Burnt Orange Report

Winter Soldier Screening

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

If you are on campus or in Austin tomorrow, I encourage you to check out a screening of Winter Soldier hosted by Vietnam Veterans Against War. A couple of local activists who were recently in Iraq will speak as part of a panel as well. So below is the info...

When: Sunday, Sept. 18, 1 PM
Where: University of Texas Art Auditorium Rm. 1.102 (on 23rd and San Jacinto St.)
Why: Winter Soldier will be shown as a part of the Parallax View program - a component of the texascinema film festival. The showing will be followed by a panel discussion featuring several VVAW members of long standing (including Dave Collins) as well as other activist veterans of the American War in Viet Nam. Carl Webb, who you may know, will discuss the status of his efforts to win CO status from the military. Finally, two local activists will report on their recent travels to Iraq.

About: In February 1971 over 100 members of Viet Nam Veterans Against the War met in a hotel in Detroit and conducted what we called the "Winter Soldier Investigations". For two days veterans testified about their experiences in Viet Nam. It was the testimony of those veterans that John Kerry reported to Senator Fulbright's Foreign Relations Committee that summer during VVAW's "Dewey Canyon" operation in Washington. A documentary of the event was made, called simply 'Winter Soldier'. Although it opened to critical praise, it was not widely shown, being dubbed "too controversial". As a result of current conditions, the remnants of the Winter Soldier Collective that produced the film have reissued it and it is showing in many venues around the country.