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In February 1971 over a hundred US soldiers who had served in the Vietnam war gathered together in Detroit, Michigan to give eye-witness testimony of war crimes and atrocities that they either committed themselves or witnessed. The gathering was organized by Vietnam Veterans Against the War to highlight the nature of US military policy in Vietnam. At that time the war had been going on for more than 10 years with millions dead in Vietnam and hundreds of thousands of US soldiers dead. At the time these historic hearings were held, Lieutenant William Calley was being tried for the massacre by American soldiers of innocent Vietnamese civilians in the village of My Lai. The Winter Soldier investigations revealed that the type of atrocity committed in My Lai was the rule rather than the exception.

Today we are involved in two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that are heading in the same direction as Vietnam. Iraq Veterans Against the War has organized the modern-day Winter Soldier Investigations in Washington DC starting today through Sunday. Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will give testimony about their own experiences and atrocities they have witnessed, as well as about military contractors, the cost of the wars, racism and dehumanization of Iraqis and Afghans, and war resistance among soldiers. The event is closed to the public but audio and video will be available online at www.ivaw.org. Additionally KPFK will broadcast two of the four days of testimonies on Friday and Saturday all day.

Mainstream media virtually ignored the original Winter Soldier hearings in 1971. Pacifica was the only media institution that covered it. Today, as we are on the verge of the modern-day Winter Soldier investigations, Pacifica is once more the main media institution to cover it. Today we bring you, on the eve of KPFK’s broadcast of the new Winter Soldier investigations, audio archives of the 1971 hearings in Detroit, Michigan, courtesy of the Pacifica Radio Archives.

Listen to the Winter Soldier Investigations on KPFK Friday from 7 am to 4 pm and on Saturday from 6 am to 2 pm.

The entire event can be heard and/or viewed online at IVAW’s website here: http://ivaw.org/wintersoldier/howtowatch