DIY History | Transcribe | Social Justice | Student protests, 1972-1973 | 1973-12-16 Des Moines Register Article: ""Antiwar protester out of jail; now ready to 'repay society'"" Page 1

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Student protests, 1972-1973

1973-12-16 Des Moines Register Article: ""Antiwar protester out of jail; now ready to 'repay society'"" Page 1

DMSR 12/16/72 p.1 (of 2)

Antiwar protester out of jail; now ready to 'repay society'

By LARRY ECKHOLT
Register Staff Writer

IOWA CITY, IA - Depending on the point of view, Peter Martin Dreyfuss is either a recently released "prisoner of war" of sorts, or a man who is repaying a debt to society. 
Last Sunday, Dreyfuss, 24, was released from the Story Council Jail after serving three months on two federal felony charges - refusing induction into the armed  services and failing to report to his local draft board. He remains on three years probation. 
Dreyfuss attended the University of Iowa for a little more than two years when the antiwar movement was going strong. 
Goes "Underground"
He was among those arrested on the Pentacrest in the aftermath of the Cambodian invasion and the Kent State killings in the spring of 1970. Those charges were dropped.
On May 6, 1970, Dreyfuss was called up for a pre-induction physical in Des Moines. In early August, a few days before getting his formal draft notice, Dreyfuss left Iowa City and went "underground"
In early 1971, a federal grand jury indicted him on the two felony charges. 
Dreyfuss returned to Iowa City last spring and turned himself in to a U.S. magistrate. He first pleaded innocent to the charges, then changed his plea to guilty, expecting a suspended sentence. 
Goes to Kail 
Instead U.S. District Judge William C. Stuart ordered Dreyfuss to serve three months in jail, suspending the remainder of three year sentences on each charge. Dreyfuss entered the Story County Jail Sept. 10 and was released Dec. 9 on probation. 
Now he is back in Iowa City where he will return to his physical therapy job with handicapped children. He is still sorting out his thoughts about what has happened and is still uncertain about the future.
So much happened while Dreyfuss was in jail - the Arab-Israeli war, Spiro Agnew's resignation, the Watergate tapes furor, the energy crisis, the economic ills - that "if I listed everything, it seems like a whole chapter in a history book covering a decade, not three months," he said. 
Jail "Boring"
"The biggest thing about spending time in a county jail is that it's boring," he said. "In terms of the political significance of going to jail. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. 
"On the other hand, I don't regret going in for what I believed in." Dreyfuss added "it was a matter, though, of not serving much of a useful function for me or the state or society."
What about repaying a "debt to society"?
"A debt to society means that I owe society something because people have the responsibility to so what society asks," Dreyfuss said. "Now that's one thing I don't disagree with.
"The thing is to decide when society is making the demands and when it's just a small group of people who say they're society making the demands. 
Different Debt 
" I do feel a debt to society but I don't see it in the same way as the military sees it. Working with people is serving my debt to society and that's why going to jail is not equalizing any debt. 
"I don't think people who refused to fight in that war which everybody agrees was a crazy war, had any debt to society. I think society has a debt to them," 
Dreyfuss said he decided to plead guilty to the charges because a trial would have been costly, and he believes the outcome the same. Even if Dreyfuss had proven he never should have been drafted, the government could prosecute him for failing to report to his draft board. 
Government's Cards
"It didn't matter if you changed the way the cards were stacked it was still the government's deck being played" he said. 
Dreyfuss stayed in the United States the entire time he dropped out. He worked in a variety of jobs and stayed with friends - or friends of friends. The experience "was none of this glamorous thing where i had a fedora hat a scarf and dark glasses."
Dreyfyss has returned to this college town where the campus is again quiet (come call it "asleep") and there seems to be little interest in the "movement" politics of the 1960s.
" A lot of people were opposed to the war but didn't go beyond the war," said Dreyfuss. "It was like the difference of being opposed to the war because it was im

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DMSR 12/16/72 p.1 (of 2) Antiwar protester out of jail; now ready to 'repay society' By LARRY ECKHOLT Register Staff Writer IOWA CITY, IA - Depending on the point of view, Peter Martin Dreyfuss is either a recently released "prisoner of war" of sorts, or a man who is repaying a debt to society. Last Sunday, Dreyfuss, 24, was released from the Story Council Jail after serving three months on two federal felony charges - refusing induction into the armed services and failing to report to his local draft board. He remains on three years probation. Dreyfuss attended the University of Iowa for a little more than two years when the antiwar movement was going strong. Goes "Underground" He was among those arrested on the Pentacrest in the aftermath of the Cambodian invasion and the Kent State killings in the spring of 1970. Those charges were dropped. On May 6, 1970, Dreyfuss was called up for a pre-induction physical in Des Moines. In early August, a few days before getting his formal draft notice, Dreyfuss left Iowa City and went "underground" In early 1971, a federal grand jury indicted him on the two felony charges. Dreyfuss returned to Iowa City last spring and turned himself in to a U.S. magistrate. He first pleaded innocent to the charges, then changed his plea to guilty, expecting a suspended sentence. Goes to Kail Instead U.S. District Judge William C. Stuart ordered Dreyfuss to serve three months in jail, suspending the remainder of three year sentences on each charge. Dreyfuss entered the Story County Jail Sept. 10 and was released Dec. 9 on probation. Now he is back in Iowa City where he will return to his physical therapy job with handicapped children. He is still sorting out his thoughts about what has happened and is still uncertain about the future. So much happened while Dreyfuss was in jail - the Arab-Israeli war, Spiro Agnew's resignation, the Watergate tapes furor, the energy crisis, the economic ills - that "if I listed everything, it seems like a whole chapter in a history book covering a decade, not three months," he said. Jail "Boring" "The biggest thing about spending time in a county jail is that it's boring," he said. "In terms of the political significance of going to jail. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. "On the other hand, I don't regret going in for what I believed in." Dreyfuss added "it was a matter, though, of not serving much of a useful function for me or the state or society." What about repaying a "debt to society"? "A debt to society means that I owe society something because people have the responsibility to so what society asks," Dreyfuss said. "Now that's one thing I don't disagree with. "The thing is to decide when society is making the demands and when it's just a small group of people who say they're society making the demands. Different Debt " I do feel a debt to society but I don't see it in the same way as the military sees it. Working with people is serving my debt to society and that's why going to jail is not equalizing any debt. "I don't think people who refused to fight in that war which everybody agrees was a crazy war, had any debt to society. I think society has a debt to them," Dreyfuss said he decided to plead guilty to the charges because a trial would have been costly, and he believes the outcome the same. Even if Dreyfuss had proven he never should have been drafted, the government could prosecute him for failing to report to his draft board. Government's Cards "It didn't matter if you changed the way the cards were stacked it was still the government's deck being played" he said. Dreyfuss stayed in the United States the entire time he dropped out. He worked in a variety of jobs and stayed with friends - or friends of friends. The experience "was none of this glamorous thing where i had a fedora hat a scarf and dark glasses." Dreyfyss has returned to this college town where the campus is again quiet (come call it "asleep") and there seems to be little interest in the "movement" politics of the 1960s. " A lot of people were opposed to the war but didn't go beyond the war," said Dreyfuss. "It was like the difference of being opposed to the war because it was im