weve had extensive work with universities and Research Institutes and Government Agencies in vietnam. We love to be able to also bring the voices of the region here. Here to washington. This week is devoted to waging peace in vietnam is especiall especially i would especially like to acknowledge the partnership with the institute of policy studies and their associate fellow ron carver. [applause] whom we will hear from animal today at many locations around the Nations Capital the service of veterans to our country is recognized with gratitude. We also remember that november h mark the day the guns, fell silent in europe and what was known then as the great war and was supposed to be the war to end all wars. And succeeding generations, men and women have been enrolled in military service to the nation. But at times patriotism and sense of duty were sorely tested as policies conflicted with their own consciences. The exhibit for which we are celebrating the opening commemorates the bravery of u. S. Military men and women who understood their allegiance to their nation to encompass speaking out about the abuses and legitimacy of prosecuting war in vietnam. I hope youll take your time to fully absorb the extraordinary information that has been made available to us. To enjoy the vietnam ease music later on, and we can thank the Elliott Schools office of Public Affairs for the excellent arrangements tonight. [applause] i will leave it to run to explain the genesis of the exhibit and book. Especially the opportunity to introduce his coauthors who are also here, barbara in particular. But let me first say a few words about ron carver himself. Ron has been a warrior, but a warrior for peace and social justice. The day after graduate from high school he joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and first worked as Atlantic Communications departments and later in rural mississippi. His Successful Campaign efforts over the decades included supporting american g. I. Resistance during the vietnam war, halting the slaughter of dolphins by the tuna industry, fighting this senseless shutdown of factories, winning relief in the labor agreements for Truck Drivers abducted while fighting a union among by, and compensation for Chinese Workers beaten first stepping out of the lunch line. He has designed and directed campaigns while working with green space, pardon me greenpeace, friends of the earth. The uae, the uaw, and is founder and director of the teamsters office of strategic campaigns for the unions first reform president. As a photographer his work has been exhibited in taipei, japan, mexico city, and galleries across the United States. Ron, the mic is yours. [applause] greetings, thank you for coming. I am overwhelmed at the turnout, i appreciate it very much. Linda i appreciate the introduction, i did not expect bats. And coming from you, it means a lot. We have been bringing this exhibits to universities across the country, this is the most wonderful of all of the exhibits and as you see from the program, we have a weeklong series of events including great movies, poetry, peace poetry open mic. The reenactment of famous First Amendment lawsuits, cartwright versus reeser paying. Reeser being secretary of the army. He had putatively transferred David Cartwright for protesting the war. And with the added caveat he not only protested the war, but he refused to sell his girlfriend she should stop protesting the war house that . So that reenactment will be here the law school on thursday afternoon. And then on friday we have all day a Great Program starting in the morning with a history professors talking about various initiatives to end the war in vietnam. Not the least of which was the gim to war movement. Next we have a panel on teaching the vietnam war and the g. I. Antiwar movement. But we didnt think it would be proper to bring all of these people together without talking in the afternoon about the ongoing legacies of the war. Were not going to talk about today, how the war began her house was prosecuted. But we can never forget and should never forget the ongoing legacies of the unexploded ordinance, that unfortunately keeps exploding. And the victims of agent orange, and they keep coming also. Because the impact of agent orange transfers through the generations so we now have second and Third Generation victims of agent orange. There is a lot that can be done, but mostly want to be talking about vietnam, american Vietnam Veterans are doing to mitigate these legacies and they may also be talking about what the rest of us could do about that. At the end of that program on friday, we are going to have a reenactment of the mobilization march in the course that is why we have this program here in washington this month. Because this is the 50th anniversary of the mobilization against the war. The largest antiwar protest in the history of the United States both up to that date and even after that date. [applause] march in which antiwar soldiers and veterans played a key role and we will talk about that in a minute. So that will be leaving here at around 6 00 oclock on friday and marching three blocks to the white house. Now this is a special march design for those of us boomers, boomers go home. No boomers go to the white house. And go with young people, and we are pleased that there are so many young people at cw and other universities who are joining us this week. So with that there will be a candlelight march, pretty brief because this could be pretty cold. But you can do it. If i can do, you can do it. But what i really wanted to say appeared today before we turn this over to the key speaker Seymour Hersh and then three veterans who were active duty were warriors for peace. What i want to do i was at an event yesterday is a wonderful short party to honor the four people we have hear from vietnam. And will be speaking on friday evening, you can see them in the program. And someone asked will how about the burns documentary . And how come they didnt mention too much about the Antiwar Movement and nothing about the g. I. Movement. Well, they did due to important things. First of all the burns novick documentary, reignited discussion about the war and that was good. They clearly blamed a series of u. S. President s for prosecuting the war, even when they knew it couldnt be won because they wanted to let the next president take the blame for it. And they had individual soldiers stories. And thats important. Thats always good to have stories. What they didnt do in that series, that ten part series is they did not mention the g. I. Movement. You had individual gis who made a change, but this exhibit in this book that we are celebrating tonight, waging peace in vietnam, u. S. Soldiers and veterans who oppose the war, tells the story of the birth and growth of the g. I. Movement. The story is told through a different chapters related to different types of dissent and resistance. We have the folks, the early resisters doctor howard leavy who went on to train green berets, who had jj johnson part of the 443 who were already in the army refused to deploy to vietnam. Early resistors, Donald Duncan a celebrated green beret who quit in disgust because he knew what to do but he knew what he was doing was wrong. But later, we get into the soldiers who marched in great numbers. Now ken burns knew this story because he had a copy of davids great film certain no, sir which tells a story with music and is going to be presented here tomorrow night. Its going to be in voices of these soldiers, but he ignored it. What he was ignoring was and many of you might not know this but in 1968 on every piece march in the United States was led by activeduty soldiers and best veterans. In 1969, you had a thousand activeduty gis marching in the streets of killeen texas outside fort hood. In 1970 you had a thousand activeduty marines in oceanside california outside of Camp Pendleton marching in the street. The next year you had 2000 people marching in Seattle Washington and wrightstown new jersey. All across the country you had thousands of gis marching. You had susan snow who we talking soon leading our 500 activeduty sailors down Market Street with a couple thousand civilians marching behind them. Can burns knew about this and shows for whatever reason, which we do not have to speculate you can do that on your own. Did not want to talk about it. How did this movement spread . You will see in this exhibit and you will see in chapter of the book about the g. I. Press the underground press. There were between 250 and 300 individual newspapers written by and for gis primarily returning from vietnam telling their stories. They would get them printed and be smuggled back onto the bases. Thousands and thousands and thousands. You read about that story. We are talking about soldiers who are building a movement. The newspapers were the social media of the day. Telling the story that almost realtime. Back then it was realtime but it may took two weeks or months. So this is the story of resistance. This is the story of protest. This is story that we are honoring, by the way paul cox is here tonight who activeduty marine, saw his own mini me lie and came back to the United States, disgusted, angered, betrayed, enraged, when he got back to camp the paper he put out he named rage. So this is the heart of the g. I. Movement. It wasnt just individuals, it was people building a movement. So, let me wrap up by saying the reason that we are doing this, the reason we are touring campuses across the United States is simple and humble. We want to change the way history is being taught in this country. Particularly the history of the vietnam war. If you dont. [applause] if scholars dont write about the g. I. Movement when theyre writing about the war, if they dont teach about the g. I. Movement when the teaching about the war, how do you explain the end of the work . You have to give full credit to the vietnamese people who fought valiantly for their own independence. [applause] but its important to know, when the secretary of the army layered in january of 1970 came back from vietnam for tour of inspection, he told president nixon after we dont get the troops out of vietnam, we are going to lose the army. He didnt say were going to lose the war because they arty knew theyre going to lose the war. Theyd known that for years. But he said were going to lose the army. And that is a tribute to the troops that resisted in great numbers. You will read about in the book, its on sale there. In the final thing i want to say is we believe its not a sad story its inspiring story. Its important for people to hear the story people who are chasing great challenges today with the environment, with reproductive rights, with all kinds of social justice issues, that if the activeduty soldiers, during the height of the vietnam war, were able to build a movement so robust that it was significant factor in ending the war, then young people today should feel and heartened, they should feel bold, they should feel optimistic about fighting for social justice today. Thank you. [applause] thank you ron for giving us a real charge to go forward in the weeks activities on these central themes. To provide some perspective on the book itself, which is for sale and you have may have noticed right there. I am especially pleased to introduce mr. Seymour hersh. His outstanding journalism has changed minds and conversations on critical issues. His beef is worldwide and covers the u. S. Government and its activities abroad including for example, the meal i massacre, and the egregious treatment of iraqi prisoners at abu ghraib. He is a graduate of the university of chicago that shifted from law to journalism after military service he cofounded a newspaper, and later worked for united press international, associated press, and was associated practice through he recounted the killing in march 1968 of hundreds of south vietnamese villagers and the hamlets of me lie. By u. S. Troops under his command. Hershs syndicated account help to end the u. S. Involvement in the vietnam war. And provided the basis for his Pulitzer Prize winning book me lie. At the New York Times groundbreaking reporting on the watergate scandal, and this led him to write the price of power, kissinger of the nixon white house. Well worth reading again. A damning portrait of Henry Kissinger that won the National Book critics circle award. Without further do let me turn the podium over to seymour hurst. [applause] im on a clock here youre taking time up. I will say about the book im really glad they told you were to buy it, because it is the backbone of the exhibit and its an amazing book. I will tell you this. And this some of you have read it you can daydream for second or two, but if you havent, just start off with the report , dennis stout, bills short, those three essays will get you all of the book nothing well. Im here because im a vietnam war junkie like most of you here. I happen to believe, i happen to know, you cant hear me . You know ive given speeches before with huge auditoriums where at the end of the speech everybody came up to me and said they couldnt hear anything. [laughter] so whats wrong with you people if you can hear . [laughter] i mean come on, we would not have ended the war if everybody had that attitude out say that. Anyway, im a junkie on the war. I do believe its the most misreported war in american history. And i will tell you why i guess the people in this book and many of the people that fought the war understand why. Its really very simple, it was not just the war that you did actively or passively, it was a war, it isnt the question of the general just not getting it, it was a criminal war. A war myrtle and rape an atrocity. That was known and covered up in real time and that was covered up by west moreland and their generals on down. When ron asked me to it speak, or somebody, i learned something about the massacre about a year ago that was staggering and since im back avent researching a documentary that will her way not be made. Were playing around, its an easy. The bottom line is the men in charge of the top, new by early 1966 that war crimes, and im talking about the constant reports filtered as they were coming up to them. Of the killing of noncombatants. The inability of the soldiers in the field to make a distinction. All vietnamese were vietcong even the little ones were vietcongs and training. The raping, will have young and old women and theres a lot of mutilation involved. It was constant and they knew this. There is a major study done that was done early and it was classified and nobody knows about it. Then there is and they also understood then in 1966 just as we begin the build up that an lesson check immediately, unless stopped, unless telling the low level officers you will not get promoted by the numbers of the people you kill. By the body count. The wars can be lost. You cannot fight a war if everybody in every village you go to hatred guts. Anyway, of course they did nothing. And they look the other way. I can tell you now that i learned so much about me lie that somebody said to me when i began to get into what i get into now i had a man working very high levels, the story i wrote was about lieutenant kelly who is accused of a hundred killing a hundred nine vietnamese. Never thought twice about the big numbers for him. He said you know side you are a good guy this is a guy spent 30 to 40 years in the military and other agencies. He said theres nothing wrong with you your good guy, but ive got to tell you, when it came to the meal i story, you are like little red riding hood. You saw the big bad wolf in that First Lieutenant got me going. And so i can tell you by the end of the war, west moreland had a long paper written with i assume a lot of aid with the jag, and you have to understand and i really didnt, that the armys judicial core relationship to west moreland is like that of a fixed Civil Law Firm to the client. Its not about the truth the military judicial system was to protect the client. Hit a long paper that was a hundred pages that was no basis for prosecuting convicting and hanging him for war crimes. Their untold horrors. We are seeing that all of his peers, the guys the three stars the all of the top, they knew what was going on in the field and they knew the numbers are being killed, anybody was being counted was being counted as a vietcong no matter how little they were our weather they romantic women or children it didnt matter it was never published and of course that never arose. Im on a time clock and i dont have a watcher. So im going to ignore it until some and he comes and grabs me. But anyway, i publish the book you heard about 36 years ago. And did not pick up then about westies real fears. But he wrote a lot about ironically about the first moratorium which happen to come out about a day or two after my first story about callie. A course in my family and everybody we could, our group we were there. In theres a famous one Norman Mailer wrote about her but the sum was important because there is a terminus amount of military involvement. Ex military and guys risking their career in their lives. But in the book that i wrote about, there is a lot about moping and groping by ki