by Charly Mann

To many of us the Vietnam War is a grim memory of a United States military failure and wasted lives. During the time the war was fought it sharply divided the country. To those of military age the draft meant you might actually have to go fight and die for your country in a war you did not support. In 1968, I was an eighteen year old freshman at the University of North Carolina, and was one of the leaders of an anti-war group on campus called the UAWMF (United Anti-War Mobilization Front). Before Vietnam turned into a major war in 1967, 89% of Americans said they trusted the federal government to do what was right. By the end the war in 1973 only 19% of Americans felt this way according to a Gallup poll. I was outraged that we were fighting to support a South Vietnamese government that was highly corrupt against an almost equally deplorable totalitarian North Vietnam. I felt the Vietnam War was a civil war that needed to be decided by its own people.

Daily Tar Heel article from November 13th, 1968 about U.S. soldier coming to UNC to talk to students at Y-Court about his opposition to the war in Vietnam 

In the Fall of 1968 only a handful of UNC students were actively involved in the anti-Vietnam War Movement. I joined a small group called the UAWMF headed by a brilliant and affable senior from New Orleans named Adolph Reed. Our focus that semester was supporting American soldiers who believed the war was wrong. Even though soldiers were supposed to have the same right to freedom of speech as other Americans, the United States military was severely punishing soldiers who spoke out against the war. The largest military base in the United States, Fort Bragg, was less than a two hour drive from Chapel Hill, and my organization worked directly with several soldiers there who opposed the war.

Article from the Saturday November 16, 1968 Duke Chronicle about trip to Fort Bragg that day organized by the UAWMF to hand out leaflets

I was the information director for the UAWMF, which meant I contacted the press about any events that our group sponsored. On November 8th, 1968 we brought three Fort Bragg soldiers to UNC to speak to the crowds on their way to that day's homecoming football game. One of these soldiers PFC. Walter Kos was court-martialed for his activities there. Another, PVT. Joseph Miles, was restricted to base and reduced in rank for speaking out against the war to UNC students. The other soldier, PFC. Keith Jones, returned to Chapel Hill the following Tuesday, and I sat with him for several hours at a table at Y-Court as he talked to a large crowd of students about why he thought our involvement in Vietnam was wrong. Jones was not in military uniform, nor did he demonstrate against the war, both of which are prohibited to active duty military personnel. After this event I took Jones to Chapel Hill High School, Duke University, and North Carolina Central to speak informally to students. That evening Jones stayed at my home and told me in greater detail why he opposed the war, as well as about the abuse and intimidation soldiers received who wanted to express their views against fighting in Vietnam. He told me that at least 1,000 GIs at Fort Bragg felt the same way he did, but remained silent out of fear. The next day when Jones returned to Fort Bragg he was restricted to base, and later transferred to a more remote military post.

Before we left for Fort Bragg I had everyone going sign their names in my notebook. From top to Bottom are John Steiger (junior), Scott Bradley (senior), Bob Lock (senior), Sam Austell (junior), Don Storey (sophomore), Alan R. Cole (freshman from N.C. State), Hugh McConnell (graduate student), Mike Cozza (senior), Charles Mann (freshman), Lloyd Clayton (sophomore), Adolph Reed (senior), George A. Rose (freshman)

With the military muzzling the voices of the soldiers our group supported we decided to organize a group of students to go down to Fort Bragg on Saturday November 16th to hand out leaflets about freedom of speech for soldiers, which also included information about why some soldiers were speaking out against the war.  I had flyers printed about the event which were posted at schools and universities throughout the Triangle area, and also got the Daily Tar Heel and Duke Chronicle to write small articles about our plans. On Saturday those wanting to go to Fort Bragg met at the Morehead Planetarium parking lot. There were 11 students including myself, and a reporter from the Daily Tar Heel who wanted to go along to report about our activities. As we turned out of the parking lot in our two car caravan we soon realized there were two other cars following us. They continued to tail behind us for the rest of the day.

Adolph Reed (center), the head of the UAWMF, meeting with students in the Morehead Planetarium parking lot on November 16th, 1968 before leaving for Fort Bragg

Our plan was never to break any laws or engage in any act of civil disobedience at Fort Bragg. It was only to find a large open place where soldiers congregated when off duty to offer them our leaflets. Fort Bragg was then (and I think still is) a large open military reservation without fences or sentries which anyone could drive through. The first thing we did upon arriving at Fort Bragg was to go to the Operations and Provost office on the base to seek permission to hand out our leaflets at an approved location. 

There we met with Major Vernon Keller who was the Operations and Provost Marshall of the base. When we made our request to him he read us a short document entitled Title 18 U.S. Code Section 1382, which said picketing, demonstrations, sit-ins, political speeches, protest marches, and "similar activities" were not permitted at Fort Bragg. He said this prohibited us from handing out our leaflets anywhere on the base. I said to Major Keller that I did not think handing out leaflets was a similar activity to picketing, sit-ins, and political speeches. Nevertheless our group agreed we should consider Major Keller's directive carefully, and we left Fort Bragg and drove to nearby Fayetteville to discuss what to do next.

This is me, Charly Mann, second from the right in white pants explaining to Fayetteville police Sgt. C.B. Morrison that our group had no plans to break the law during our visit to Fayetteville and Fort Bragg. To my right is Daily Tar Heel reporter Mike Cozza. On my left is Adolph Reed and next to him is Andy Rose.

Of the eleven UNC students on the trip only myself and Andy Rose were freshmen. Most of the rest were seniors or graduate students. Andy and I had both worked with several of the soldiers that had been court-martialed or reduced in rank for trying to exercise their freedom of speech, and argued that handing out leaflets was not a "similar activity" as those described in Section 1382. None of the other students agreed with us, but said they would sit in the cars if the two of us wanted to hand out leaflets. At 6:30 PM we drove back onto the base and found a movie theater. We parked the two cars and Andy and I got out and handed out leaflets. Mike Cozza the reporter of the Daily Tar Heel also got out of the car with a writing pad to cover our activities. Less than thirty minutes later the place was swarming with military policeman and other plain clothes officers who took all twelve us to a prison on the base. During the more than seven hours we were there each of us were subjected to intimidating and harassing interviews in which we were accused of being communist agents, and told that we would each likely be spending at least six months in prison. We were also told that because our crime was so severe we would likely not be able to find meaningful employment after college. Not surprisingly several of the students were in tears after going through their interrogations. Finally at 2 AM we were expelled from the base and told we had all been arrested for breaking a federal law.

The news about our arrests for handing out leaflets at Fort Bragg made headlines across the state and nation on the following Sunday (November 17th, 1968) and Monday. 

The week after my arrest I was singled out for more harassment from the military's intelligence division (the CTD). That Tuesday two agents visited me at my home. First they wanted me to admit that I or other members of my group were communists. Then they informed me that all U.S. soldiers had the same rights to freedom of speech as civilians, but when I said that two of the soldiers I had worked with had recently been court-martialed for speaking out against the war they said they were unaware of this. Towards the end of our hour long conversation they were able to shock me with the information that I had been under filmed surveillance for several weeks. They said that they had proof of me committing another federal crime by wearing a Navy jacket on November 11th. I told them that jacket was bought at the local PTA Thrift Shop, but they demanded I turn the jacket over to them now or face even more serious charges. After taking my jacket they let me know that they thought the editorial views of the Daily Tar Heel were communistic.

This photograph is from the day of the trial of The Fort Bragg 12 on November 25th, 1968. We are standing outside the courtroom in Fayetteville. Andy Rose is on the far right, Adolph Reed in the center, and Scott Bradley on his left. 

Unlike today, the law moved very quickly in 1968 and our trial was set for less than two weeks later on November 25th. I, along with the ten other students who were arrested, was represented by four attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union headed by Charles F. Lanbeth and assisted by Dale Whitman, a UNC professor of law. Mike Cozza, the DTH reporter, did not have representation, because he was sure, as was almost everyone else, that charges would be dropped against him since he was not even part of our group and only reporting on the event. Our legal team not only proved the Fort Bragg regulation was too vague to prohibit handing out leaflets, but preventing us from handing out leaflets was also unconstitutional. This is because giving out leaflets is a passive act, and since newspapers were also sold throughout the base, and we could have bought ads in them that contained what was in our leaflets, our rights were being denied under the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. Our judge, Wallace C. Jackson, however, had made up his mind on the case long before the trial started. As soon as both sides rested he looked at the table where I was sitting and read the following words, "I implore you to return to the ways of your forefathers and spurn the lawless and vociferous doctrine of hatred and division you are spreading." That statement came as a shock to me since our forefathers had stood up against the unjust British government that tried to squash people who criticized it in 1776.

The outcome of the trial made headlines around the country and many newspapers had accompanying editorials calling the verdict an outrage.

Judge Stevens then took aim at Rose and me as he dismissed the charges against most of the other defendants. He gave us six month sentences, he said, "in order to protect free speech, because if this country is turned over to the elements for which we worked, the first thing that will be prohibited will be free speech." I had not been aware I working for another element. I was simply against the United States involvement in Vietnam War. I also knew from my own thoughts that exercising freedom of speech is something I held dear. For no reason anyone could discern, Scott Bradley, who was seated in one of the cars, was given a three month sentence. Most shocking was that Mike Cozza, the Daily Tar Heel reporter, was sentenced to 60 days in jail. Cozza was not even part of our group and told the military authorities when we first met with them he was a reporter observing our activities. Judge Stevens explained his bizarre decision this way: "Cozza's action was like getting a phone call that a murder was about to be committed, and then riding in the car with the murderers." Obviously he thought Andy and me handing out leaflets was akin to committing a murder. Cozza unfortunately did not have the means to appeal such an outrageous decision and accepted his sentence.

Over the next year much of my life was sidetracked by the appeals process in this case. More than a year later, on November 28th, 1969, the United States Court of Appeals of the Fourth Circuit, based in Richmond, overturned our convictions.

This is part of the ruling that overturned my conviction in the Fort Bragg case as well as those of Andy Rose and Scott Bradley. It was handed down on November 28, 1969 by the United States Court of Appeals. 

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