Young Communists flyer the Norfolk Navy Yard and send this appeal directly to marines heading to fight in Nicaragua against the Sandinista rebellion of the 1920s. A number of marines did defect in the course of the war.

‘Appeal to Departing Marines: Go Over to General Sandino’ from the Daily Worker. Vol. 5 No. 71. March 24, 1928.

Must Refuse to Fight Nicaraguan People

NORFOLK, Va., March 23.—Issuing a strong appeal to the 446 marines sailing tomorrow for Nicaragua on the mine-layer Oglala, the Workers (Communist) Party and Young Workers (Communist) League mailed a letter from here to a large number of the men, also leaving a quantity of these letters in the main barracks of the Norfolk Navy Yards where the marines are stationed.

Appealing to these marines who make up the biggest shipment of the 950 enlisted men being sent to Nicaragua, the letter not only explained the obvious fact that these men were being rushed to Nicaragua as part of a concerted drive to crush Sandino before the rainy season sets in rather than to supervise the elections, but calls upon the marines to go over to Sandino rather than fight against the Nicaraguan people.

The marines who will sail consist of men from Great Lakes, Ill., Quantico, Va., as well as all the eastern points where marines are stationed. The appeal issued by the Party and League reads as follows:

“Dear Marines:

“You are among the 950 enlisted men ordered to sail for Nicaragua to help wipe out Sandino before the rainy season sets in!”

“Since you have no investments in this little country, nor anything to gain from the proposed canal, part of Wall Street’s preparations for the next world war–it is well worth your while to stop a moment and consider.

“We doubt if you are in the U.S.M.C. for adventure or a good time, but if you are you certainly won’t get either in Nicaragua–as 3700 marines, not counting bluejackets, do not represent an adventure, but a real war, with all the hard fighting and loss of life that such a war implies.

“If you were forced to sign up because you were out of work, or for similar reasons, you will not enjoy doing the dirty work for those same bosses who caused you to be kicked out of a job. And by helping Wall Street exploitation of the Nicaraguan people you will only be lowering the standard of living for your friends on the outside and the big majority of the people in the United States. In these days of world markets, lowering of wages and working standards in Nicaragua or China or any other part of the world, is a blow at wages and working conditions in the United States.

“Then Why Are You Going?

“Because the American bankers, with their eyes on a canal and their investments in Nicaragua, have not been able to buy out the big majority of the Nicaraguan people or General Sandino who fights for their interests–although they have bought up a few Conservative and so-called ‘Liberal’ politicians!

“Because General Sandino and the Nicaraguan people have never accepted the sell-out of these bribed politicians represented in the Stimson ‘agreement’ any more than they have accepted the invasion of their country by a foreign power!

“And finally because General Sandino and the Nicaraguan people will die fighting before they will become a colony of Wall Street just as the American people were ready to die fighting in 1776 rather than remain British subjects!

“How Does Sandino Hold Out?’

“How has the little army of General Sandino held out for more than a year against the superior, well equipped forces of the United States if he were a ‘bandit’? In 1776, George Washington was also termed a bandit because he defied British rule, and the first army of the United States was a small, poorly equipped one compared to the larger, better equipped British force. But the strength of this army lay in the fact that it had the support of the entire American people, and no matter where the battles, in every farm house, behind every tree, was a friend.

“However something else helped George Washington and his army in 1776 which is also helping Sandino today. In the war of 1776, many of the British soldiers had not heart for this fight against the American people. Not only did many go over to the American army, but a large number of those who remained helped the rebel army by their refusal to fight, Howe’s army being famous for its retreats, often retreating and leaving cannon and ammunition behind. Finally Howe himself was called back to England because he was so efficient in misplacing important orders.

“Although the officers and the war department are pushing the present campaign against Sandino ruthlessly, using the most modern methods of warfare, bombing natives, etc., many of the marines in Nicaragua also have no heart for this 1928 war against the Nicaraguan people.

“Will You Crush Sandino?

“When the rainy season starts the territory where the U.S. forces operate becomes almost impassable, while the mountain sections which are Sandino’s stronghold remain dry.

“This is why you are being rushed to Nicaragua now, not because of the elections which have already been decided ‘by Wall Street.’ In fact this present fight between conservative and liberal politicians is only a petty squabble over the spoils among those who have already sold out the Nicaraguan people and are afraid to fight against the rule of the American bankers. A small number of marines could control this fake election as in the stolen elections of the past. But for other reasons the force is being increased, counting blue-jackets in the fighting, to more than 3700 men with an additional concentration of battleships around Nicaragua in preparation for a ruthless drive to extinguish General Sandino and his army and the last spark of Nicaraguan freedom. His victory depends on YOU!

“You and the American people will only lose through the further worsening of conditions for the Nicaraguan people! You have nothing to gain from Wall Street’s enslavement of this little country!

“Refuse to fight for Wall Street against the Nicaraguan people!

“Fight with Sandino, not against him!

“Follow the example of those marines who stood up like men and refused to fight against the Nicaraguan people!

“Greet the marines who went over to Sandino!

“Wall Street wants Nicaragua for a canal and an important base in the coming world war. Those of you who fought in the last war, and you who will taste war in Nicaragua:

“Fight against a new world slaughter!

“WORKERS (COMMUNIST) PARTY

“YOUNG WORKERS (COMMUNIST) LEAGUE.”

The Daily Worker began in 1924 and was published in New York City by the Communist Party US and its predecessor organizations. Among the most long-lasting and important left publications in US history, it had a circulation of 35,000 at its peak. The Daily Worker came from The Ohio Socialist, published by the Left Wing-dominated Socialist Party of Ohio in Cleveland from 1917 to November 1919, when it became became The Toiler, paper of the Communist Labor Party. In December 1921 the above-ground Workers Party of America merged the Toiler with the paper Workers Council to found The Worker, which became The Daily Worker beginning January 13, 1924.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1928/1928-ny/v05-n071-NY-mar-24-1928-DW-LOC.pdf