Vietnam Veteran to speak at Blue Hill Library

Doug Rawlings, president of the Maine Chapter of Veterans for Peace and an award-winning anti-war poet will speak of his recent return to Vietnam in the Howard Room of the Blue Hill Library at 7pm, Saturday, November 11th.  Fifty-three years ago Rawlings served with the 7/15th Artillery located at a firebase in the central highlands of Vietnam.  He vowed that he would not return as a tourist, so being invited to speak of G.I. resistance to the war and to present his poetry at a conference in Hue City made his trip possible.  The organizers would have found Rawlings’ credentials inarguably compelling.  In 1985, he, along with four other Vietnam war veterans, conceptualized and founded Veterans for Peace.  Today, the organization is a prominent player in a growing clamor in opposition to war as an instrument of foreign policy with thousands of members, chapters in every state and six international affiliates.  Rawlings’ presentation will include slides of his visit to the former DMZ and to Khe Sanh.  He will report on the work being done by Project Renew, under the direction of Chuck Searcy a veteran now living in Hanoi,  dedicated to the disposal of unexploded ordnance, and by Vietnam Friendship Village, a residential facility for the victims of Agent Orange founded by veteran George Mizo.  Rawlings will read some of the poetry he presented in Vietnam.

Sponsored by:

Americans Who Tell the Truth

Island Peace and Justice

Peninsula Peace and Justice