Memorial for GI union leader

From left, Terry Klug and Andy Stapp leaving Klug’s court-martial at Fort Dix, 1969.

A memorial meeting for Andy Stapp, who died in September, will be held on Nov. 1 in New York. As an active-duty GI at Fort Sill, Okla., Stapp first attracted the ire of the Army brass in 1967 when he was court-martialed for “refusing an order” — the order to surrender his anti-war literature to the military authorities.

He was put out of the Army in 1968 — but not until after he had begun to organize a union of active-duty service members, men and women. The American Servicemen’s Union took a stance against the Vietnam war, racism, sexism, the lack of democracy in the military and the saluting and sir-ring of officers. The newspaper of the ASU eventually reached U.S. soldiers, sailors and air force personnel all over the globe.

Former ASU members and anti-war activists will be joining in the celebration of Stapp’s life, as will his comrades at Workers World, students and fellow educators who knew him as a history teacher over the last three decades, as well as neighbors and ­relatives.

The memorial will be held at SEIU 1199 United Healthcare Workers East, 310 West 43rd St. (near 8th Avenue), 7th floor, and will start at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1. All are welcome.