The Movement for a Democratic Military (MDM) was an American anti-war, anti-establishment, and military rights organization formed by United States Navy and Marine Corps personnel during the Vietnam War. Formed in California in late 1969 by sailors from Naval Station San Diego in San Diego and Marines from Camp Pendleton Marine Base in Oceanside, it rapidly spread to a number of other cities and bases in California and the Midwest, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Long Beach Naval Station, El Toro Marine Air Station, Fort Ord, Fort Carson, and the Great Lakes Naval Training Center.
Heavily influenced by the Black Panther Party and the Black militancy of the times, it became one of the more radical GI organizations of the era.[1][2] MDM published a list of twelve demands for military reform and democratization, including collective bargaining for military personnel, the abolition of courts-martial, and a total military withdrawal from Vietnam, among other demands.[3][4]
MDM was viewed as a "serious threat" by U.S. military officials and law enforcement, who took efforts to surveil the organization and punish their members.[5][6] Their demands were criticized as unrealistic, with the potential of rendering the U.S. military "totally ineffective as a fighting force" if they were implemented.[7] MDM became such a concern that they were investigated by the House Committee on Internal Security in 1971.[7]
As with much of the GI movement during this era, chapters had a high turnover as members were transferred, discharged, and disciplined by the military. By late 1970 several chapters had splintered or disbanded, but the group's name and demands proved popular within the GI resistance movement overall.[5][6] Some chapters continued through 1971 and 1972, with one chapter remaining until 1975.
- ^ Alexander, Leslie, ed. (2010). "Political Activity, Migration and Urbanization". Encyclopedia of African American History. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. p. 1080. ISBN 978-1-85109-769-2. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
- ^ Moser, Richard (1996). The New Winter Soldiers: GI and Veteran Dissent During the Vietnam Era. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-8135-2242-5.
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:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Parsons, David L. (2017). Dangerous Grounds: Antiwar Coffeehouses and Military Dissent in the Vietnam Era. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 74–98. ISBN 978-1-4696-3201-8.
- ^ a b Cortright, David (2005). Soldiers In Revolt. Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books. pp. 64, 108 & 116. ISBN 978-1931859271.
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