Gary Rader
Encyclopedia
Gary Eugene Rader was an American Army Reservist
known for burning his draft card
in protest of the Vietnam War
, while wearing his U.S. Army Special Forces uniform. Afterward, he engaged in anti-war activism.
, and received his draft card from the Selective Service System
. He entered Northwestern University
in Evanston, Illinois
, as an undergraduate student of political science
. His status as a college student deferred his being drafted into the military. Upon leaving college, in mid-1965 he was re-classified as 1A: available for unrestricted military duty. He signed up for the U.S. Army Reserve, then trained for the Army Special Forces, commonly known as the Green Berets. Of this elite formation, Rader said, "I wanted to see what the best was like." Reading Ramparts
magazine in February 1966, he was struck by an article, "The whole thing was a lie!", from ex-Green Beret Master Sergeant Donald Duncan who turned down a field commission to the rank of captain and left the Army. Duncan wrote that a majority of South Vietnamese citizens were in favor of North Vietnamese politics, or against Saigon politics, or both. After realizing this, Duncan said he "had to accept also that the position, 'We are in Vietnam because we are in sympathy with the aspirations and desires of the Vietnamese people,' was a lie." Duncan did not think the U.S. should be a part of Vietnam's political disputes, and he opined that "anti-communism is a lousy substitute for democracy." He wrote that the U.S. should get out of Vietnam and let them decide their own fate, even though he felt that a united Vietnam would not be better off "under Ho's
brand of communism."
Rader went on active duty in September 1966 and was sent to Fort Bragg in North Carolina
; the home of the regular Army Special Forces. Rader said that he spoke to Green Beret soldiers returning from Vietnam and that they reported similar experiences to Duncan's. The responses these soldiers gave were ones Rader classified as belonging primarily to two groups: one group saying they were following orders and the other group saying the Vietnamese did not know what was best for them, that they needed to be "trained". A much smaller group said that the war was wrong and that they would refuse to go back. Rader finished active duty in mid-January 1967 "thoroughly disgusted with the Army".
Before his active Army Reserve assignment, Rader had been developing with Kenneth Janda at Northwestern a computerized notification system. In January 1967 the two men's work was published as a report on "a computerized system for automatically notifying social scientists of new journal articles", ones in their area of interest.
and said he would join them. At Sheep Meadow, Central Park
, wearing his Green Beret uniform covered by a black ski jacket, he assembled with the group of draft card burners and their friends. At around 11:30 am after 60 men began burning their cards, he removed his jacket, placed his beret on his head "at the correct angle", and burned his draft card.
A large number of people were attending or watching this rally, including anti-war activist Abbie Hoffman
, New York City policemen, FBI men, newsreel
cameramen, reporters, photographers and passers-by. Time
magazine estimated 75 total cards burnt; however, participant Martin Jezer
wrote that there were about 158 in all.
On April 17, he wrote a letter of resignation to his company commander. The 23-year-old Rader was arrested by FBI agents several days later at his home in Evanston. He was held in a Chicago prison cell overnight and released on bail the next day. Penalties he faced included up to five years in prison, up to $10,000 fine, and an additional six-months in jail for wearing his uniform without approval. Of the Sheep Meadow draft-card burners, only Rader was charged with the federal crime. Most of the others, according to Jezer who burned his own card at the rally, were visited by FBI agents but not charged. Rader was arraigned
on April 28; seven men burned their draft cards at his arraignment.
In May 1967 in response to the Sheep Meadow demonstration, 56-year-old anarchist intellectual Paul Goodman
published a piece in The New York Review of Books
sympathetic to draft-card burning. The editors printed a handful of responses, including one from Rader who described his motivation for the act. Writing five months after being arrested, he expected that it was not likely that he would be tried for burning his draft card: "the Army does not like to court-martial
in the glare of publicity."
magazine he wrote about his plans: "We are no longer interested in merely protesting the war; we are out to stop it." In September 1967 with anti-war activist David F. Greenberg, he founded Chicago Area Draft Resisters (CADRE), an organization with links to the national protest movement. In association with the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam
(The Mobe), Rader helped organize the "March on the Pentagon" held on October 21, 1967. For this rally, Rader worked with Abbie Hoffman, David Dellinger
, Jerry Rubin
, William Francis Pepper, Carl Davidson of Students for a Democratic Society
, Professor Robert Greenblatt of The Mobe, Lincoln Lynch of the Congress of Racial Equality
, and Amy Swerdlow of Women Strike for Peace
(WSP). Rader stood up and spoke at the March on the Pentagon; Norman Mailer
described the speech he gave as being "thought by many to be the best hour of them all." Rader was arrested and put in jail with other protesters. There, he took part in a hunger strike, and was fed intravenously by prison personnel.
Rader wrote letters and made public appearances in support of CADRE. In December 1967, he took part in an interview which was broadcast on WAMU
, the second part of a series on the Vietnam War; the first part's interview subject had been General William Westmoreland
. He wrote a letter seeking funds for CADRE from readers of The Movement, a publication of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
. He wrote to WSP to ask for bail donations and legal defense resources, urging the women to "get behind this fine group of young idealists, working not for themselves, but for the future of the race."
CADRE printed original articles as well as reprints of other articles, and made the literature available to young people in the Chicago metropolitan area. CADRE raised funds to bail out any imprisoned for draft resistance, and established a pool of lawyers willing to take such cases. Rader moved to New York in February 1968 but he continued to work for the cause of war resistance. CADRE helped organize Chicago area activities for March 1968 including a week of protest and a day of civil disobedience. During the 1968 Democratic National Convention
, CADRE was present at protests outside of the convention. The organization faded after 1973 when President Richard Nixon
abolished the draft, and by 1974 or '75, CADRE ceased operation.
Rader's CADRE partner Greenberg had been a member of The Mobe, and in 1967 he wrote a monograph
for CADRE: Vietnam and the draft. Later he earned a Ph.D. in high-energy physics, then became interested in crime and society. Greenberg is currently a sociology professor at New York University
and has published several books. After Rader committed suicide in a Boston psychiatric hospital in November 1973, Greenberg dedicated his 1993 book to him as well as to Green Party founder Petra Kelly
who died in 1992 and prisoner rights activist Fay Stender
who died in 1980.
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....
known for burning his draft card
Draft-card burning
Draft-card burning was a symbol of protest performed by thousands of young American men as part of the opposition to the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War. Beginning in May 1964, some activists burned their draft cards at anti-war rallies and demonstrations. By May 1965 it was...
in protest of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, while wearing his U.S. Army Special Forces uniform. Afterward, he engaged in anti-war activism.
Background
Upon turning 18, Rader registered for the draftConscription in the United States
Conscription in the United States has been employed several times, usually during war but also during the nominal peace of the Cold War...
, and received his draft card from the Selective Service System
Selective Service System
The Selective Service System is a means by which the United States government maintains information on those potentially subject to military conscription. Most male U.S. citizens and male immigrant non-citizens between the ages of 18 and 25 are required by law to have registered within 30 days of...
. He entered Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
in Evanston, Illinois
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
, as an undergraduate student of political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
. His status as a college student deferred his being drafted into the military. Upon leaving college, in mid-1965 he was re-classified as 1A: available for unrestricted military duty. He signed up for the U.S. Army Reserve, then trained for the Army Special Forces, commonly known as the Green Berets. Of this elite formation, Rader said, "I wanted to see what the best was like." Reading Ramparts
Ramparts (magazine)
Ramparts was an American political and literary magazine, published from 1962 through 1975.-History:Founded by Edward M. Keating as a Catholic literary quarterly, the magazine became closely associated with the New Left after executive editor Warren Hinckle hired Robert Scheer as managing editor...
magazine in February 1966, he was struck by an article, "The whole thing was a lie!", from ex-Green Beret Master Sergeant Donald Duncan who turned down a field commission to the rank of captain and left the Army. Duncan wrote that a majority of South Vietnamese citizens were in favor of North Vietnamese politics, or against Saigon politics, or both. After realizing this, Duncan said he "had to accept also that the position, 'We are in Vietnam because we are in sympathy with the aspirations and desires of the Vietnamese people,' was a lie." Duncan did not think the U.S. should be a part of Vietnam's political disputes, and he opined that "anti-communism is a lousy substitute for democracy." He wrote that the U.S. should get out of Vietnam and let them decide their own fate, even though he felt that a united Vietnam would not be better off "under Ho's
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
brand of communism."
Rader went on active duty in September 1966 and was sent to Fort Bragg in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
; the home of the regular Army Special Forces. Rader said that he spoke to Green Beret soldiers returning from Vietnam and that they reported similar experiences to Duncan's. The responses these soldiers gave were ones Rader classified as belonging primarily to two groups: one group saying they were following orders and the other group saying the Vietnamese did not know what was best for them, that they needed to be "trained". A much smaller group said that the war was wrong and that they would refuse to go back. Rader finished active duty in mid-January 1967 "thoroughly disgusted with the Army".
Before his active Army Reserve assignment, Rader had been developing with Kenneth Janda at Northwestern a computerized notification system. In January 1967 the two men's work was published as a report on "a computerized system for automatically notifying social scientists of new journal articles", ones in their area of interest.
Draft-card burning
Frustrated with his Army experiences in February and March, on April 14, 1967, Rader heard about a large anti-war protest which was to take place the next day in New York City. He contacted the leader of the student protesters coming from Cornell UniversityCornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
and said he would join them. At Sheep Meadow, Central Park
Sheep Meadow, Central Park
The preserve known as Sheep Meadow has a long history as a gathering place for large scale demonstrations and political movements. It is currently a favorite spot for families, sunbathers, picnickers, kite flyers, and other visitors to come relax and admire the New York City skyline...
, wearing his Green Beret uniform covered by a black ski jacket, he assembled with the group of draft card burners and their friends. At around 11:30 am after 60 men began burning their cards, he removed his jacket, placed his beret on his head "at the correct angle", and burned his draft card.
A large number of people were attending or watching this rally, including anti-war activist Abbie Hoffman
Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ....
, New York City policemen, FBI men, newsreel
Newsreel
A newsreel was a form of short documentary film prevalent in the first half of the 20th century, regularly released in a public presentation place and containing filmed news stories and items of topical interest. It was a source of news, current affairs and entertainment for millions of moviegoers...
cameramen, reporters, photographers and passers-by. Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine estimated 75 total cards burnt; however, participant Martin Jezer
Martin Jezer
Marty Jezer , was a well-known activist and author. Born Martin Jezer and raised in the Bronx, he earned a history degree from Lafayette College. He was a co-founding member of the Working Group on Electoral Democracy, and co-authored influential model legislation on campaign finance reform that...
wrote that there were about 158 in all.
On April 17, he wrote a letter of resignation to his company commander. The 23-year-old Rader was arrested by FBI agents several days later at his home in Evanston. He was held in a Chicago prison cell overnight and released on bail the next day. Penalties he faced included up to five years in prison, up to $10,000 fine, and an additional six-months in jail for wearing his uniform without approval. Of the Sheep Meadow draft-card burners, only Rader was charged with the federal crime. Most of the others, according to Jezer who burned his own card at the rally, were visited by FBI agents but not charged. Rader was arraigned
Arraignment
Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea...
on April 28; seven men burned their draft cards at his arraignment.
In May 1967 in response to the Sheep Meadow demonstration, 56-year-old anarchist intellectual Paul Goodman
Paul Goodman (writer)
Paul Goodman was an American sociologist, poet, writer, anarchist, and public intellectual. Goodman is now mainly remembered as the author of Growing Up Absurd and an activist on the pacifist Left in the 1960s and an inspiration to that era's student movement...
published a piece in The New York Review of Books
The New York Review of Books
The New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...
sympathetic to draft-card burning. The editors printed a handful of responses, including one from Rader who described his motivation for the act. Writing five months after being arrested, he expected that it was not likely that he would be tried for burning his draft card: "the Army does not like to court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
in the glare of publicity."
Chicago draft resistance
Rader determined that he would devote his time to working against the draft and against U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. For LiberationLiberation (magazine)
Liberation Magazine was a monthly magazine, of the New Left compared with Dissent , and Studies on the Left.-Early days:"Liberation" was founded, published, and edited by David Dellinger, A. J. Muste from 1956–1975 out of New York. A. J...
magazine he wrote about his plans: "We are no longer interested in merely protesting the war; we are out to stop it." In September 1967 with anti-war activist David F. Greenberg, he founded Chicago Area Draft Resisters (CADRE), an organization with links to the national protest movement. In association with the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam
National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam
The National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam was a relatively short-lived coalition of antiwar activists formed in 1967 to organize large demonstrations in opposition to the Vietnam War. The organization was informally known as "the Mobe"....
(The Mobe), Rader helped organize the "March on the Pentagon" held on October 21, 1967. For this rally, Rader worked with Abbie Hoffman, David Dellinger
David Dellinger
David T. Dellinger , was an influential American radical, a pacifist and activist for nonviolent social change.-Chicago Seven:...
, Jerry Rubin
Jerry Rubin
Jerry Rubin was an American social activist during the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1980s, he became a successful businessman.-Early life:...
, William Francis Pepper, Carl Davidson of Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
, Professor Robert Greenblatt of The Mobe, Lincoln Lynch of the Congress of Racial Equality
Congress of Racial Equality
The Congress of Racial Equality or CORE was a U.S. civil rights organization that originally played a pivotal role for African-Americans in the Civil Rights Movement...
, and Amy Swerdlow of Women Strike for Peace
Women Strike for Peace
Women Strike for Peace is a United States women's peace activist group.-History:Women Strike for Peace was founded by Bella Abzug and Dagmar Wilson in 1961, and was initially part of the movement for a ban on nuclear testing and to end the Vietnam war, first demanding a negotiated settlement,...
(WSP). Rader stood up and spoke at the March on the Pentagon; Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
described the speech he gave as being "thought by many to be the best hour of them all." Rader was arrested and put in jail with other protesters. There, he took part in a hunger strike, and was fed intravenously by prison personnel.
Rader wrote letters and made public appearances in support of CADRE. In December 1967, he took part in an interview which was broadcast on WAMU
WAMU
WAMU is a public radio station that services the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The station broadcasts on 88.5 FM, online at wamu.org, and on HD Radio at 88.5-HD1, 2 and 3. WAMU is on-air 24 hours a day. It is licensed to American University, and its studios are located near the campus...
, the second part of a series on the Vietnam War; the first part's interview subject had been General William Westmoreland
William Westmoreland
William Childs Westmoreland was a United States Army General, who commanded US military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak , during the Tet Offensive. He adopted a strategy of attrition against the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and the North Vietnamese Army. He later served as...
. He wrote a letter seeking funds for CADRE from readers of The Movement, a publication of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ' was one of the principal organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged from a series of student meetings led by Ella Baker held at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in April 1960...
. He wrote to WSP to ask for bail donations and legal defense resources, urging the women to "get behind this fine group of young idealists, working not for themselves, but for the future of the race."
CADRE printed original articles as well as reprints of other articles, and made the literature available to young people in the Chicago metropolitan area. CADRE raised funds to bail out any imprisoned for draft resistance, and established a pool of lawyers willing to take such cases. Rader moved to New York in February 1968 but he continued to work for the cause of war resistance. CADRE helped organize Chicago area activities for March 1968 including a week of protest and a day of civil disobedience. During the 1968 Democratic National Convention
1968 Democratic National Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, from August 26 to August 29, 1968. Because Democratic President Lyndon Johnson had announced he would not seek a second term, the purpose of the convention was to...
, CADRE was present at protests outside of the convention. The organization faded after 1973 when President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
abolished the draft, and by 1974 or '75, CADRE ceased operation.
Rader's CADRE partner Greenberg had been a member of The Mobe, and in 1967 he wrote a monograph
Monograph
A monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...
for CADRE: Vietnam and the draft. Later he earned a Ph.D. in high-energy physics, then became interested in crime and society. Greenberg is currently a sociology professor at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
and has published several books. After Rader committed suicide in a Boston psychiatric hospital in November 1973, Greenberg dedicated his 1993 book to him as well as to Green Party founder Petra Kelly
Petra Kelly
Petra Karin Kelly was a German politician and activist. She was instrumental in founding the German Green Party, the first Green party to rise to prominence worldwide.- Early life :...
who died in 1992 and prisoner rights activist Fay Stender
Fay Stender
Fay Abrahams Stender was an American lawyer from the San Francisco Bay Area, and a prisoner rights activist. Some of her more well known clients included Black Panther leader Huey Newton, the so called Soledad Brothers and Black Guerrilla Family founder George Jackson.-Soledad Brothers and George...
who died in 1980.