Muldraugh
Ft. Knox officials who hassle them, and she also mentioned something about the Coffeehouse being frequented by undercover agents.   Would you like to elaborate? CH:  Well, I don't want to exaggerate, but we do know that Ridenour has taken license plate numbers and sometimes has turned them over to the army and that they do attempt to send agents in to find out what we're doing. Whether it's by choice those agents come in or by intimidation -- I think it's both because a GI can be offered (to have a charge against him dropped) to do something, and that happens, too.
CH:  There have been a fair number of cases where Ridenour was sitting outside and when the GI's were leaving the place,  you's see him get on his microphone and five minutes later the GI's would get picked up by the MP's on base.   That's happened a number of times, btf:  What are they charged with when they're picked up? CH:  They're usually not charged with anything. They're
usually shaken down to see if they have anything with them. If they have a lot of literature, then it can be confiscated.
btf:   Can they do that legally?
CH:   They can if you have more than one copy of a paper . . .
btf:  But they can't stop you from reading it . . . CH:  No, they can't stop you from reading it, but if you have more than one copy then they can assume you're distributing it and you can be busted for that --if they" want to push it . . . sometimes they do and sometimes they don't.
btf:  Would you like to talk about the threat that the Coffeehouse poses to the army and why the army sees fit to concern itself with the Coffeehouse? CH:  Well, as you know, dissent is really growing in this country about the war, about racism, just about the conditions in the army that this GI was laying out. And the army is the ultimate weapon that the government has to control everything.
In other words, they send the army in to Vietnam, Laos, Korea to control those countries and to establish large corporations in those countries.   And if GI's refuse to go to Nam, then some businessmen in the United States would stand to lose all the profit that they're now making.
The second thing they're used for is to control riots in the ghetto.   As you know, in Detroit in 1967 there were army tanks rolling down the streets.   And about two years ago at Ft. Hood, Texas, 43 black GI's refused to go to a Chicago demonstration.   And if GI's continue to do that, they won't have a sufficient way of controllong the riots that are taking place because of the conditions in the cities.
That's really what it's all about.   The army is the ultimate weapon they have and we're fighting against that weapon and we're a threat to that.   And it's not just places like the Coffeehouse -- GI's not related to the Coffeehouse at all or to any established organization
stand up to their base commanders all the time. CH:  The only reason we're here is because there are things going on on base.   There wouldn't be any point in us being here if GI's weren't already resisting. The only reason we're here is to help out as much as we can. This place serves as a place where GI's can come --or at least could come -- and talk fairly freely. And the organization has a legal aid program to help GI's with civilian lawyers and legal counseling because one of the things the army does is try to keep you from having the knowledge of what the regulations are. Like there's a lot of GI's who don't know they can turn down an Article 15 and go to the next court-martial and have a better chance at defense.   A lot of people don't know that.   So we're here to try to meet the needs that the GI's have.   But it's important to understand that we wouldn't be here at all if there weren't resistance
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going on on base -- already there are GI's standing up and fighting, by themselves and in groups, btf:  Well, what about the future of the Coffeehouse here, in light of all the repression?
CH:They ship a guy out of Knox, you know, because he's involved with FTA and where are they going to ship him to?   There are 45 base papers, and where are they going to ship him to that there isn't a GI organization? We get guys that were shipped to Ft. Knox because they were active at Ft. Dix.   There comes a point at which repression doesn't pay off.   All it does is produce more resistance.
CH:   There's really an important case on base right now involving SPD, which is where you're held either awaiting court martial or after court martial.   It's not jail; it's mostly that you're restricted to the area. Just recently after bed-check was over a group of about 40 or 50 GI's got together -- about 90 per cent of them were black -- and were writing a list of grievances. Somebody there went and called the MP's.
The MP's came down and broke into the meeting --it was a very orderly meeting with a chairman and everything -- and started yelling something about these people were inciting a riot, took the whole group of them down to the pound or cage in the SPD and put them in the cage.   While they were in the cage they resisted a good bit, just in terms of demonstrating.
The next day the MP's came down and just took four people -- three black people and one white person --just pointed them out and said okay,  you four people. And they're in the stockade right now.   An investigation has begun for a general court martial on them.
Up to this point, these 40 or 50 guys, they aren't quitting because of this.   That resistance grows. And that's what's happening on every base in the country. It's getting stronger and stronger.   And every time they squash a group, another group rises up.
And so in terms of the Coffeehouse.   You ask what we're going to be doing with the Coffeehouse. Well, we're going to be bucking over, that's what we're going to be doing with the Coffeehouse -- until they come and burn the fucker down.
btf:   Well, in terms of what people can do -- very few people are aware of what is going on -- the establishment media are running distorted stories -- only reporting part of the facts and all that -- what kind of things would you recommend that civilians do?
CH:  Well, one thing is that we're circulating a petition which calls for the firing of the police chief in Muldraugh and which calls for the charges which about 18 people are facing now, or something like that, that are coming up through May --it would really be great if people could send those in.
The other thing is that people are leafleting downtown in Louisville and in the suburbs to tell people what is going on, and any support we can get from people in Louisville doing that is good also.
btf:  Could you give us a Louisville number where people can contact you?
CH:  778-3348.   If they want to send contributions, it's FTA, box 336, Louisville.
CH:  And otherwise, the most important support that the GI movement can have is a civilian movement on the outside.   In the end, our only protection is that people are organized and together and are willing to defend themselves against the officials that are trying to put us down and against the brass on base.   So the most important thing the civilians can do is to build a movement that meets their needs and the GI movement will take care of itself.
After the recorded rap session at the Coffeehouse, the discussion continued for an hour or so longer with numerous people coming and going.   At one point, the talk turned to the New Left and the difficulty it encounters in building community respect.   This drew some remarks from a
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