The United States Servicemen's Fund (USSF) was organized in March 1969 as a non-profit, tax-exempt organization to provide financial support to anti-Vietnam War GI projects. By late 1971, USSF supported 51 underground GI newspapers and 32 coffeehouses, bookstores and counseling centers; and sponsored performances of the FTA (Free Theater Associates) Show in the United States and abroad.
The USSF was organized at a time when the GI movement was gaining momentum. Many of the group's original supporters had been active in other similar causes. For example, two of USSF's initial members, Fred Gardner and Donna Mickleson, had organized the UFO, a GI coffeehouse near Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C. in 1968. The UFO is thought to be the first of its kind. Coffeehouses were designed to give servicemen a place to relax off base. The houses also became settings for discussions regarding the Vietnam War and social issues. By 1969, many more coffeehouses had been organized throughout the country and 12 USSF members, calling themselves the New York Unlabelled, organized the Attorney General's Favorite Defense Committee. This committee was created to finance coffeehouse defenses against military efforts to declare the coffeehouses off-limits or to close them.
Among the New York Unlabelled were Dr. Howard Levy, the Fort Jackson Army doctor who was court-martialed for refusing to train medics for Vietnam duty; Robert Zevin, a Resist member who became a USSF board member; and Barbara Dane, a folk singer who performed in coffeehouses in the United States and the Far East. USSF's initial sponsors included Noam Chomsky, the Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Jr., David Dellinger, Dr. Benjamin Spock, and Paul Lauter, who later became USSF executive director.
In addition to coffeehouses and counseling projects, USSF also helped support GI underground newspapers. In late 1967, the first such papers appeared, expressing antiwar sentiment from within the ranks. An unknown number of these newspapers were published between 1967 and 1973. David Cortright, in his Soldiers in Revolt (Garden City, NY: Anchor Press, 1975), estimates as many as 300 GI newspapers were published and lists 259 titles. The USSF provided funding to 51 papers in late 1971.
Between early 1971 and March 1972, USSF operated two offices, one in Cambridge, Mass. and a second in New York City. The Cambridge office was responsible for funds dispersal and the New York office handled fund raising activities. The two offices were consolidated in 1972, when the Cambridge office closed. The USSF also maintained a close liaison with San Francisco's Support Our Soldiers (SOS) and Chicago's CAMP (Chicago Area Military Project).
USSF's principal mission was that of raising funds and the organization met that goal with varying success. By December 1971, USSF had distributed approximately $290,000 to various GI projects and had raised approximately $430,000. In 1970, the Internal Revenue Service began proceedings to revoke USSF's tax-exempt status and acted finally in 1973. The IRS' decision seriously hindered USSF's fund raising efforts.
In some ways, 1971 was a landmark year for USSF because its work attracted national attention. The FTA Show that featured Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland toured United States military towns under USSF sponsorship. The show capped its U.S. tour with a “Salute to the GI Movement” in Lincoln Center's Philharmonic Hall on November 21, 1971 and then toured East Asian military installations. The FTA Show (FTA was variously defined as Free Theater Associates, Fun Travel Adventure, Fox Trot Tango Alpha, Free the Army, or F--- the Army) satirized the military and expressed antiwar sentiments.
Also in 1971, USSF was perceived to be the “leader” of the GI antiwar movement in at least one national incident. In May, GIs stationed at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, began boycotting Tyrrell's jewelry stores, objecting to the store's purported exploitive practices. Other GI groups followed suit, boycotting Tyrrell's stores in other parts of the country. The boycott proved to be successful and in September and October, Tyrrell representatives and attorneys approached USSF to negotiate an end to the boycott.
In 1972, USSF began to experience financial and administrative problems. By July, the organization was $15,000 in debt. Later that year, staff members began to resign leaving only two staff people in April 1973. The USSF dissolved shortly thereafter.
