Ed Murphy (activist)
Encyclopedia
Ed Murphy is an American activist and the Executive Director of the Workforce Development Institute
. He is a former military intelligence agent who exposed the CIA's Phoenix Program
in April 1970.
won an Emmy Award. Tom Brokaw
came to Albany
to talk with Murphy about the book Dear America, Letters Home from the War and Murphy's role as Deputy Director of New York State's Division of Veterans Affairs.
on August 6, 1945, the same day the Atom Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima
. His mother died before he was 7 years old. His parents set the stage for Ed's later civil rights work. His father worked for the NYC Highway Department and was a golf professional with five holes-in-one.
His father's golfing with African-American golfers like Ted Rhodes
and Joe Louis
and his mother's welcoming of non-denominational African American nuns to their home set the stage for Ed's later civil rights activities.
Murphy left Staten Island for the Paulist Fathers
Seminary in Baltimore
before the Verrazano Narrows Bridge turned Staten Island into a more urban community. He attended a public grammar school and was graduated from St Peter's Boys High School, run by the Christian Brothers
. When he decided to become a priest, he chose the Paulist Fathers
, an American community founded in the mid-19th century by Isaac Thomas Hecker, who was influenced by Thoreau, Emerson
and the Transcendentalists. He has credited his environmental consciousness to growing up “in the woods” and watching them destroyed by bulldozers in order to build homes that flooded in the 1950s hurricanes. In 1963 he joined the Paulist Fathers at their seminary in Baltimore.
At the age of 18 Murphy was exposed to a national/international community, inner city poverty and visited the Maryland State Penitentiary. Walking through Death Row
he stood next to the Gas Chamber
, noticing a plaque with the dates and names of those executed, his opposition to the death penalty was confirmed. In his second year with Paulists he listened to Saul Alinsky
explain community organizing and to a Paulist priest working in South Africa describing apartheid. He learned of the post-WWII Worker Priest movement, where priests earned their own living in factories and on docks, ministering as an equal. His third year was spent mostly in silence and meditation at the Paulist novitiate without academic classes, radio, TV and newspapers. In July 1966 he left the Paulists, returning to "normal" life.
He surrendered his draft deferment and began the process of enlisting in the military, to become a Counterintelligence Special Agent. In January 1967 Ed began his Basic Training – Initial Military Training
at Fort Gordon
, Georgia and then returned to Baltimore for the US Army Intelligence School's Special Agent course, at Fort Holabird; followed by eight months studying Vietnamese, at the Defense Language Institute
, Biggs Field, El Paso, Texas
.
Murphy returned to the U.S. and was assigned to assigned to the 116th Military Intelligence Detachment in Washington D.C., conducting background checks for those applying for security clearances and was involved in military efforts to “monitor” the peace movement
. He completed his military duty on January 15, 1970. The next day he met with Sam Brown
, organizer of the Vietnam Moratorium and immediately spoke out against the Vietnam war and use of the military to spy on domestic activities. In January 1970, Murphy returned to Staten Island and became an early organizer of VVAW, Vietnam Veterans Against the War
. In May 1970, he appeared at the Overseas Press Club
with Michael Uhl
and the Citizens Commission of Inquiry
to expose the Phoenix Program
He continued to speak out, organize and testify for peace.
For more than 40 years Murphy has articulated the hopes, challenges, mistakes, missed opportunities and options Americans face interacting in a global economy. He has organized and implemented private and public sector veterans programs; established some of the earliest Readjustment Counseling (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) programs and served as an advisor to the federal court on the Agent Orange
Class Action Lawsuit. Vietnam Veterans of American founder, Bobby Muller
, wrote that "Ed Murphy's passion for peace is inspiring. Murphy was one of the earliest combat intelligence agents to speak out against the war in Vietnam; then his leadership and skills helped build the Vietnam Veterans movement".
Murphy has used his intelligence background, his BA in American Studies from Richmond College
(City University of New York), his two years of graduate work in the history of social change and revolution, also at Richmond College
, and his MPA
from the State University of New York at Albany (SUNYA) to support his work as a public sector and non-profit executive; consultant to government,international businesses; for social justice, civil rights
, as a community organizer, in organizational development and systems transformation.
In 1977, Murphy wrote a history of conservationists' efforts to protect the mineral springs in Saratoga Springs, New York
and the founding of the Saratoga Spa State Park
, This document, The Politics of Hydrotherapy and The Development of a New York State Policy (December 14, 1977) is part of the local history collection in the Saratoga Room at the Saratoga Springs Public Library. In his diaries, Mario Cuomo
, former Governor of New York, wrote "Ed Murphy, who was representing a Vietnam Vets group…eager to get back into government and politics." Cuomo appointed Murphy Deputy Director, NYS Division of Veterans Affairs, where he created Vietnam Veterans in Government VVIG, an organization representing 9,000 Vietnam Era veterans and led the development of a Temporary State Commission on Vietnam Veterans which recommended programs to address their special needs. In May 1985 Tom Brokaw
highlighted Murphy's work as Director of Workforce Planning. Murphy led the development of New York's first state workforce plan in 1989, recommending introduction of a Workforce Impact Statement (WIS) as a required component of public funding.
In 1991, Murphy left New York to work on reconciliation with Vietnam, do business and environmental consulting and provide humanitarian assistance. He participated in the United Nations
' Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)'s 1991 Investors Forum in Ho Chi Minh City
and subsequent meetings with government leaders in Hanoi. For a decade Murphy worked with government, businesses, organized labor, NGOs and educational institutions interested in establishing programs in Southeast Asia. Through his alma mater, the College of Staten Island (CSI), he lectured, initiated programs related to and assisted in development of the City University of New York
's establishment of English language training in and educational exchanges with Vietnam. He brought his daughter Zoeann with him on a CSI trip to Indochina
, after which they created a photography exhibit and wrote their book Vietnam: Our Father Daughter Journey.
In 1999, Murphy began to work with the the NYS AFL-CIO, establishing the Workforce Development Institute
, as a national leader in workforce intelligence, education and training of unionized workers. WDI offers grants, public policy/social justice advocacy and direct services for working families. WDI develops and funds education and training programs for businesses, unions, minority, low income and disenfranchised workers. WDI has both statewide and regional operations; provides economic research, community audits, policy analysis and cultural services under contract with government agencies. Murphy was a co-founder of New York's Apollo Alliance
WDI hosts and funds this network of organized labor, business, environmentalists, educators and proponents of social and environmental justice
to address energy concerns. WDI works with the Global Labor Institute (GLI) at Cornell University
on issues related to climate change and the Building Trades, providing training related for Green Jobs. Ed Murphy has various writings about peace, politics, environmental justice, and workforce development.
Workforce Development Institute
Workforce Development Institute , located in Albany, New York, is a non-profit organization that is committed to helping working families across New York...
. He is a former military intelligence agent who exposed the CIA's Phoenix Program
Phoenix Program
The Phoenix Program |phoenix]]) was a controversial counterinsurgency program designed, coordinated, and executed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency , United States special operations forces, and the Republic of Vietnam's security apparatus during the Vietnam War that operated...
in April 1970.
Profile
Murphy has a long history as an advocate for peace and social justice; a leader in veterans services, public policy, organized labor, economic and workforce development. He taught at the New School for Social Research; has been a guest lecturer at other colleges; been published Vietnam: Our Father Daughter Journey and written a variety of articles and commentaries, appeared on local, national and international, radio and television, had four photography exhibits related to Vietnam and participated in the development of two movies. Dear America: Letters Home from VietnamDear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam is an Emmy Award–winning 1987 documentary, inspired by the book of the same title, directed by Bill Couturié. Using real letters written by US soldiers and archive footage, the film creates a highly personal experience of the Vietnam War...
won an Emmy Award. Tom Brokaw
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John "Tom" Brokaw is an American television journalist and author best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He is the author of The Greatest Generation and other books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors...
came to Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
to talk with Murphy about the book Dear America, Letters Home from the War and Murphy's role as Deputy Director of New York State's Division of Veterans Affairs.
Early years
He was born the sixth child of Irish-American Catholic parents, John and Gladys Murphy, on Staten IslandStaten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
on August 6, 1945, the same day the Atom Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
. His mother died before he was 7 years old. His parents set the stage for Ed's later civil rights work. His father worked for the NYC Highway Department and was a golf professional with five holes-in-one.
His father's golfing with African-American golfers like Ted Rhodes
Ted Rhodes
Theodore "Ted" Rhodes was a trailblazing African-American professional golfer.Rhodes was born in Nashville, Tennessee and attended the city's public schools. He learned the game of golf in his teenage years while working as a caddie at Nashville's Belle Meade and Richland golf courses...
and Joe Louis
Joe Louis
Joseph Louis Barrow , better known as Joe Louis, was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time...
and his mother's welcoming of non-denominational African American nuns to their home set the stage for Ed's later civil rights activities.
Murphy left Staten Island for the Paulist Fathers
Paulist Fathers
The Missionary Society of Saint Paul the Apostle, better known as the Paulist Fathers, is a Roman Catholic religious society for men founded in New York City in 1858 by Servant of God Fr. Isaac Thomas Hecker in collaboration with Fr. George Deshon, Fr. Augustine Hewit, and Fr. Francis A. Baker....
Seminary in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
before the Verrazano Narrows Bridge turned Staten Island into a more urban community. He attended a public grammar school and was graduated from St Peter's Boys High School, run by the Christian Brothers
Christian Brothers
Christian Brothers may refer to:* Congregation of Christian Brothers, a Catholic lay order founded at Waterford, Ireland in 1802 by the Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice...
. When he decided to become a priest, he chose the Paulist Fathers
Paulist Fathers
The Missionary Society of Saint Paul the Apostle, better known as the Paulist Fathers, is a Roman Catholic religious society for men founded in New York City in 1858 by Servant of God Fr. Isaac Thomas Hecker in collaboration with Fr. George Deshon, Fr. Augustine Hewit, and Fr. Francis A. Baker....
, an American community founded in the mid-19th century by Isaac Thomas Hecker, who was influenced by Thoreau, Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
and the Transcendentalists. He has credited his environmental consciousness to growing up “in the woods” and watching them destroyed by bulldozers in order to build homes that flooded in the 1950s hurricanes. In 1963 he joined the Paulist Fathers at their seminary in Baltimore.
At the age of 18 Murphy was exposed to a national/international community, inner city poverty and visited the Maryland State Penitentiary. Walking through Death Row
Death row
Death row signifies the place, often a section of a prison, that houses individuals awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution , even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.After individuals are found...
he stood next to the Gas Chamber
Gas chamber
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. The most commonly used poisonous agent is hydrogen cyanide; carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide have also been used...
, noticing a plaque with the dates and names of those executed, his opposition to the death penalty was confirmed. In his second year with Paulists he listened to Saul Alinsky
Saul Alinsky
Saul David Alinsky was a Jewish American community organizer and writer. He is generally considered to be the founder of modern community organizing, and has been compared in Playboy magazine to Thomas Paine as being "one of the great American leaders of the nonsocialist left." He is often noted...
explain community organizing and to a Paulist priest working in South Africa describing apartheid. He learned of the post-WWII Worker Priest movement, where priests earned their own living in factories and on docks, ministering as an equal. His third year was spent mostly in silence and meditation at the Paulist novitiate without academic classes, radio, TV and newspapers. In July 1966 he left the Paulists, returning to "normal" life.
He surrendered his draft deferment and began the process of enlisting in the military, to become a Counterintelligence Special Agent. In January 1967 Ed began his Basic Training – Initial Military Training
Basic Training – Initial Military Training
-United States Army Initial Military Training : organization was created by an act of Congress on September 24, 2009; under the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command located at Fort Monroe, Va. Initial Military Training was created as a separate, stand-alone organization to maintain senior-level...
at Fort Gordon
Fort Gordon
Fort Gordon, formerly known as Camp Gordon, is a United States Army installation established in 1917. It is the current home of the United States Army Signal Corps and Signal Center and was once the home of "The Provost Marshal General School" . The fort is located in Richmond, Jefferson, McDuffie,...
, Georgia and then returned to Baltimore for the US Army Intelligence School's Special Agent course, at Fort Holabird; followed by eight months studying Vietnamese, at the Defense Language Institute
Defense Language Institute
The Defense Language Institute is a United States Department of Defense educational and research institution, which provides linguistic and cultural instruction to the Department of Defense, other Federal Agencies and numerous and varied other customers...
, Biggs Field, El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
.
Career
His professional life began in May 1968 as an Army Counterintelligence Special Agent, became fluent in the Vietnamese language and was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division at Dragon Mountain, in the Central Highlands outside Pleiku, where his first recorded statement against the war was made "The day Bobby Kennedy was killed, I wrote home 'Vietnam is one of our mistakes and our generation will unfortunately be linked with this mistake, unless we use the means available to rectify this situation. In our country there are many ways to make ourselves heard. I hope the legitimate means afforded us through the democratic process will be used. If the swifter and more dramatic means of violence are used, then history will have that much more reason to condemn us."Murphy returned to the U.S. and was assigned to assigned to the 116th Military Intelligence Detachment in Washington D.C., conducting background checks for those applying for security clearances and was involved in military efforts to “monitor” the peace movement
Peace movement
A peace movement is a social movement that seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war , minimize inter-human violence in a particular place or type of situation, often linked to the goal of achieving world peace...
. He completed his military duty on January 15, 1970. The next day he met with Sam Brown
Sam Brown (activist)
]]Sam W. Brown, Jr. was a political activist, the head of ACTION under Carter, and ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.-Early life and education:Sam W. Brown, Jr. was born July 27, 1943 in Council Bluffs, Iowa...
, organizer of the Vietnam Moratorium and immediately spoke out against the Vietnam war and use of the military to spy on domestic activities. In January 1970, Murphy returned to Staten Island and became an early organizer of VVAW, Vietnam Veterans Against the War
Vietnam Veterans Against the War
Vietnam Veterans Against the War is a tax-exempt non-profit organization and corporation, originally created to oppose the Vietnam War. VVAW describes itself as a national veterans' organization that campaigns for peace, justice, and the rights of all United States military veterans...
. In May 1970, he appeared at the Overseas Press Club
Overseas Press Club
The Overseas Press Club of America was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member...
with Michael Uhl
Michael Uhl
Michael Uhl is a Vietnam veteran antiwar activist, critic and independent scholar, born April 14, 1944, who grew up in Babylon, Long Island, New York. He graduated with a BS in Theoretical Linguists from the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Georgetown University. He spent his undergraduate...
and the Citizens Commission of Inquiry
Citizens Commission of Inquiry
The Citizens Commission of Inquiry into United States War Crimes in Indochina was founded, according to Michael Uhl, by Ralph Schoenman in November 1969 in New York. Schoenman had earlier worked on Bertrand Russell's unofficial War Crimes Tribunal in Europe. In 1970, Tod Ensign and Jeremy Rifkin,...
to expose the Phoenix Program
Phoenix Program
The Phoenix Program |phoenix]]) was a controversial counterinsurgency program designed, coordinated, and executed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency , United States special operations forces, and the Republic of Vietnam's security apparatus during the Vietnam War that operated...
He continued to speak out, organize and testify for peace.
For more than 40 years Murphy has articulated the hopes, challenges, mistakes, missed opportunities and options Americans face interacting in a global economy. He has organized and implemented private and public sector veterans programs; established some of the earliest Readjustment Counseling (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) programs and served as an advisor to the federal court on the Agent Orange
Agent Orange
Agent Orange is the code name for one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. Vietnam estimates 400,000 people were killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth...
Class Action Lawsuit. Vietnam Veterans of American founder, Bobby Muller
Bobby Muller
Robert O. "Bobby" Muller is an American peace advocate.He was born on Long Island, and grew up in Great Neck, New York and attended Hofstra University. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1967, during the Vietnam War...
, wrote that "Ed Murphy's passion for peace is inspiring. Murphy was one of the earliest combat intelligence agents to speak out against the war in Vietnam; then his leadership and skills helped build the Vietnam Veterans movement".
Murphy has used his intelligence background, his BA in American Studies from Richmond College
Richmond College
Richmond College is a primary and secondary school in Galle, Sri Lanka. The school was established in 1814 by Christian missionaries. Richmond College is now a well established institution with a reputation as one of the finest schools in Sri Lanka...
(City University of New York), his two years of graduate work in the history of social change and revolution, also at Richmond College
Richmond College
Richmond College is a primary and secondary school in Galle, Sri Lanka. The school was established in 1814 by Christian missionaries. Richmond College is now a well established institution with a reputation as one of the finest schools in Sri Lanka...
, and his MPA
Master of Public Administration
The Master of Public Administration is a professional post-graduate degree in Public Administration. The MPA program prepares individuals to serve as managers in the executive arm of local, state/provincial, and federal/national government, and increasingly in nongovernmental organization and...
from the State University of New York at Albany (SUNYA) to support his work as a public sector and non-profit executive; consultant to government,international businesses; for social justice, civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
, as a community organizer, in organizational development and systems transformation.
In 1977, Murphy wrote a history of conservationists' efforts to protect the mineral springs in Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...
and the founding of the Saratoga Spa State Park
Saratoga Spa State Park
Saratoga Spa State Park is a state park located in Saratoga County, New York in the USA. The park is in the City of Saratoga Springs, near US 9 and NY 50.-History:...
, This document, The Politics of Hydrotherapy and The Development of a New York State Policy (December 14, 1977) is part of the local history collection in the Saratoga Room at the Saratoga Springs Public Library. In his diaries, Mario Cuomo
Mario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo served as the 52nd Governor of New York from 1983 to 1994, and is the father of Andrew Cuomo, the current governor of New York.-Early life:...
, former Governor of New York, wrote "Ed Murphy, who was representing a Vietnam Vets group…eager to get back into government and politics." Cuomo appointed Murphy Deputy Director, NYS Division of Veterans Affairs, where he created Vietnam Veterans in Government VVIG, an organization representing 9,000 Vietnam Era veterans and led the development of a Temporary State Commission on Vietnam Veterans which recommended programs to address their special needs. In May 1985 Tom Brokaw
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John "Tom" Brokaw is an American television journalist and author best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He is the author of The Greatest Generation and other books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors...
highlighted Murphy's work as Director of Workforce Planning. Murphy led the development of New York's first state workforce plan in 1989, recommending introduction of a Workforce Impact Statement (WIS) as a required component of public funding.
In 1991, Murphy left New York to work on reconciliation with Vietnam, do business and environmental consulting and provide humanitarian assistance. He participated in the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
' Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)'s 1991 Investors Forum in Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
and subsequent meetings with government leaders in Hanoi. For a decade Murphy worked with government, businesses, organized labor, NGOs and educational institutions interested in establishing programs in Southeast Asia. Through his alma mater, the College of Staten Island (CSI), he lectured, initiated programs related to and assisted in development of the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
's establishment of English language training in and educational exchanges with Vietnam. He brought his daughter Zoeann with him on a CSI trip to Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
, after which they created a photography exhibit and wrote their book Vietnam: Our Father Daughter Journey.
In 1999, Murphy began to work with the the NYS AFL-CIO, establishing the Workforce Development Institute
Workforce Development Institute
Workforce Development Institute , located in Albany, New York, is a non-profit organization that is committed to helping working families across New York...
, as a national leader in workforce intelligence, education and training of unionized workers. WDI offers grants, public policy/social justice advocacy and direct services for working families. WDI develops and funds education and training programs for businesses, unions, minority, low income and disenfranchised workers. WDI has both statewide and regional operations; provides economic research, community audits, policy analysis and cultural services under contract with government agencies. Murphy was a co-founder of New York's Apollo Alliance
Apollo Alliance
The Apollo Alliance is a project organized by the Institute for America's Future and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy. The Alliance is a project of the Tides Center....
WDI hosts and funds this network of organized labor, business, environmentalists, educators and proponents of social and environmental justice
Environmental justice
Environmental justice is "the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, sex, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies." In the words of Bunyan Bryant,...
to address energy concerns. WDI works with the Global Labor Institute (GLI) at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
on issues related to climate change and the Building Trades, providing training related for Green Jobs. Ed Murphy has various writings about peace, politics, environmental justice, and workforce development.