Andy staples wikipedia trial#

He was widely popular at the base and his acquittal was cheered by fellow soldiers. Youth Against War and Fascism sent several sympathizers to the trial, and Stapp began spending time with one of the activists, Deirdre Griswold.

The second court-martial was for allegedly leaving his barracks without authorization. Ilg was charged with and convicted showing disrespect to a superior officer. Private Paul Ilg, who attended the trial, accused a lieutenant of perjury for claiming to have initiated the original order. Nevertheless, Stapp was convicted and served 45 days of hard labor.

Andy staples wikipedia trial#

In what was one of the earliest anti-war protests on a military base, soldiers and civilians appeared at the trial and chanted anti-war slogans. The Emergency Civil Liberties Committee had attorney Victor Rabinowitz work on the case and sent attorney David Rein to defend Stapp. He was charged with disobeying an order and requested a court-martial for what was a minor offense so that he could use the opportunity to broadcast his beliefs. Instead, they surrounded him with soldiers they thought were the 'most Army type.' According to Stapp, 'Well, they were just the first two guys won over.' Īfter their library was surrendered for inspection and not returned, Stapp locked his footlocker and refused to open it. Once the Army realized he was 'a left-wing radical' they wanted to isolate him in his own room, but only officers had private rooms.

He formed an informal group with whom he collected leftist literature and engaged in minor annoyance actions. He was stationed in Oklahoma at Fort Sill. He had trouble enlisting because of his arrest record and destroyed draft card but convinced his local draft board that he had had a change of heart. Stapp was drafted into the Army in May 1966. Frustrated by difficulties building draft resistance among other students, Stapp decided to build resistance within the military. He and three other students burned their draft cards and were kicked out of school.

He became involved with the anti-Vietnam War movement on campus and served as president of SENSE, Students for Peace. Stapp participated in a sit-in on Hiroshima Day in 1965, where he was arrested for disorderly conduct and accused police of throwing tear gas into locked vans of arrestees. He began questioning the Vietnam War during an archaeology expedition in Egypt, where he learned about the country's colonial history under British rule. Stapp enrolled at Pennsylvania State University to study history. He grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia with his older brother William. He was adopted from an orphanage by William and Martha Stapp. Stapp was born March 25, 1944, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a military nurse. He was married to Deirdre Griswold both were members of the Workers World Party. After establishing the American Servicemen's Union, Stapp was discharged for subversive activity. There he rallied anti-war sentiment, leading to two highly publicized courts-martial. Stapp began as a student activist until he was drafted into the U.S. military, in opposition to the Vietnam War. Andrew Dean Stapp (Ma– September 3, 2014) was an American activist known for forming the American Servicemen's Union, an unofficial union for the U.S.