The historian, policy-planner and determined activist died on June 16th, aged 92
He was directly implicated in this. Since 1964 he had been working at the Pentagon as assistant to John McNaughton, number two to Robert McNamara, the secretary of defence. With McNaughton, he had scoured for gory details of Vietcong atrocities to justify heavier American involvement. Together they had drafted lies for McNamara to tell the press.
At the same time, his unease was growing. He had a deep-seated horror of military attacks on civilians, laid down in childhood as he heard reports of the bombing of Warsaw and Rotterdam. At school in a tranquil suburb of Detroit he was shown a slim, silver magnesium bomb whose flames could not be doused with water, only with the sand that stood in a bucket in each classroom. He knew then that nothing was so purely evil as the deliberate bombing of women and children.
Yet the war itself was immoral, and that decided him. When in 1969 he heard a draft-resister, Randy Kehler, speak of a world of non-violence and the “beauty” of going to jail in the name of peace, he wept for more than an hour. That was the life he wanted to lead. He began to smuggle the “History”, 7,000 pages in all, out of thecomplex in his briefcase by night, copying it on a Xerox machine with the help of a friend.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Air guardsman accused of leaking Pentagon classified docs pleads not guilty to six federal countsThe former Air National Guardsman from Massachusetts accused of leaking top secret military documents appeared in court Wednesday where he pleaded not guilty to the half dozen federal charges he's facing.
Read more »
MAFS stars Harrison Boon and Daniel Holmes confirm fightThe pair will square off in Melbourne on August 19.
Read more »
Daniel Radcliffe shares rare glimpse of family life with girlfriend Erin Darke after welcoming first childThe Harry Potter star welcomed his first child with Erin in April
Read more »
'Peeping Tom' throws phone across court and threatened jury after guilty verdictA 'Peeping Tom' pervert has been jailed after he tried to film a teenage girl
Read more »
Family tributes for teens killed in Marcham triple-fatal crashElliot Pullen and Daniel Hancock are named as two of the three young victims of a car crash.
Read more »
First pictures of three teenagers killed after BMW crashed into treeEthan Goddard, Daniel Hancock, both 18, and Elliot Pullen, 17, all died in the crash, which left another teen fighting for his life.
Read more »