from 'National Guardian.'
P.F.C. Winstel Belton, the Negro soldier who began a hunger strike rather than accept assignment to Vietnam, was sentenced to five years at hard labour by an Army court-martial Oct. 5th and then- in accord with an agreement between Belton and the army- the sentence was reduced to a one year prison term, sentence to be suspended.
The 26 year old Milwaukee soldier, a graduate of Arizona State University, who in civilian life was active with the Civil Rights movement had been charged with 'malingering by starvation.' He began his 7 day hunger strike at Ft. Benning, Ga., Aug. 7th and ended it after his unit was shipped to Vietnam without him, The agreement which led to a reduction in sentence, according to sources close to the case, stemmed from the army's desire to avoid a major test of the legality of the U.S. military involvement in Vietnam and to minimise publicity of the case, Belton's civilian lawyer, George Altman, who donated his services free to defend the soldier, had intended to argue, among other technical points, that the order to send Belton to combat was illegal because Congress had not declared war and that the President was acting in violation of the constitution in the Vietnam situation. These same informants said that the army told Belton that if the lawyer persisted in arguing the legal merits of the war in Vietnam, the five man military tribunal would sentence the rebellious soldier to five years in the stockade and a dishonourable discharge. If, however, Belton agreed to enter a 'negotiated plea of guilty' the sentence would be reduced during an automatic review by Lt.Gen,Robert Colgazier. The offer was stressed during a two-hour recess in Belton's one-day trial. Upon returning to the courtroon, Belton told his attorney he would plead guilty and instructed him not to launch a legal fight. Soon after, Colgazier reduced the sentence to one year andauspended penalties. It seems probable that Belton will not be sent to Viet Nam and that he will receive a general or honorable discharge when his two-year Army service is completed. The Army would not discuss its reasons for initiating the agreement + though military spokesman Capt,Stephen Kite-Powell told reporters that: "We wanted to play it as low key as possible and avoid publicity." It is known that the Army and the government have received many letters in defence of Belton an *hat at one point before the trial, an Army officer implied that Belton bs eceive a reduced sentence "if the committee was called off," (Presumably the Winstel Belton Defence Committee) This offer was rejected. The Belton Committee, which is composed of seven local peace and student groups, will dissolve now that the case is over and= since Belton probably will not be sent to cither Viet Nam or prison~ a victory has been scored. "However," Gilman said,"the Belton case is just the beginning for us. We are in the process of reconstituting ourselves into a new, and expanded , committee. Now, with twelve groups agreeing to join, we are about to form a committee concerned with any and all soldiers who do not wish to fight in the Viet Nam war. There are enough of them, I think, to keep us busy."