Heather:   ok. I wrote this last year, this is right after I got 
in contact with my dad, like one, or the second time in my whole 
life, so:
Dear President Clinton,  I am writing this letter in regard to my 
father, Robert Malecki. He was a Vietnam protester during that time 
period. He has been living in exile for the past 20 years in Sweden 
because of his political actions during the Vietnam War. My father 
wrote you a letter on the day of your inauguration, requesting to 
be granted amnesty, and permission to return to the United States. 
He has not received a response yet. if he will ever get one. I was 
two years old when he left. I am 23 years old now. I don't remember 
him at all, I was so young. I have not had any real contact with him 
up until April of this year. My mother was sent a tape of an interview 
he did on National Public Radio. The interview was done on the 
week-end of ?? on Sunday with Leon Henson, Jan. 31, 1993. I called 
the radio station and they were able to give me his phone number 
and since then my father and I have been talking and exchanging 
photographs and writing letters. He was happy to hear that I was 
married and he has two grandsons. The reason for my letter is to 
maybe help him get a response. I would like to meet my father. He 
may never be able to come here. I am aware of that reality. I'm 
saving all the money I can to go there. However it is very costly 
and I am not even close to the amount I need. My husband and I both 
work and are trying to raise our sons. I don't know if my letter 
will help in any way, but what do I have to lose? I am desperate 
to be reunited with my father. Thank you for your time, yours 
sincerely and its signed.

Joe Smith:   The two of you, neither one of you have heard back 
from anyone, on this issue?

Robert M.:   No

Heather:   No, I haven't either.

Joe Smith:   Mr. Malecki, what else are you trying to do? Are you 
contacting?

Robert M.:   Well, I  ..Well, that's really funny, because I have 
only written these two letters, and naturally I've also sent copies 
of the letters to the Vietnamese, and want them to know what is 
going on. And I wrote them a letter also recently, congratulating 
them, that they have finally got their peace after 25 years, er 
but what I think is really interesting is you know I've been on 
National TV, National radio, its been on all the newspapers here 
in Sweden, its been in the French press, because they've been 
taking up the discussion of the French, you know that working 
class kids .. .. after the French involvement in Indo-China and 
this other thing, so its quite interesting to see the comparisons 
and you don't hear a word in the U.S. It is really amazing, it 
appears to me that America has sort of a guilty conscious, doesn't 
want to discuss this war, Right and just wants to put the lid on 
everything, and, and that's the way to do things, sooner or later 
you're going to have to face up to it, you know, some pretty 
horrible things were done, you know by these administrations, and 
its right someone's going to have to take responsibility, its not 
just a matter of business as usual, you know, by this war, and in 
many different ways, you've got 55,000 families, the only thing they 
got out of the war is on their fireplaces, is a picture and a medal. 
Isn't it horrible, isn't it tragic? and even if, just like myself, 
I could be just like them, I could be a picture on Heather's 
fireplace, you know, dad  died in Vietnam, that's what I could 
have been. Right?

Joe Smith:   Let me play the devil's advocate for a minute. And I 
can see lots of veterans, from different wars saying well you know, 
you didn't serve over there, and you know some things that they 
didn't like, that criminal and civil ... some of them would go so 
far ... I use the charge that they use against JANE FONDA, that you 
were undermining at least the psyche of what we were doing.

Robert M.:   Oh, I'm sure there are people like that in the United 
States today, and after this radio program we had last year, right, 
some ... right, it was so interesting, because there was a guy who 
rang me, he was flying bombing missions ... and he was driving with 
his daughter to collage, and you know what he said to me, he actually 
rang up the radio company and got my  telephone number and called me 
up and he said to me, gee bob, I wish, I wish  you guys would, that 
we would have found out about this sooner, because I'm, I've got a 
really guilty conscience about what I did in Vietnam and I'm glad 
that your exile and he's offered to help me in many different ways 
and ... during this time, so you're going to get a lot of reactions, 
of course you are and, I mean, if your mom and dad and your son 
died in Vietnam, missing in action, of course it is terrible. The 
only thing they've got to live for is that, their son maybe died 
for their country, well I was fighting for my country also. Because 
I was fighting against those maniacs. The guy who was leading that, 
Richard Nixon, he's a common burglar, its .. that's what he wound 
up being, nothing else. A burglar. He's a criminal, right? and He,s 
the one, who all the people in Vietnam died , all these kids who 
died, he ordered these bombings, these, that and other things, He's 
a nut. Right? OK! I'm sorry for you. I think you fought for the 
wrong cause. You know. You're victims, also, that's what I have to 
say to them. All I can say.

Joe Smith:   Heather, in what you know, so, (Robert M. Hmmm) I'm 
talking to your daughter ... let's say, let's remove yourself from 
being his daughter, would you let him back in this country? I mean 
knowing what you know?

Heather:   I think so, if he wasn't a threat to anybody, you know 
what I mean, if he just wanted to visit and if there's any 
consequences of 20 years ago, maybe he'd have to face up to them, 
I don't think, I think the people that were involved with him only 
got a little bit of time after he left the country. But somebody 
knew that my father didn't know that, he was afraid that something, 
that's probably why he went underground, you know so I dunno, you know.

Joe Smith:   Why haven't you come back? and faced the charges, I 
don't know, and take the consequences, with the court and serve 
possible time?

Robert M.:   Well, I think, you know, the question of Vietnam, has 
been a very deep tragedy for the United States and a number of years 
you know the various administrations have been consequently been 
saying that you know, that there was nothing wrong with the policies 
they were driving, against Vietnam and this, that and the other 
thing. This is the line, until a couple of weeks ago, when finally 
they even dumped these 1500 Americans that were missing in action, 
even those got thrown overboard for business as usual, to sell 
Coca Cola again, to come back in that situation, you know when the 
F.B.I. is still run by the same people that put these charges on 
us, you know, like Hoover, he sat around for years and died of 
old age, or something like that, but the whole administration, 
is left. the whole bureaucracy is left, to me the Pentagon, the 
people that are running the Pentagon today, now what kind of chance 
do I really have, you know, these people are incredibly powerful 
people, Right? I'm Bob Malecki nobody, the only thing I can say is 
I'm ... these kids that I worked with, and lived with, die, bombings, 
napalm, agent orange, and that's what I am trying to say, but that 
doesn't make any difference, right, if you go up against this power, 
you have to take the consequences, and the consequences for me have 
been 20 years in exile, or 25 years in jail, because I think ... if 
I don't get an amnesty of some sort, they are going to put me away, 
that's what they want to do. They use people as examples, right? and 
that's the way it always works, the system.

Joe Smith:   Well there are other people that were charged with 
those same conspiracy charges right?

Robert M.:   Hmmm.

Joe Smith:   What happened to them?

Robert M.:   I don't know, they never faced charges...

Joe Smith:   They never, they didn't face charges?

Robert M.:   I don't think so. I ... there are an enormous amount 
of people underground still.I know that. I know they are in Sweden 
and in the United States. I know there in New Zealand. I know there 
in Vietnam. I got friends there. There are a number of people for 
various reasons, charges. But the problem is we don't think we've 
done anything really wrong, you know we broke the law, but Jesus 
Christ, look at the laws that Nixon and his people broke is ... Look 
at Bill Calley, He's walking free in the United States today, he 
murdered women. children, everybody, you know. How many Bill 
Calley,s are walking around in the United States,                            


(Joe Smith: Bubutt...)

Robert M.:   Nobody wants to talk about that right? bombed ... I 
burnt some paper you know, sending those kids to get killed, right 
and that's .. the most incredible, because I was in the navy, I 
was in Guantanmo bay during the  Cuban Missile Crisis, well I did 
my bit then ok.?

Joe Smith:   Well, but there is also people that - I'm not going 
to connect you with them - but comparing, there are people in the 
weather underground that have served their time, are now out of 
prison, have been out for a number of years, I mean, serve time, 
come back, with your family...

Robert M.:   Well, that's their choice , my choice is, I'm never 
going to say I'm sorry, because I think, you know, basically we 
were right. If there is any criminals, its you know the a
dministrations that were ...(making) this war against the 
Vietnamese people, they were sending poor and working class kids 
to die and that's a crime. The rich kids went to Canada, Bill 
Clinton went to England and the poor kids died. I don't feel 
guilty of anything. And if you want to talk about crime, according 
to Nuremberg, you have the right to break National laws, that's 
what you said in Nuremberg, you said the Germans should have broken 
the law when they new they were gassing the Jews. er And we put a 
bunch of Germans away because they didn't break the law. We do it 
and you say I should come back and face time? Hundreds of thousands 
of people died, they shot people in the head on T.V. They went into 
villages and they wiped them out and you're saying that we broke a 
law, burning paper? That's crazy! I,m never going to admit that, I'm 
never, never going to say I'm sorry. And I still say those are war 
crimes and we had the right to break the law. When your conscience 
is against basic principles, what about these Serbs, that are going 
around raping women today. You want to put them on a war crimes 
trial all of a sudden, Right? Why don't you get them for war crimes? 
That's war crimes too. I get extremely upset when you say I should 
come back and do time! ok

Joe Smith:   The two of you will see each other for the first time 
in twenty years..

Robert M.:   yeah

Joe Smith:   and then Heather what are you going to do, you thought 
about this, what's the first thing you're going to do with your father?

Heather:   I dunno. I'm just anxious to get there. I don't know. 
Like I said, i,ll be there for a week, and try to see what kind of 
person he is, you know. Just try and see what his life is about. I 
have a half brother, his name is Pontus, I would like to meet him, 
from another marriage, of my father's and I don't know ... and 
there's so much you can do, to catch up on 20 years, its just show 
up and see what happens.(laughs)

Joe Smith:   Bob, what are you going to do?

Robert M.:   I'm probably going to give her a big hug , and then we 
have to get back, 50 kilometres from the airport. So we have to get 
back home and then we'll go for a walk in the woods.

Joe Smith:   What are you going to tell her, what are you going to 
say to her?

Robert M.:   I don't know, how can I possibly know right now? It,s 
we are going to have to break the ice someway.

Joe Smith:   They'll soon see. Heather is going to Switzerland !!! 
in May to see her father for the first time in her memory. She was 
about 2 years old when her father Robert Malecki went underground 
as he faced conspiracy charges related to his anti-Vietnam war 
activity. The several letters they have sent to the Clinton White 
House requesting amnesty for Robert Malecki have gotten no response.

For WCPN,s after 9, I'm Joe Smith.

WCPN 90.3 Cleveland,OH    50000    670  D