WHEREAS, the majority of the American people now know that the United States intervention in the war in Vietnam was wrong, and was, in fact, a war undeclared by the Congress of the United States; and

WHEREAS, President Carter has said that American involvement in the war was a mistake and has, in fact, granted a pardon to the draft resisters of that war; and

WHEREAS, these draft resisters were from predominantly white and middle-class environments with the social and economic means to avoid military service; and

WHEREAS, the Special Discharge Review Program approved by President Carter excludes fully one half the deserters and veterans who hold less than honorable discharges condemning them to a lifetime stigma for offenses which are purely military; and

WHEREAS, it may involve those who are eligible in a long, costly and inequitable case-by-case review process;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the 1977 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association reaffirms its 1975 resolution for amnesty and its recent support of the National Appeal for Reconciliation which sought to heal the wounds of the war and asks the churches, fellowships and individual Unitarian Universalists to urge the President to be sensitive to the human rights of Americans who are still victims of the cruel war and to:

1. Grant honorable discharges to all Vietnam era veterans who received less than honorable discharges, for military service from 1961 to 1975, when the war ended, together with all veterans benefits;
2. Grant honorable discharges for those service personnel in deserter status who left in the Vietnam era, together with all veterans benefits;
3. Clear the records of all civilians of any charges, convictions, or other disabilities for their nonviolent acts of protest against the Vietnam War.