"Catharsis" and "Sir! No Sir!"

A Bit of Personal History

Although much was written about the Vietnam war, very little has been said about the thousands of active duty military that opposed it. My contribution was minimal compared to the courage of those that refused orders.

At one point a change of strategy from ground action to bombing was needed because the military could not depend on the ground troops being willing to fight.

Many were locked up. I was never jailed but was given non judicial punishment including a bust in rank and pay grade for distributing "unauthorized printed material" on the base. That being Catharsis, an antiwar newsletter published by myself, Doug Crate, and others from the Quonset Point Naval Air Station. We called ourselves the Quonset-Davisville GIs For Peace.

The paranoia we experienced as we published this was in some ways justified. We met in the state park in Rhode Island as well as in the local Unitarian church. We learned how to organize and publish with help from the folks at the Beacon Hill Support Group in Boston. Late at night in the apartment of Jack Powers on Cambridge Street up over the Stone Soup Gallery near Buzzies Roast Beef.

Now the story has been told with the release of Sir! No Sir!

A movie about the anti-war movement within the military. Described as a "story never told"
http://www.sirnosir.com/

On the website is acknowledgement of the group I founded "Quonset-Davisville GIs For Peace"
http://www.sirnosir.com/archives_and_resources/library/articles/catharsis_01.html

Also on the site are 2 images of the cover of Catharsis, the publication I created with guys from my base.
I recall drawing the logo with a US Navy felt tip marker. A Navy typewriter was used for the text.
We would do the "paste up" with the help of Jack Powers & the Beacon Hill Support Group. (see below)
On the bottom of the issue you can see my initials.
http://www.sirnosir.com/archives_and_resources/galleries/cover_pages/catharsis.html

Ebert & Roeper Review of Sir! No Sir!
http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/ebertandroeper/index2.html?sec=6&subsec=sir!+no+SIr!

Jack Powers... http://www.jackpowerspoet.blogspot.com/
http://dougholder.blogspot.com/2007/06/boston-legend-jack-powers-70th-birthday.html

Meetings of Quonset-Davisville GIs For Peace were held here:
http://www.iboston.org/mcp.php?pid=charlesStreetMtgHouse

Doug Crate was my best friend in those years. He was a co-conspirator in my anti-war activities as well as the person that entertained us all. In the summer, I was always welcomed at his parents basketball camp outside Bangor Maine. In the winter he would often stay at my apartment in Lynn. He would bring some "homegrown" when he'd come down in lieu if rent. It's good to see he stayed active in music.
http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/7159778/a/Atomic+Orphans.htm

Kenmoto Blog - http://kenmoto.blogspot.com/