YOUNG MAN'S CRUSADE
Bolte Leader of New American Veterans Committee
CHARLES G. BOLTE '41 is already known to Dartmouth alumni as a young man with strong beliefs and the habit of acting upon them. He joined the King's Royal Rifle Corps in England a month after he was graduated in June 1941. and in characteristic fashion he is now a prime mover in the organizing of a new American veterans' group designed to give expression to the gradually developing opinions and practical expectations of servicemen looking forward to their return to civilian life.
Bolt£, who lost a leg while serving as a Lieutenant with the British at El Alamein, is editor of the monthly Bulletin of this new and growing organization, recently named the American Veterans Committee, and is also a member of the temporary executive committee of six honorably discharged veterans with headquarters in New York. The form of the American Veterans Committee has purposely been kept tentative, awaiting its final expression of aims until after the war, when the first gathering of its members will take place. For one thing, it has no definite plan as to whether it will function independently or decide to join forces with the American Legion or the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
HUNDREDS OF REPLIES RECEIVED
The Bulletin, which Boltd sends out from his own residence at 416 West 20th Street, New York 11, N. Y., has this heading: "To achieve a more democratic and prosperous America and a more stable world." In response to this general purpose, over 700 letters have been received from men in the armed forces and 300 persons have subscribed to the Bulletin, the only form of membership thus far. Five hundred others have written in for information. The work of the Committee has recently been boosted along by growing publicity, notable examples of which were a full column by William L. Shirer in his "Propaganda Front" of May 21 and a long feature in the New York Herald Tribune of May 25.
The genesis of the American Veterans Committee goes back to January 1943. Believing that the man fighting this war is and will continue to be a realist who is conscious of the problems of maintaining peace and economic security through his own efforts, and who, on his return, will not be put off by "a couple of drinks and a pat on the back," several servicemen, including Bolte, at that time began exchanging letters on the subject of the attitude of veterans after the war. They were convinced that thousands of other servicemen were vitally interested. The circle of this correspondence enlarged and the number of interested persons grew steadily. A group formed and a statement of intentions was drawn up, the joint work of servicemen scattered around the world. While these intentions are considered to be strictly preliminary, the organization believes that they represent the thinking of the majority of fighting men.
This statement of intentions has been drawn up as follows:
We look forward to becoming civilians: making a decent living, raising a family, and living in freedom from the threat of another war. But that was what most Americans wanted from the last war. They found that military victory does not automatically bring peace, jobs or freedom. To guarantee our interests, which are those of our country, we must work for what we want.
Therefore we are associating ourselves with American men and women, regardless of race, creed or color, who are serving with or have been honorably discharged from our armed forces, Merchant Marine, civilian agencies in the field, or allied forces. When we are demobilized it will be up to all of us to decide what action can best further our aims.
These will include: Aid for every veteran and his family during demobilization.
A job for every veteran, with private enterprise and government working together to provide full employment for the nation. Thorough social security. Free speech, press, worship, assembly and ballot.
Disarmament of Germany and Japan, and the elimination of the power of their militarist classes. Continuance of the United Nations as partners, acting together to stop any threat to peace.
Bolt's July 1 Bulletin will give an idea of how the American Veterans Committee functions as a clearing house of servicemen's opinions, which are editorially tied in with the clearly stated, yet flexible, aims of the organization. About half the space is devoted to quotations from certain of the many letters received. One typical opinion is that of Lt. Don Bishop who writes, of the new organization, "We must all make a pledge to ourselves that so long as the work goes forward in a generally progressive pattern, we will stick by it and not dive into the bushes and start sniping at it. If we don't agree with some stand taken by the AVC, we can oppose the position, not AVC for taking it."
Under the heading of "Newsletter" Editor Boltd discusses and comments upon the President's peace plan, bringing out the fact that the working out of any plan will depend upon the efforts of those who are affected by it. Under the last heading, "From the Editor," some of the trends of postwar planning are evaluated, with the qualification that while the main objectives are practical and constructive, many of them, from the serviceman's point of view, "scratch the surface." The Editor comments, "Some of us are suspicious when we hear too much rosy talk about helicopters and chromium pie plates and job surveys that don't get to the heart of the problem.... we appreciate the temporary benefits designed to help us set up shop again but we are saving our cheers .... for the men who come forward with plans that will guarantee jobs for everybody who wants to work."
Among the six honorably discharged veterans now serving as the executive committee of AVC, three were wounded overseas, one at Salerno, one in the South Pacific, and one at El Alamein. The main committee will set up committees, both men and women, in other towns to recruit active members and to spread word of the new organization in the armed forces, where associate members will be recruited. Present plans call for the setting up of a New York office with a full-time staff, including a legal adviser, a job counsellor, education and rehabilitation counsellors, and a legislative committee in Washington to report on the progress of bills in the light of the organization's current policy as formulated by the executive committee, acting as trustees for the men overseas.
As a Dartmouth undergraduate Bolte was editorial chairman of The Dartmouth, a Senior Fellow, and a Phi Beta Kappa student. Upon his return from North Africa he became associated with the Office of War Information in New York. Recently he has become assistant public relations director for the Ziff-Davis Publishing Company in New York.
CHARLES G. BOLTE '41, directing force of a possible new veterans' group, in the uniform of a King's Royal Rifles lieutenant.
THE ONE IN THE WHITE SHIRT is George Cornell '44 who poses with natives and officer passengers at a South Pacific base.
