Title: David D. Cline Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1967-2007 (bulk 1986-2007)

Creator:

• Cline, David D. (David Donald), 1947-2007

Call Number: Mss 1070; PH 6638; Audio 1597A; VDA 105-VDA 108; VHB 301-VHB 316

Quantity: 7.4 c.f. (4 archives boxes and 6 record center cartons), 2 audio recordings, 0.2 c.f. of photographs, 15 videotapes, and 4 DVDs

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers, 1967-2007, but mainly 1986-2007, of David Cline, a resident of Jersey City, New Jersey, a veteran of the war in Vietnam, and a leader in several veterans organizations that opposed the wars in Vietnam and Iraq. Included are organizational records of Veterans for Peace (VFP) of which Cline was president, 2000-2006, and e-mails distributed by Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), as well as information on many peace and veterans organizations such as Bring Them Home Now, United for Peace and Justice, and the Jersey City Vietnam Veterans Memorial Committee, a group Cline established to erect a memorial to that city's Vietnam War dead. The national VFP records include executive committee minutes, e-mails exchanged by officers, financial information, convention planning files, membership lists, and administrative subject files.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss01070

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David Donald Cline was born in Buffalo, New York, on January 8, 1947. Drafted in January 1967, Cline served as a rifleman with the 25th Infantry Division in Cu Chi Province of Vietnam from July 1967 until January 1968. Wounded three times, he received the Purple Heart with two oak leaf clusters and the Bronze Star for valor. Cline returned to the United States in 1968 and was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas, where he became involved in the anti-war movement within the Army. At Fort Hood he helped to establish the underground Fatigue Press. In March 1968 joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). After settling in Jersey City, New Jersey, he became a member of the New York-New Jersey chapter, serving as a regional coordinator, and eventually becoming a national coordinator of VVAW. After its formation in 1985, Cline also became a member of Veterans For Peace (VFP) and a charter member of the New Jersey chapter. He was elected national president of VFP in 2000 and served in that office until 2006. As president, Cline led a delegation of veterans to Vieques, Puerto Rico, and he co-founded the Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign. Most importantly, Cline's dedication, organizational skill, and ability as a public speaker brought the VFP to national prominence in the opposition to the Iraq War.

Cline returned from Vietnam with PTSD and a 40% physical disability. Over the years his disability increased, and he began to suffer from Hepatitis C, a disease caused by infected blood used to treat his wartime injuries. Eventually, Cline gave up his employment and his leadership in the Postal Workers and Transport Workers unions, and became a full time peace activist.

David Cline was the father of two children, Ellen and Daniel. He died on September 15, 2007 at age 60.

The Cline papers arrived at the Historical Society in 2010 in complete disorder, with little material even organized into folders. As a consequence, the collection had to be completely rearranged and weeded. The remaining material consists of printouts of e-mails, correspondence, flyers, minutes and other organizational records, handwritten notes, and photographs. Printed e-mail makes up the bulk of the collection and while this form of communication sometimes lacks identifying context, the e-mails are always dated.

The Cline Papers are arranged as GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, SUBJECT FILES, VISUAL MATERIALS, and AUDIO RECORDINGS.

The GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, which is arranged chronologically, consists of traditional correspondence and e-mail printouts that could not easily be filed by subject.

The SUBJECT FILES, arranged alphabetically, consist of subject-based e-mail, traditional documentation such as minutes and agenda that were circulated in electronic form, organizational records, and press and publicity materials. The bulk of the subject files relate to Veterans for Peace (VFP), Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), and Jersey City Vietnam Veterans Memorial, all organizations with which Cline was involved in a leadership capacity. Although basic organizational records are mostly lacking, most organizational e-mails were printed and saved. This is particularly true for the period 2001-2006, when Cline was the national president of VFP, and, as a result, one of the national leaders in the opposition to the Iraq War. The files for this era contain many exchanges between VFP leaders and staff concerning planning and policy. However, Cline's files of official executive committee minutes and reports are incomplete. In addition, there is information on finances, conventions, Agent Orange projects, membership, a conflict between Philadelphia chapters #31 and #144, and the expulsion of Gordon Soderberg, a participant in the Katrina relief effort. Cline's VFP records and correspondence are very incomplete for the period before he became president.

During the late 1990s Cline launched a campaign to erect a memorial to Jersey City's Vietnam War dead. Records for this committee and the local Memorial Day events the committee sponsored include handwritten minutes, correspondence, flyers, and photographs.

Despite his position as a national VVAW coordinator, Cline's records about that organization are limited. But since the national Vietnam Veterans Against the War Records, which are housed at the Wisconsin Historical Society, have little information that dates after 1975, Cline's post-1975 e-mails distributed through VVAW-Net, VVAW-Core, and VVAW-Contacts listserv mailing lists are important. Cline's VVAW material also complements the records of the Clarence Fitch Chapter of VVAW (part of the national records held by the Wisconsin Historical Society).

Cline also collected records about United for Peace and Justice, a national coalition of organizations opposed to the war in Iraq and mailings from a host of other organizations, primarily from New Jersey, concerned with peace and veterans issues. Several cartons of publications pertaining to these organizations have been separated to the Historical Society Library.

In addition to organizational records, the collection contains material focused on Cline, his activities, and his effectiveness as a peace activist. This material includes interviews, handwritten speech outlines and transcripts, writings, letters to the editor, brief biographies and biographical clippings, and a typescript of the letters he wrote to his family during the Vietnam War.

The VISUAL MATERIALS include photographs, video tapes and DVDs. The photographs document ceremonies at the Jersey City Vietnam Veterans Memorial and activities of Veterans for Peace and Vietnam Veterans Against the War. The photographs also document with the videorecordings Cline's participation in the activities of the Jersey City Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and Veterans for Peace. The videorecordings have been listed with the SUBJECT FILES as well as by call number under VISUAL MATERIALS.

The AUDIO RECORDINGS consist of Where Is the Rage, Jerry Scanlon's album of anti-war songs sponsored by VFP, and a discussion by Allen Nelson about his experiences as a Marine in Vietnam. The audio records have been listed with the SUBJECT FILES as well as by call number under AUDIO RECORDINGS.

Vietnam Veterans Against the War Records (Mss 370)

Acquisition Information

Presented by David Cline, Jersey City, New Jersey. Accession Number: M2011-101

Processing Information

Processed by Carolyn Mattern, 2012.

Mss 1070	Series: General Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   1	1986-1999
Box   1 Folder   2-20	2000-2007, undated
	Series: Subject Files	⇧
	Agent Orange
Box   1 Folder   21-22	Miscellaneous information
Box   1 Folder   23	International conference in Hanoi, 2006
Box   1 Folder   24	Korea
Box   1 Folder   25	New Jersey
Box   1 Folder   26-27	Vietnamese victims
VDA 105	Agent Orange/Dioxin and the Right to Life, undated Note: English language DVD by Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin about health problems of Vietnamese affected by Agent Orange.
Mss 1070 Box   1 Folder   27	Amnesty
Box   8 Folder   1	Aronson, art work and correspondence, 2005-2006
Box   1 Folder   28	Atomic Veterans, 1983-1991
	Biographical materials
Box   1 Folder   29	Brief biographies
Box   1 Folder   30	Cline's letters from Vietnam, 1967-1968
Box   1 Folder   31	Cline, Ellen, paper about her father
Box   1 Folder   32	Interviews
Box   1 Folder   33	Medical and service records
Box   1 Folder   34	Online memorials
Box   2 Folder   1	Letters to the editor
Box   2 Folder   2	Miscellaneous materials
Box   2 Folder   3	Press mentions
Box   2 Folder   4	Speaking engagements
Box   2 Folder   5-6	Writings, speeches, speech outlines, and notes
VHB 308	“Dave Tells the Truth,” circa 1987 Note: A 25-minute home video of Cline talking about his experiences in Vietnam.
VHB 309	Interview with Cline about his Vietnam experiences, undated
Mss 1070 Box   2 Folder   8	Black veterans
Box   2 Folder   9	Boetze, Obed Greg
Box   2 Folder   10	Bring Them Home Now, 2003-2005
Box   2 Folder   11	Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young tour, 2006
Box   2 Folder   12	Displaced Films proposal
Box   2 Folder   13	Ferner, Mike, book introduction, 2006
	Fitch, Clarence and Another Brother film
Box   2 Folder   14	General material
Box   2 Folder   15	Interview, 1985
Box   2 Folder   16	Goff, Stan
Box   2 Folder   17	Hastie, Mike
	Homeless veterans
Box   2 Folder   18	General
Box   2 Folder   19	National Coalition for Homeless Veterans
Box   2 Folder   20	Hudson County Coalition for Homeless Veterans
	Iraq War opposition Note: See also VHB 312.
Box   2 Folder   21-23	Miscellaneous material
VDA 106	No More Victims, 2006 Note: A 15-minute DVD narrated by Peter Coyote, about injuries sustained by Iraqi children.
1597A/1	Where Is the Rage?, circa 2007 Note: Album of Pat Scanlon's anti-war songs sponsored by VFP.
VHB 3114	Douglas Rokke, an Army expert, speaking to the Orange County (California) Coalition for Peace and Justice about the use of depleted uranium during the Gulf War
	Iraq Veterans Against the War, 2004-2007
Mss 1070 Box   2 Folder   24	Miscellaneous materials
VDA 107	“Line in the Sand” Note: Public service announcement sponsored by IVAW.
Mss 1070	Jersey City Memorial Committee
Box   2 Folder   25-37	General files, 1998-2007, undated
Box   2 Folder   38	Accounts
Box   2 Folder   39	Memorial design
Box   3 Folder   1	Hidden Casualties Project
	Katrina relief
Box   3 Folder   2	General material
Box   3 Folder   3	Common Ground relief efforts
VDA 108	Welcome to New Orleans Note: Video about activist Malik Rahim, an organizer of Common Ground after Katrina. Although VFP worked with Common Ground, VFP volunteers in the video are not identified.
Mss 1070 Box   3 Folder   4	Journal of an unidentified Korean War veteran: photocopy, 2005 Note: About his volunteer participation in the Katrina relief.
Box   3 Folder   5	Labor opposition to the Iraq War, 2006
Box   3 Folder   6	Lists
Box   3 Folder   7a	Litecky, Charles
Box   3 Folder   7b	Mancho Battalion memorial, 2000
	Memorabilia
Box   3 Folder   8	Standard size materials
Box   8 Folder   3	Legal size materials
Box   10	Veterans for Peace realia Note: Includes hats, pins, armbands; large VVAW banner; bumper stickers, which were all out of scope for the SHSW museum but retained by the SHSW archives for exhibit.
Box   3 Folder   9	Military Families Opposed to the Iraq War
Box   3 Folder   10	Military toxics project
	Nelson, Allen
Box   3 Folder   11	Booklet
1597A/2	“You Don't Know War” Note: Audio recording about Nelson's experiences as a Marine in Vietnam.
Mss 1070 Box   3 Folder   12	New Jersey Commission on Vietnam Veterans, 1988-1989
Box   3 Folder   13	New Jersey Department of Veterans Affairs
Box   3 Folder   14	New Jersey lists
Box   3 Folder   15-17	New Jersey, miscellaneous military and peace organizations
Box   3 Folder   18	New Jersey Peace Action
Box   3 Folder   19	New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 2000-2002
Box   3 Folder   20	Notes
Box   9 Folder   1	Notebooks containing meeting notes
Box   9 Folder   2	Notebooks
Box   3 Folder   21	Oakland Museum's Vietnam exhibit, 2000
Box   3 Folder   22	Our Way Home conference, 2006
Box   3 Folder   23	Rodino, Virginia, 2005-2006
Box   3 Folder   24	Sir, No Sir
Box   3 Folder   25	Skinner Brothers memorial
Box   3 Folder   26	Slazinski, Paul
Box   3 Folder   27-28	Student letters to Cline
Box   3 Folder   29	Tools for Democracy conference, 2004
	Transportation Union
Box   3 Folder   30	General papers
Box   8 Folder   2	Poster
Box   3 Folder   31	Miscellaneous unidentified materials
	United for Peace and Justice
Box   3 Folder   32-33	E-mails and correspondence, 2002-2007
Box   3 Folder   34-35	Convention packets, 2006, 2007
Box   3 Folder   36	Miscellaneous material, undated
	Veterans Administration
Box   3 Folder   37	General
Box   3 Folder   38	Stolen records lawsuit, 2006
VHB 313	Rally at the New York VA Note: Includes a speech by Barry Campbell, veterans' advocate and founder of Veterans Quality of Life Access Network.
Mss 1070	Veterans Against the Iraq War (VAIW)
Box   3 Folder   39	Website and general materials
Box   3 Folder   40	E-mails
Box   3 Folder   41	Veterans Association of Vietnam
	Veterans for Peace, 1997
Box   3 Folder   42	By-laws, 1999-2006
	National records
	1987-1991
Box   4 Folder   1	Early national mailings
Box   4 Folder   3-6	1997-2001
	2002
Box   4 Folder   7	General
Box   4 Folder   8	Board meetings
Box   4 Folder   9	Convention
Box   4 Folder   10	Finances
	2003
Box   4 Folder   12-13	General
Box   4 Folder   11	Convention
Box   4 Folder   14	Board meetings
Box   4 Folder   15	Finances
	2004
Box   4 Folder   16	General
Box   4 Folder   17	Board meetings
Box   4 Folder   18	Board binder
Box   4 Folder   19	Convention
Box   4 Folder   20	Finances
	2005
Box   4 Folder   21-22	General
Box   4 Folder   23	Board minutes and agenda
Box   4 Folder   24	Finances
Box   4 Folder   25	Miscellaneous
Box   4 Folder   26	Convention
	2006
Box   4 Folder   27-29	General
Box   4 Folder   30	Convention
Box   4 Folder   31	Finances
Box   4 Folder   32	Board
Box   4 Folder   33	2007
Box   5 Folder   1	Agent Orange relief and responsibility, 2005-2007
Box   5 Folder   2	Board listserv mailing list, 2001-2004
Box   5 Folder   3	Board e-mail, 2005-2007
Box   5 Folder   4	Brochures
	Chapters
Box   5 Folder   5	Florida
Box   5 Folder   6	Maine
	New Jersey
Box   5 Folder   7	Brief minutes
Box   5 Folder   8	Miscellaneous materials
Box   5 Folder   9	Lists of members
Box   5 Folder   10	New York City
	Philadelphia, 2005-2007, undated
Box   5 Folder   11	General papers
Box   5 Folder   12	VETSforPEACE electronic mailings
Box   5 Folder   13	Puerto Rico, 2000
Box   5 Folder   14	Miscellaneous chapters
Box   5 Folder   15	Children's Peace Poetry Contest
Box   5 Folder   16	Contacts, electronic mailings
Box   5 Folder   17	Graphics
Box   5 Folder   18	History, 1985-2002
Box   5 Folder   19	Katrina relief award pin, 2006
	Korea
Box   5 Folder   20	General papers
Box   5 Folder   21	Report of delegation to Korea, 2001
Box   5 Folder   22	Lash, Thomas, 2005
	Membership lists
Box   5 Folder   23	National, circa 2000
Box   5 Folder   24	Analysis and miscellaneous materials, circa 2000
Box   5 Folder   25	New Jersey
Box   5 Folder   26	New York, 2001-2003
Box   5 Folder   27-28	Mid-Atlantic Region, 2004, 2006, undated
Box   5 Folder   29	Newsletter pages
Box   5 Folder   30	NGO proposal
Box   5 Folder   31	Operation Dire Distress
Box   5 Folder   32	Soderberg, Gordon, 2005-2006
Box   5 Folder   33	Staff
Box   5 Folder   34	Website, 2004-2005
Box   5 Folder   35-36	Miscellaneous materials, undated
	Videorecordings
VHB 312	Anti-war protest, Washington, D.C., 2002 April 20 Note: Unedited footage of an anti-war protest at which David Cline speaks for VFP.
VHB 314	VFP rally, Washington, D.C., 2003 January 18 Note: Contains 13 minutes of footage of rally preceded by “Contamination for Eternity,” a speech by Douglas Rokke about depleted uranium, January 30, 2003.
VHB 302	Operation Dire Distress Iraq War teach-in, Washington, D.C., 2003 March 22 Note: Broadcast by C-SPAN; David Cline is one of the speakers.
VHB 301	Operation Dire Distress, circa 2003 Note: Video by Radio Free America TV about the VFP peace march, Washington, D.C., March 23, 2003.
VHB 303	“Operation Dire Distress” Note: An episode of the local public access program Insights, consisting of footage of the CPAN broadcast of the teach-in edited by host Paul Perrier, together with an interview with Marc Levy and Lee Vander Laan of Veterans for Peace.
VHB 307	VFP parade, Redwood City, California, 2003 July 4
VHB 315-316	VFP convention in San Francisco, 2003 Note: Broadcast on the Insights program.
Mss 1070 Box   5 Folder   37	Veterans Braintrust
Box   5 Folder   38	Veterans Peace Coalition, 1990
Box   5 Folder   39	Veterans Peace Council
VHB 305	Veterans United Against the War, 2002 November 11 Note: A Veterans Day meeting of many anti-war groups in New York City. David Cline speaks. Produced by People's Video Network.
Mss 1070 Box   5 Folder   40	Vets 4 Vets
Box   5 Folder   41	Vigil for the Fallen
Box   5 Folder   42	Vietnam, 25th Peace Anniversary
VHB 310	Remarks by David Cline and others to a public school class about the Vietnam memorial, 2002 May 2 Note: Poor quality audio and video.
Mss 1070 Box   5 Folder   43	Vietnam miscellaneous materials
	Vietnam Veterans Against the War
Box   5 Folder   44	Cline correspondence, 1986-1993
Box   5 Folder   45	National Steering Committee, 1998-2006
Box   6 Folder   1	Contacts listserv, electronic communications, 2003-2006
Box   6 Folder   2	Core members listserv, electronic communications, 2000-2007
	Clarence Fitch chapter
Box   6 Folder   3	Miscellaneous records
Box   6 Folder   4	Reports
Box   6 Folder   5	History and anniversaries
Box   6 Folder   6	Kerry, John, 1970-1971
Box   6 Folder   7	Lists
Box   6 Folder   8	Milwaukee chapter/John Lindquist, 1989-1992
Box   6 Folder   9	National miscellaneous records
Box   6 Folder   10	New Jersey
VHB 306	Only the Beginning Note: Video produced by VVAW using stock footage of anti-Vietnam protests.
Mss 1070 Box   6 Folder   11	VVAWNET electronic listserv communications, 2000-2004
Box   7 Folder   1	Vietnam Veterans Against the War-Anti-Imperialist, 1987-2003
Box   7 Folder   2	Vietnam Veterans Against WWIII
	Vietnam Veterans of America
Box   7 Folder   3	National mailings
Box   7 Folder   4	New Jersey newsletters, 1988-1989
	Vieques
Box   7 Folder   5	Cline correspondence
Box   7 Folder   6	Cline's Vieques trip notes, 2000
Box   7 Folder   7	E-mails received, 2000-2004
Box   7 Folder   8	North Jersey actions by various organizations
Box   7 Folder   9	Service pins
Box   7 Folder   10	Veterans actions
Box   7 Folder   11	General materials
VHB 304	Vieques: Un Largometraje, 2000 Note: 90-minute video about the U.S. military use of Vieques, Puerto Rico. Produced by Instituto Puertorriqueño.
Mss 1070 Box   7 Folder   12	Winter Soldier film
	Series: Visual Materials	⇧
PH 6638	Photographs
Box   1 Folder   1	Cline, David, Informal portraits
Box   1 Folder   2	Fitch, Clarence
Box   1 Folder   3	Iraq War protest symposium
Box   1 Folder   4-5	Jersey City Vietnam Veterans Memorial ceremonies
Box   1 Folder   6	“Matter of Conscience,” portraits by William Short
Box   1 Folder   7	Nicaragua
Box   1 Folder   8	Veterans for Peace demonstrations
Box   1 Folder   9	Vieques photographs by Rafael Torres
Box   1 Folder   10	VVAW
Box   1 Folder   11	Miscellaneous images
	VHS Video tapes
VHB 301	Operation Dire Distress, 2003 March 23 Note: Video produced by RadioFreeAmerica.tv about the Veterans for Peace march and teach-in, Washington, D.C., against the war in Iraq.
VHB 302	Operation Dire Distress teach-in at American University, 2003 March 22 Note: Broadcast by CSPAN. Dave Cline is included among the speakers.
VHB 303	“Operation Dire Distress,” circa 2003 Note: An episode of the local public access program Insights, consisting of footage of the CPAN broadcast of the teach-in edited by host Paul Perrier, together with an interview with Marc Levy and Lee Vander Laan of Veterans for Peace.
VHB 304	Vieques: Un Largometraje, 2000 Note: A 90-minute video about the U.S. military use of Vieques, Puerto Rico. Produced by Instituto Puertorriqueño.
VHB 305	Veterans United Against the War, 2002 Note: A pre-Veterans Day meeting of many anti-war groups in New York City. David Cline is one of the speakers. Produced by People's Video Network.
VHB 306	Only the Beginning Note: A video produced by Vietnam Veterans Against the War using stock footage of anti-Vietnam protests.
VHB 307	Veterans for Peace parade, Redwood City, California, 2003 July 4
VHB 308	“Dave Tells the Truth,” circa 1987 Note: A 25-minute home video of Cline talking about his experiences in Vietnam. Poor audio and video quality.
VHB 309	Interview with Cline about his Vietnam experiences, undated
VHB 310	Remarks by David Cline and others to a public school class about the Vietnam Memorial, 2002 May 2 Note: Poor audio and video quality.
VHB 311	Douglas Rokke, an Army expert, speaking to the Orange County Coalition for Peace and Justice about the military use of depleted uranium during the Gulf War
VHB 312	Anti-war protest in Washington, D.C., 2002 April 20 Note: David Cline speaks for VFP.
VHB 313	Rally at the New York Veterans Administration, 1998 May Note: Barry Campbell, veterans advocate and founder of Veterans Quality of Life Access Network, is among the speakers.
VHB 314	VFP rally, Washington, D.C., 2003 January 18 Note: Contains 13 minutes of footage of rally preceded by “Contamination for Eternity,” a speech by Douglas Rokke about depleted uranium, January 30, 2003.
VHB 315-316	Veterans for Peace convention, San Francisco, 2003 Note: Broadcast as part of the Insights program on Winthrop Public Access Television and hosted by Paul Jesse Peirier and Lee Vander Laan. Part I includes Dennis Kucinich and Country Joe McDonald (briefly); Part II includes S. Brian Willson and Jim McDermott.
	DVDs
VDA 105	Agent Orange/Dioxin and the Right to Life Note: English language version of documentary produced by Vietnam about the effects of Agent Orange on people in Vietnam.
VDA 106	No More Victims Note: A documentary about children who are victims of the Iraq War.
VDA 107	“Lines in the Sand” Note: A public service announcement sponsored by Iraq Veterans Against the War.
VDA 108	Welcome to New Orleans Note: A video by Rasmus Helm, about Malik Rahim, a former Black Panther active in the Hurricane Katrina relief. Veterans for Peace worked with Rahim's Common Ground collective, but VFP is not specifically mentioned among the volunteers seen.
Audio 1597A	Series: Audio Recordings	⇧
1597A/1	Where Is the Rage?, circa 2007 Note: Album of Pat Scanlon's anti-war songs sponsored by Veterans for Peace.
1597A/2	“You Don't Know War” Note: Veteran Allen Nelson speaks about his experience in the Marines. Accompanying booklet is filed with the papers (Box 3, Folder 11).