Dave Cline
Organizer of anti-war veterans

Published Oct 6, 2007 11:39 AM

?They had a GI coffeehouse at Fort Hood, a place called the Oleo Strut. ... The GI movement started at Fort Hood?the Fort Hood Three, three years before I got there, guys who refused to go to Vietnam. That began to plant the seed. The soil was fertile because the reality was that the government was lying to us. Most people are decent people. They don?t want to go kill people and engage in brutality.... I went down there and got involved in publishing an underground newspaper called the Fatigue Press. We were putting out literature against the war and against the military and for GI rights and against racism.?

?Dave Cline on organizing inside the U.S. Army, from the book ?Winter Soldier: An Oral History of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War?
---------------------------------------------------------------

Dave Cline, an anti-war soldier and military veteran activist, trade unionist and anti-racist, died at his Jersey City home on Sept. 15?another hidden casualty of the Vietnam War. He had been quite ill for the last few months but continued to organize for veterans? rights, against the Iraq War and on behalf of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange up until his death.

Dave grew up in a working class family in Buffalo, N.Y., and was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1967. Later that year, while serving with the 25th Infantry Division, he was wounded in a kill-or-be-killed situation near the Cambodian border and became permanently disabled. The incident affected him politically, physically and emotionally every day for the rest of his life.

In 1968 while on convalescent leave at home, Dave got involved with the Buffalo Draft Resistance Union and began speaking out publicly against the war. His political activism took off from there.

He helped run the Oleo Strut GI coffee house in Killeen, Texas, outside Fort Hood, which is still today a U.S. Army megabase. In 1970 he joined Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) and became one of its early leaders. In the 1980s he helped resurrect the organization.

In the 1970s he worked at the Jersey City bulk mail facility of the U.S. Postal Service. Cline led a number of wildcat strikes as an elected shop steward of the New York Metro Local of the American Postal Workers Union, which led to his being fired. He also led co-workers in a militant confrontation with a racist Klan-type organization that was terrorizing people of color in Jersey City.

In the 1980s Dave was a vice president of Transportation Workers Union Local 600 while employed by the New York-New Jersey Port Authority.

He was president of Veterans for Peace when 9/11 happened and worked tirelessly against the wars and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan that followed. He always pushed hard for diversity in the organization, especially encouraging African-American membership and leadership. Cline met with veterans of the current wars and assisted and encouraged them in their formation of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

In 2003 he led a delegation of military veterans to the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, supporting the local struggle in actions that resulted in the U.S. Navy closing down its bombing range there.

In 2006 he traveled to Vietnam and took part in the historic International Agent Orange Conference. When a delegation of Vietnamese Agent Orange victims toured the U.S. earlier this year as part of a legal campaign for reparations, Cline gave his Purple Heart medal to one of the delegation?s members during a public meeting in New York City.

He was motivated by the struggle for peace and justice. He will be missed by all who worked with him, as evidenced by the overflow crowd that attended his funeral.

Michael Kramer is a member of Veterans For Peace, Chapter 021, in Jersey City.

Articles copyright 1995-2007 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011

Giant of the Peace Movement and Former President of Veterans For Peace, David Cline Dies at Age 60
?
http://www.veteransforpeace.org

NEW YORK- September 19 - David Cline, former President of Veterans For Peace from January 2002-February 2007, died in his Jersey City, New Jersey home in the early morning hours of Saturday, September 15, 2007. He was 60. Cline was known as champion of veteran?s rights and victims of war. He was a determined organizer who stood in solidarity with people of all struggles for justice. His death is a loss for the national and international antiwar/peace movements.

Cline was born and raised in Buffalo, New York where he was drafted into the US Army in 1967, one week after he turned 20. He served as a rifleman (11B20) with the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam. During his tour of duty, he was wounded three times and was awarded three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star for bravery, the Combat Infantryman Badge and other military medals. His was determined 100% disabled from his wounds.

Shortly after his return to the US, Cline joined the GI antiwar movement while still on active duty, working with the underground paper ?Fatigue Press? at Fort Hood, Texas and after his discharge, as a staff person at the Oleo Strut coffeehouse outside the base. He joined VVAW in 1970 where he became a tireless organizer.

After the Vietnam War ended Cline dedicated his life to waging peace and opposing war. Over the past 40 years he was involved in many efforts for peace, justice and healing including: the continuing campaign for Agent Orange victims in the U.S. and Vietnam, working for an end to the US Navy?s bombing of Vieques, Puerto Rico, assisting homeless veterans through Stand Down operations, promoting reconciliation and friendship with the people of Vietnam, helping people recover from war trauma (PTSD) and substance abuse, educating young people about war and military service and opposing U.S. military interventions in Central America and the Middle East.

During Cline?s tenure as President, Veterans For Peace experienced tremendous growth and emerged as a leading voice in opposition to the invasion of Iraq and the subsequent occupation. His recognition of VFP?s role as a place for veterans of all eras to work for peace and the need for a blending of anti-war veterans and military families in the national debate has led to an unprecedented number of veterans and military families working together to oppose a war in U.S. history. Today this alliance is a cornerstone of domestic opposition to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Cline was also a key figure in the creation and guidance of Iraq Veterans Against the War, named to honor and follow the tradition of Vietnam Veterans Against the War. IVAW receives it?s 501(c)3 tax exempt status through the sponsorship of Veterans For Peace.

David Cline is survived by his life partner Gladys Simer and her daughter Sabrina, his daughter Ellen Gregory and her son Jacob, his son Daniel, his father and mother Donald and Ruth Cline, his brothers Steven and Bruce, and his sister Linda.

Cline will be honored in Jersey City. Viewing 6 ? 7 :30 Wednesday September 19, 2007. Memorial service 8:00 ? 9:00 at the McLaughlin Funeral Home, 625 Pavonia Ave., Jersey City, NY; 201-798-8700