University of Virginia Library

Ginsberg, Davis, Froines,
Address Counter Conference

President climbed out and began
posing and greeting people in the
crowd by the entrance of the
Center.

The preparations inside the
Center where the speech was to
take place included a battery of
movie cameras to one side, a
two-camera television set-up by the
educational channel in Richmond,
and countless Secret Service men
with triangular badges in their
lapels.

According to one of the
television men, one of the cameras
had to be adjusted, because a Secret
Service agent looked through and
thought the profile it picked up
wasn't flattering enough.

Copies of Mr. Nixon's speech
were made available a few minutes
before his appearance, and except
for a few initial witticisms, and
several altered sentences, the talk
he gave was identical to the text
The friendly crowd responded with
laughter and applause to several of
the President's comments,
especially one aimed at the Chicago
Conspiracy Trial.

At the exact time Mr. Nixon was
beginning his speech, Allen
Ginsburg was finishing his at the
Counter Conference site a little
over a mile away. Although 5000
people were expected, only about
3000 showed up, and there were
rarely more than 2000 present at
any one time. They sat in the warm
sun in a large bowl theater with a
small take behind the stage.

The Counter Conference was
sponsored by the William and Mary
Student Association, the
Williamsburg Moratorium
Committee, and the Free
University. No march or
demonstration at the Judiciary
Conference was planned as a part
of the Peace and Justice Day
program, and none took place.

Rennie Davis, one of the
Chicago Seven, spoke in the
morning; John Froines, another of
the Seven, and Leonard Weinglass,
attorney for the Chicago Seven,
who were both scheduled to speak,
cancelled out in the early morning.

The general consensus of those
attending was that Mr. Ginsburg's
speech was about the best of the
day: "...black gas... (the crowd
applauds) ...Spring, 1971, anti-war
game — one million people,
surrounding Capitol, White House,
surrounding Nob Hill ... Uttering
simultaneously the weapon warning
mantra that penetrates materialistic
illusions, transforming five poisons
to five virtues ... Om ... Om ... Om
... (a small dog runs up and starts
barking at him) ... American sound,
uncanny, going through the animal
cranium as a cosmic football..."

The two demands were
immediate end of all social and
political repression in the United
States, and immediate
implementation of the People's
Peace Treaty. Mr. Kambis said the
delegation was "assured Nixon
would see it, and give it an
immediate response."

In addition, a former GI and
veteran of Vietnam spoke to the
Counter Conference on the Detroit
meeting of veterans. That meeting
was sponsored by Jane Fonda,
Graham Nash, and David Crosby,
he sand, and received an almost
total blackout in the news media.

In the various meetings and
discussions at Detroit, it became
clear that the My Lai affair was
anything but an isolated event.
Former GI's, according to the
speaker, told of personally
committing atrocities, many of
which were observed and condoned
by their officers.

He said that his unit, the 101st
Airborne, had a standing policy to
leave no village standing in certain
areas. He said that in the nine
months he was there his unit
completely destroyed twenty
villages.

The speaker said that many
patrols would be given a certain
area to cover, and would go a short
ways away, out of sight, and stop.
While they smoked dope, they
would radio in false positions and
then come in at the end of the day.

Other stories were of the
treatment of suspects and prisoners.
After they'd been in the field for a
few weeks, the men were pretty
tired and wanted to get back to
their home bases. If they came in
with a prisoner, it would mean an
enemy presence and they would
have to stay on patrol for longer.
So, many times, according to the
speaker, they would just shoot the
prisoner so they could go back to
the base, relax, and smoke up.

At the beginning of his talk the
veteran invited any other veterans
to join him on the stage in front of
the crowd. By the time he finished
speaking, about 20 men, including
several in uniform, had come up.