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University of Iowa anti-war protests, 1965-1967
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[handwritten] Cedar Rapids Gazette 10/21/65 p. 2 (of 3) Card Burning Is Protest On Vietnam, Smith Says (continued from Page 1.) -morial union Thursday night. He said he ha no idea what he was going to talk about. "Heartbroken" Smith's father, Frank, who operates a shoe shop in Marion, described himself as heartbroken and said he found talking difficult. He said, "What should we have done? Where did we go wrong? We haven't heard from him since the incident. We didn't expect this." The elder Smith said he had received calls from all over the area including one from St. Joseph, Mo. Most of the calls are sympathetic ones, he said. The elder Smith is a disabled naval veteran and saw action in World war II in the Pacific. He has three other sons, Nile, 25, who is stationed with the air force in Thailand; Kenneth, 27, Marion, a former member of the national guard, and Keith, 30, who works for Collins radio Co. in Cedar Rapids. Smith said he agreed with Steve's work in the civil rights movement, but added, "I completely disagree with him in this matter. I can't understand it. I'm no hero, but I think all the boys over there should be backed up at home." His father referred to Steve's work in the civil rights movements. Young Smith spent some time in the South several years ago and last year participated in a hunger strike in front of the Iowa City post office. "Undemocratic" Before he burned his draft card, Smith said he believed that the draft and the war in Vietnam are undemocratic. He compared the present administration to the Third Reich in Germany. His action was greeted by scattered applause. Comments from the some 100 students watching varied. Some thought it was courageous; others thought he should be punished. Asked why he did it in front of a an audience, Smith said that there would be no point in doing it except in such a way that he would face arrest and punishment. He said he expects to be arrested by the FBI. An official in the FBI office in Cedar Rapids said that an investigation had been conducted of the burning of the card, and that action in the matter would be up to the U.S. attorney's office in Des Moines. Asked if the FBI had Smith's partially burned draft card, the FBI agent refused to comment. The card was picked up shortly after it was burned by an unidentified man. Frank Riley, assistant U.S. attorney in Des Moines, said that his office had not yet received the report and would wait until it was received before action was taken. U. of I. Investigation Officials of the University of Iowa are investigation the incident, too. "Defiance of law is never an action to be commended," said Dewey B. Stuit, dean of the university college of liberal arts. Smith's action has received national attention because he is the second youth in the country to burn his draft card. The first was a New York student who was arrested and is free on bond pending action. [Photo Caption] : --Photo by John Zielinski, Iowa City THIS IS a close-up of the card burned by Steve Smith, 20, a University of Iowa student from Marion, Wednesday afternoon. The partially-burned card, which dropped to the floor, was later picked up by a well-dressed man who put it in an envelope and carried it off.
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[handwritten] Cedar Rapids Gazette 10/21/65 p. 2 (of 3) Card Burning Is Protest On Vietnam, Smith Says (continued from Page 1.) -morial union Thursday night. He said he ha no idea what he was going to talk about. "Heartbroken" Smith's father, Frank, who operates a shoe shop in Marion, described himself as heartbroken and said he found talking difficult. He said, "What should we have done? Where did we go wrong? We haven't heard from him since the incident. We didn't expect this." The elder Smith said he had received calls from all over the area including one from St. Joseph, Mo. Most of the calls are sympathetic ones, he said. The elder Smith is a disabled naval veteran and saw action in World war II in the Pacific. He has three other sons, Nile, 25, who is stationed with the air force in Thailand; Kenneth, 27, Marion, a former member of the national guard, and Keith, 30, who works for Collins radio Co. in Cedar Rapids. Smith said he agreed with Steve's work in the civil rights movement, but added, "I completely disagree with him in this matter. I can't understand it. I'm no hero, but I think all the boys over there should be backed up at home." His father referred to Steve's work in the civil rights movements. Young Smith spent some time in the South several years ago and last year participated in a hunger strike in front of the Iowa City post office. "Undemocratic" Before he burned his draft card, Smith said he believed that the draft and the war in Vietnam are undemocratic. He compared the present administration to the Third Reich in Germany. His action was greeted by scattered applause. Comments from the some 100 students watching varied. Some thought it was courageous; others thought he should be punished. Asked why he did it in front of a an audience, Smith said that there would be no point in doing it except in such a way that he would face arrest and punishment. He said he expects to be arrested by the FBI. An official in the FBI office in Cedar Rapids said that an investigation had been conducted of the burning of the card, and that action in the matter would be up to the U.S. attorney's office in Des Moines. Asked if the FBI had Smith's partially burned draft card, the FBI agent refused to comment. The card was picked up shortly after it was burned by an unidentified man. Frank Riley, assistant U.S. attorney in Des Moines, said that his office had not yet received the report and would wait until it was received before action was taken. U. of I. Investigation Officials of the University of Iowa are investigation the incident, too. "Defiance of law is never an action to be commended," said Dewey B. Stuit, dean of the university college of liberal arts. Smith's action has received national attention because he is the second youth in the country to burn his draft card. The first was a New York student who was arrested and is free on bond pending action. [Photo Caption] : --Photo by John Zielinski, Iowa City THIS IS a close-up of the card burned by Steve Smith, 20, a University of Iowa student from Marion, Wednesday afternoon. The partially-burned card, which dropped to the floor, was later picked up by a well-dressed man who put it in an envelope and carried it off.
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