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-ing 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.