Presidio mutiny
Encyclopedia
The Presidio mutiny was a sit-down protest
carried out by 27 prisoners at the Presidio
stockade in San Francisco, California
on October 14, 1968. The stiff sentences given out at courts martial for the participants (known as the Presidio 27) attracted attention to the extent of sentiment against the Vietnam War
in the armed forces.
The protest was set into motion, however, by a group of four AWOL soldiers who turned themselves in the next day at the end of a large anti-war march in San Francisco, where the Presidio is located. The military had made attempts to prevent service members from participating in the march, ordering up mandatory formations and special maneuvers which would keep men on base. Nevertheless a large contingent of several hundred active duty and reserve servicemen marched at the front of the parade. The four AWOL soldiers (Linden Blake, Keith Mather, Walter Pawlowski, and Randy Rowland), having been put in the stockade, met with prisoners over the weekend and convinced them to participate in a protest over prisoner conditions and against the war.
". One of them returned to ranks when challenged, but the remainder continued to sing, with Pawlowski reading a list of demands. After orders to disperse were ignored, the camp commandant read the articles of mutiny
, and eventually the protest was broken up by military police
, who removed the protesters one at a time.
, national attention was focused on the severity of punishment for a non-violent protest. The charge of mutiny was particularly denounced, given that it potentially could carry the death penalty (though prosecutors had agreed in advance not to seek such extreme penalties); even the officer in charge of the preliminary investigation recommended reduction of charges to "willful disobedience", but was overruled by Lt. Gen. Stanley Larsen, commander of the Sixth Army.
On appeal, the long sentences for mutiny were voided by the Court of Military Review in June 1970, and reduced to short sentences for willful disobedience of a superior officer. Rowland, for example, was released in 1970 after a year and a half imprisonment. The three escapees (Blake, Mather, and Pawlowski) fled to Canada, with Mather remaining fugitive until 1985.
The book The Unlawful Concert by Fred Gardner (Viking Press, 1970) reviews the affair in detail. In 1980 the movie The Line depicted a fictionalized version of events. The episode is also examined in the 2005 documentary
Sir! No Sir!
, which examined military resistance to the Vietnam War.
Sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of protest that involves occupying seats or sitting down on the floor of an establishment.-Process:In a sit-in, protesters remain until they are evicted, usually by force, or arrested, or until their requests have been met...
carried out by 27 prisoners at the Presidio
Presidio of San Francisco
The Presidio of San Francisco is a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area...
stockade in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
on October 14, 1968. The stiff sentences given out at courts martial for the participants (known as the Presidio 27) attracted attention to the extent of sentiment against 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...
in the armed forces.
Prelude
Two events set the stage for the protest. The first was the death of Richard Bunch, a prisoner in the stockade, who was killed on October 11 with a shotgun blast after walking away from a work detail. Other prisoners stated that he taunted guards to shoot him. That evening there was a vocal protest against the killing. Conditions in the stockade were overcrowded, with up to 140 prisoners housed in a space intended for 88, and there were charges of mistreatment by guards.The protest was set into motion, however, by a group of four AWOL soldiers who turned themselves in the next day at the end of a large anti-war march in San Francisco, where the Presidio is located. The military had made attempts to prevent service members from participating in the march, ordering up mandatory formations and special maneuvers which would keep men on base. Nevertheless a large contingent of several hundred active duty and reserve servicemen marched at the front of the parade. The four AWOL soldiers (Linden Blake, Keith Mather, Walter Pawlowski, and Randy Rowland), having been put in the stockade, met with prisoners over the weekend and convinced them to participate in a protest over prisoner conditions and against the war.
The protest
The protest was carried out during the morning formation on Monday the 14th. 28 prisoners broke ranks and sat in the grass, singing "We Shall OvercomeWe Shall Overcome
"We Shall Overcome" is a protest song that became a key anthem of the African-American Civil Rights Movement . The title and structure of the song are derived from an early gospel song by African-American composer Charles Albert Tindley...
". One of them returned to ranks when challenged, but the remainder continued to sing, with Pawlowski reading a list of demands. After orders to disperse were ignored, the camp commandant read the articles of mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
, and eventually the protest was broken up by military police
Military police
Military police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...
, who removed the protesters one at a time.
The trials
The protesters were tried in small groups in the spring of 1969. By that time three of the prisoners had escaped. As the first defendants were sentenced to 15, 14, and 16 years at hard laborPenal labour
Penal labour is a form of unfree labour in which prisoners perform work, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence which involve penal labour include penal servitude and imprisonment with hard labour...
, national attention was focused on the severity of punishment for a non-violent protest. The charge of mutiny was particularly denounced, given that it potentially could carry the death penalty (though prosecutors had agreed in advance not to seek such extreme penalties); even the officer in charge of the preliminary investigation recommended reduction of charges to "willful disobedience", but was overruled by Lt. Gen. Stanley Larsen, commander of the Sixth Army.
On appeal, the long sentences for mutiny were voided by the Court of Military Review in June 1970, and reduced to short sentences for willful disobedience of a superior officer. Rowland, for example, was released in 1970 after a year and a half imprisonment. The three escapees (Blake, Mather, and Pawlowski) fled to Canada, with Mather remaining fugitive until 1985.
Aftermath
The Presidio mutiny was the first of a number of protests and riots that drew attention to anti-war dissent within the military. It brought press investigation of the conditions at the stockade and of the situations of the protesters. For example, it was determined that none of those convicted had been given the non-combatant assignment promised by recruiters.The book The Unlawful Concert by Fred Gardner (Viking Press, 1970) reviews the affair in detail. In 1980 the movie The Line depicted a fictionalized version of events. The episode is also examined in the 2005 documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Sir! No Sir!
Sir! No Sir!
Sir! No Sir! is a 2005 Displaced Films and BBC documentary film about the anti-war movement within the ranks of the United States Military during the Vietnam War....
, which examined military resistance to the Vietnam War.