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Ed Murphy (born August 6, 1945) is an American peace and labor activist, the founding and retired Executive Director of the Workforce Development Institute. He was a former military intelligence soldier who exposed the CIA's Phoenix Program in April 1970.
Murphy attended a public grammar school and graduated from St. Peter's Boys High School,[ citation needed ] run by the Christian Brothers. When he discerned a vocation to the priesthood, he chose the Paulist Fathers in Baltimore. [1]
He spent his third year in seminary in silence and meditation as a Paulist novitiate without academic classes, radio, TV or newspapers. In July 1966 he left the seminary without being ordained, returning to secular life. [2]
He surrendered his draft deferment and enlisted in the military, to work in Military Intelligence. In January 1967 he attended Basic Training at Fort Gordon, Georgia and then returned to Baltimore for the US Army Intelligence School at Fort Holabird; followed by eight months studying Vietnamese, at the Defense Language Institute, Biggs Field, El Paso, Texas. [3]
Murphy served in Vietnam from May 1968 to May 1969 as a sergeant in the 4th Military Intelligence Detachment, 4th Infantry Division in Pleiku, where his first recorded statement against the war was made. [4]
Murphy returned to the U.S. and was assigned to the 116th Military Intelligence Detachment in Washington D.C., conducting background checks for those applying for security clearances. He completed his military duty on January 15, 1970.[ citation needed ] The next day he met with Sam Brown, organizer of the Vietnam Moratorium and immediately spoke out against the Vietnam war and use of the military to spy on domestic activities. [5] In January 1970, Murphy returned to Staten Island and became an early organizer of VVAW, Vietnam Veterans Against the War. In May 1970, he appeared at the Overseas Press Club [6] [7] with Michael Uhl and the Citizens Commission of Inquiry to expose the Phoenix Program. [3] [ unreliable source? ]
In 1977, Murphy wrote a history of conservationists' efforts to protect the mineral springs in Saratoga Springs, New York and the founding of the Saratoga Spa State Park, This document, The Politics of Hydrotherapy and The Development of a New York State Policy (December 14, 1977) is part of the local history collection in the Saratoga Room at the Saratoga Springs Public Library.[ citation needed ] Mario Cuomo, then-Governor of New York, appointed Murphy Deputy Director, NYS Division of Veterans Affairs. [4]
In 1991, Murphy left New York to work on reconciliation with Vietnam, do business and environmental consulting and provide humanitarian assistance.[ citation needed ] He participated in the United Nations' Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)'s 1991 Investors Forum in Ho Chi Minh City and subsequent meetings with government leaders in Hanoi. For a decade Murphy worked with government, businesses, organized labor, NGOs and educational institutions interested in establishing programs in Southeast Asia.[ citation needed ] Through his alma mater, the College of Staten Island (CSI), he lectured, initiated programs related to and assisted in development of the City University of New York's establishment of English language training in and educational exchanges with Vietnam. He brought his daughter Zoeann with him on a CSI trip to Indochina, after which they wrote their book Vietnam: Our Father Daughter Journey [8]
In 1999, Murphy began to work with the NYS AFL-CIO, and helped establish the Workforce Development Institute (WDI), as a national leader in workforce intelligence, education and training of unionized workers. [9] In addition to serving as the Executive Director of WDI, he is co-founder of the Apollo Alliance. [10]
The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, was formed on June 8, 1969, by North Vietnam as a purportedly independent shadow government that opposed the government of the Republic of Vietnam under President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and then as a state after the Fall of Saigon with the name Republic of South Vietnam from 30 April 1975 to 2 July 1976. Delegates of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, as well as several smaller groups, participated in its creation.
Richard McGarrah Helms was an American government official and diplomat who served as Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from 1966 to 1973. Helms began intelligence work with the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. Following the 1947 creation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), he rose in its ranks during the presidencies of Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy. Helms then was DCI under Presidents Johnson and Nixon, yielding to James R. Schlesinger in early 1973.
Vietnamization was a policy of the Richard Nixon administration to end U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War through a program to "expand, equip, and train South Vietnamese forces and assign to them an ever-increasing combat role, at the same time steadily reducing the number of U.S. combat troops". Brought on by the Viet Cong's Tet Offensive, the policy referred to U.S. combat troops specifically in the ground combat role, but did not reject combat by the U.S. Air Force, as well as the support to South Vietnam, consistent with the policies of U.S. foreign military assistance organizations. U.S. citizens' mistrust of their government that had begun after the offensive worsened with the release of news about U.S. soldiers massacring civilians at My Lai (1968), the invasion of Cambodia (1970), and the leaking of the Pentagon Papers (1971).
The Phoenix Program was designed and initially coordinated by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Vietnam War, involving the American, Australian, and South Vietnamese militaries. In 1969, CIA responsibility was phased out, and the program was put under the authority of the Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support (CORDS).
John Paul Vann was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, later retired, who became well known for his role in the Vietnam War. Although separated from the military before the Vietnam War reached its peak, he returned to service as a civilian under the auspices of the United States Agency for International Development and by the waning days of the war was the first American civilian to command troops in regular combat there. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and was the only civilian in Vietnam to receive the Distinguished Service Cross. He died in a helicopter crash in 1972 at 47 years old.
William F. "Bill" Garrison is a retired major general of the United States Army who commanded United States forces during Operation Gothic Serpent, the military operation launched in 1993 to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid.
The Civilian Irregular Defense Group was a military program developed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Vietnam War, which was intended to develop South Vietnamese irregular military units from indigenous ethnic-minority populations. The main purpose of setting up the CIDG program was to counter the growing influence of Viet Cong (VC) in the Central Highlands by training and arming the villagers for village defense. The program rapidly expanded after the US military transferred its control from CIA to MACV after two years since its inception and changed its focus from village defense to more conventional operations. From June 1967 on wards the CIDG members were made part of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) or other government agencies to increase Vietnamese participation. By late 1970, the remaining CIDG camps were converted to Vietnamese Rangers camps. The indigenous ethnic-minority people that formed the CIDG reaped significant benefits by the government of South Vietnam for their allegiance and it was the first time that minority groups were given full status as citizens of South Vietnam.
Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG) was a highly classified, multi-service United States special operations unit which conducted covert unconventional warfare operations prior to and during the Vietnam War.
The 1970 Cambodian coup d'état was the removal of the Cambodian Chief of State, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, after a vote in the National Assembly on 18 March 1970. Emergency powers were subsequently invoked by the Prime Minister Lon Nol, who became effective head of state, and led ultimately to the removal of Queen Sisowath Kossamak and the proclamation of the Khmer Republic later that year. It is generally seen as a turning point in the Cambodian Civil War. No longer a monarchy, Cambodia was semi-officially called "État du Cambodge" in the intervening six months after the coup, until the republic was proclaimed.
Patrick Henry Brady, is a retired United States Army major general. While serving as a helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War, he received the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration for valor.
Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona is an author, commentator and media military analyst. He is a retired United States Air Force intelligence officer with experience in the Middle East, including tours of duty with the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency. He was under contract to NBC News and appeared regularly on NBC, MSNBC and CNBC, as well as Radio Canada and other media. In 2013, he became a military analyst with CNN.
The Mobile Strike Force Command, or MIKE Force, was a key component of United States Army Special Forces in the Vietnam War. They served with indigenous soldiers selected and trained through the largely minority Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) and were led by American SF and Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) personnel. MIKE Force was a force multiplier, operating what is today called a Foreign Internal Defense mission.
The National Committee for a Citizens Commission of Inquiry on U.S. war crimes in Vietnam was founded in New York by Ralph Schoenman in November 1969 to document American atrocities throughout Indochina. The formation of the organization was prompted by the disclosure of the My Lai Massacre on November 12, 1969 by Seymour Hersh, writing for the New York Times. The group was the first to bring to public attention the testimony of American Vietnam War veterans who had witnessed or participated in atrocities.
Angel Mendez was a United States Marine who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. In 1967, during the Vietnam War, Mendez saved the life of his platoon commander, Lieutenant Ronald D. Castille, who would become the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. The St. George Post Office in Staten Island was renamed the Sergeant Angel Mendez Post Office.
CIA activities in Vietnam were operations conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency in Vietnam from the 1950s to the late 1960s, before and during the Vietnam War. After the 1954 Geneva Conference, North Vietnam was controlled by communist forces under Ho Chi Minh's leadership. South Vietnam, with the assistance of the U.S., was anti-communist. The economic and military aid supplied by the U.S. to South Vietnam continued until the 1970s. The CIA participated in both the political and military aspect of the wars in Indochina. The CIA provided suggestions for political platforms, supported candidates, used agency resources to refute electoral fraud charges, manipulated the certification of election results by the South Vietnamese National Assembly, and instituted the Phoenix Program. It worked particularly closely with the ethnic minority Montagnards, Hmong, and Khmer. There are 174 National Intelligence Estimates dealing with Vietnam, issued by the CIA after coordination with the US intelligence community.
CORDS was a pacification program of the governments of South Vietnam and the United States during the Vietnam War. The program was created on 9 May 1967, and included military and civilian components of both governments. The objective of CORDS was to gain support for the government of South Vietnam from its rural population which was largely under the influence or controlled by the insurgent communist forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN).
Project GAMMA was the name given in 1968 to Detachment B-57, Company E, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Vietnam from 1967 to 1970. It was responsible for covert intelligence collection operations in Cambodia. The teams were highly effective at locating Viet Cong operations in Cambodia, leading to their destruction. When assets began to disappear, they identified a South Vietnamese officer as the mole. On the advice of the CIA, they took extrajudicial steps and murdered him. Seven officers and one non-commissioned officer were arrested and tried. When the CIA refused to answer summons for witnesses for national security reasons, the charges were dropped.
Workforce Development Institute (WDI) is headquartered in Albany, New York, and has 10 regional offices throughout New York State.
Art of Labor is a cultural arts program sponsored by the Workforce Development Institute. These art, writing, and photography workshops create positive images of workers across New York State, teaching communication skills, building a community within the Labor Movement, and encouraging worker dignity. From 2004 to 2009, The Art of Labor program was called UnseenamericaNYS, which was a collaboration with Unseenamerica founder, writer and artist Esther Cohen, Bread and Roses Cultural Project the Cultural Project of SEIU 1199 in New York City, and The NYS AFL-CIO.
Tran Ngoc Châu was a Vietnamese soldier, civil administrator, politician, and later political prisoner, in the Republic of Vietnam until its demise with the Fall of Saigon in 1975. There are published photographs of Châu taken c.1952 and 1969, and others in his memoirs, Vietnam Labyrinth.
