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cree teeeeseeny, ements epee # current efforts in community devel woent in the US. and around the worla, including South Vienam. Alr Raids . ‘Twice during my stay J had to seck - wmderground shelier during air raids; I felt and heard the bomb explosions and the defensive shel? bursts some ty miles away. After one raid. on Easter _ Sunday, I walked around Hanoi. Within half an hour alter the raid I found myself sitting beside a lake in a central park writing 1 my chiidren, telling them how Wile Vietnamese children were playing, wading, fishing, running barefoot. Ie struck me hard that our bombs were killing children like these, am much Hke my own. Later that after- Boon J came across a Protestant church” in which about 45 people,-old and young, were praying. On a visit to Phu Xa, 2 village about “four miles from the cenicr of Hanoi ~ along the Red River dike, we picked up _ + &@ souvenir of a US. bombing raid. Ir was a baseball-sized antipersonnel f{rag- mentation bomb (juckily, this one was a - _ Gud) which explodes into hundreds of _. fragmenu and pellets designed to de- roy People but leave, buildings and ty undamaged, ¢ unit from 2) Pick oar bascball came bolds geo euch . > bombs, which tpread over a wide area on impact. At a press conJerence in Hong Kong after our return we showed. our baseball, and the U.S. government subsequently admitted having used such weapons in the north since February i’ “Whe Phoenix voyage was planned af- tex other attempts at sending medical °° Over two years ago the American Fricnds Service Committee began trying © snd relief to the three Vietnams: “Saigon, the National Liberation Front ~* (Vietcong) and Hanoi, However, US. . + ¢ {government policy permitted relief only ~ ge tbe south, where chere are now three AFSC programs: a community de velopment project, a child day care and ~ {community ceuter and (soon to become rational) a physical therapy center. TT hough Reap ses Friends Ser wice Committce Quakers in Canada de-” ‘veloped a medical aid program for all of ~ ‘Vietnam, sending supplies to the Red Cross societies of Sonth and North Viet. pam and the N.LF, When Americans gram the USS. state depriment decided racial and economic justice; and the supplies to North Victnam had failed. | began making contributions to this pro- ”.' eprinted by A QUAKER ACTION G -20 MAUNAL LUIS, Qs SRUTCHCU PTEVCY * tive action through the foreign ase . contro! division of the ircasury depar ment under the 1917 Trading with the -: Enemy act. In the ‘fall of 1966 the ~ : treasury deparrment asked the Toronto _- bank ued by ic Canadian Friends. Service Committee to cooperate in stup- ping American contributivhs The bank, refused (“We are not yet your sist’ ‘ttate”). Then the treasury department sent instcuctions to all US. banks 10 > refuse to negotiate cancelled checks made out to the Canadian society. (The US. government had also blocked two AQA.G. bank accounts in Philadelphia +, totalling $1,400.) In September 1986 the government did relent to the extent of - permitting Quaker grovps to make do- nations of about $15,000 for Vicmam relief. Apparently such aid was thoughe to be in the national interest at that time. . . New Group : .. A.Q.A.G. had been established in July 1966 to challenge the U.S. war policy in Vietnam, help bring the war to an end, get medial aid to civilians in all of Vietnam and stimulate all Quakers to work harder for peace in Viarnam. Hor- © ace Champney, a retired social psychol. ogist and printer from Yellow Springs, Ohio, suggested that as a means to continue and expand our aid x both sides we sail the Phoenix into Haiphong with 2 Quaker crew, some of whom were teady to may to chelp distribute che | medical supplies and share in the suffer- ing of the North Vicunamese, Again our ._ bank account was blocked. Since the 7, Bovernment refused to validate our * passports for the trip, we knew we were “.., Tisking revocation—which became an actuality upon our return. With the eooperation of the American Civil Lib- erties Union we are now appealing both . bank accounts The state department cold us that if we made the trip we ‘would be subject to a maximum pun- * -. ishment of ten years in prison and/or a — + * $10,000 fine for violation of the Trading with the Enemy act. At this writing the ~* government has not decided whether move against ws on that charge. ‘* Not only was the US. government agnitist our going to North Vietnam: the Noth Vietnam government and Red Gross also discouraged ut From Septem . ~ Der 2966 until about the time the Phoe- nlx reached Tokyo we received no re Sponse to our repeated letters to North Vietnam. Then we received two cables * from’ Vudich Tung. chairman of the . North Vietnamese Red Cross society. He. ° ee vs 10 South 12th Street, Philadelphia the revocation and the blocking of the” Dut to send the mecical aia to } and to contact a North Vietnames resentative abroad if we had othe gestions to help the people in Vie We replied that we appreciated concern for our safety but were aw and willing to whe all risks invol Goals and Accomplishmente Most people are acquainted Nonviolent protests. Ours wat a | against war as an institution as v against ovr government's role i war, We were attempting to er chaunel through which Americans give and administer medical aid « jan causuliies in North Vietnam : - offer a concrete expression of th ness of humanity across man-mad tiers of alienation. . |. We did accomplish many thing delivered the medical aid in per the Red Cross society. We estal friendly direct communication wi ‘Red Cross and people of Nortt nam. We came home feeling son sonal identification with the Vietnamese, Moreover, a num! Quakers and Friends meetings moved to act more forcefully on x aid and peace projects as a result uip. We have had innumerable tunities to talk to the American about this war and moral values! newspapers, radio and television Since returning we have nc “change in the attitude of “Am toward the war: there is touch questioning of U.S. policy, more : tion to it We have visited man tors, representatives and their ass In genera}, the legislators are int in our experience; they listen acre and are seriously searching for ternative to the administration's But in our visits to officials treasury and atate deparuments the White House we have founc fnterest in our experiences —a *. polite listening. They have seer fensive about US. policy, unwil consider alternatives. We ‘have clearly unsuccessful. in our effort avade the government to char Victnam policy. - . +. Another goal we did not fully . was establishment of an. Ax Quaker presence in North View ‘administer medical aid and help rebuilding of destroyed homes, hk and schools. We ‘were told in v thar because of health and safe sons the time was not right for ‘stay, but that when the time co ebuild Vietnam we would be wi ROUP Penna