3 Marines Discharged for Participating in Paramilitary Exercises and Rallies

Three United States Marines at Camp Lejeune have been discharged for participating in paramilitary exercises and rallies in North Carolina staged by a violence-prone, neo-Nazi group, it was disclosed by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith.

The action followed a letter of inquiry to U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger by ADL national director Nathan Perlmutter.

The ADL said it had been informed by the Defense Secretary that the three have been dismissed from the Corps following initial reports that they were “involved in activities of the White Patriot Party,” formerly known as the Confederate Knights of Ku Klux Klan.

An investigation into “allegations of misconduct” is still continuing, Weinberger told the ADL The Defense Department is seeking to determine whether other Marines were involved in White Patriot activities in North Carolina and if they had any connection with the Party’s paramilitary activities.

Perlmutter, himself a former Marine, commended the Defense Department for “its swift and decisive action to prevent the Marine Corps’ mission to defend the freedom of all Americans from being tarnished.”

VIOLENCE OF KKK DEPLORED

In his letter to the ADL, Weinberger declared that the Defense Department “deplores the violence and bigotry of the Ku Klux Klan and organizations like it.” He added: “The Department of Defense is committed to the equality of treatment to all personnel, regardless of race, sex, national origin or religion. In our view, prejudice and intolerance are incompatible with accomplishment of our military mission.”

Perlmutter said the ADL had been told by the Defense Department that, under its current policy, military personnel can be discharged for participating in the following activities of extremist groups: marching in a parade, making public speeches in support of racial discrimination, becoming involved in their management or organization or helping to recruit membership.

An official of the legal office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force, Management and Personnel, told the ADL the Defense Department is reviewing policy to determine whether current regulations regarding participation in hate group activities are “complete and adequate.”

In his inquiry to the Defense Department, Perlmutter pointed out that the leader of the White Patriot Party, F. Glenn Miller, had publicly threatened armed revolution against American elected officials.

PARTICULARLY TROUBLESOME POSSIBILITY

“Particularly troublesome,” the ADL official wrote, “is the possibility that U.S. Marines could be providing this gang with weapons or explosives to which they have access.”

The ADL in recent years has called to the attention of the Defense Department attempts by the KKK and neo-Nazi groups to recruit members of the armed services.

Perlmutter said the ADL had learned that former California Klan leader Tom Metzger recently had written to San-Diego-based U.S. military commanders inviting them to join the “The White American Political Association.” The commanding officer of the San Diego naval base informed the ADL that those military commanders solicited by Metzger have been directed not to respond to him.

The Navy in 1979, the ADL official noted, took steps to prevent the Klan from recruiting sailors in the Norfolk, VA, area. It transferred a sailor involved in organizing a Klan rally and declared the rally off-limits to Navy and Marine personnel. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Thomas Hayward issued an order at that time stating that “prejudice and preparedness are incompatible.”