OFF THE WIRE
Military.com
A pro-pot group of former servicemembers calling itself Veterans for Weed is retreating from a legal clash with the Veterans of Foreign Wars over use of the abbreviation "VFW."
Veterans for Weed – which appears to be owned and managed by a former Marine and Vietnam War veteran from Milwaukee – had been using the VFW initials on its website at least until Wednesday morning, when it posted an online message saying it would pull the logo and also modify its own initials to "VFWU," for "Veterans for Weed United."
"We respect the Veterans of Foreign Wars and apologize for any inconvenience this caused them with the similar abbreviation," the group said. According to a database search of websites, VFWU’s web page was established in 2009 by William Solomko of Milwaukee. On his Classmates.com page, Solomko has a picture of himself with the words "POT POW" above his head and, below it, "Hemp Solo," a pseudonym used for VFWU’s spokesman.
Solomko was in the Marine Corps from 1967 to 1969 and served with Bravo Co., 1st Bn., 4th Marines in Vietnam, according to a listing the website VetFriends.com. Solomko is also listed as a principal of a small administrative support company in Milwaukee, RX Exposed, which shares the same address as that for his website domain name.
Solomko did not respond to Military.com’s email and telephone requests for an interview.
VFWU has come under a great deal of fire from veterans and others for using the "VFW" initials as well as adopting a modified version of the widely recognized POW/MIA flag for its own logo.
Among the messages it was getting on its own site was one from a senior master sergeant saying, "We believe in freedom, but use some dam common sense and show some dam respect."
Another, from a retired master sergeant, said: "You disgrace your cause and our POW/MIA personnel. Take down this disgrace of a flag."
But VFWU said it would continue to use the POW/MIA logo because it best represents the idea that veterans have been punished for smoking pot. In its online message, the group said it would pull the image when marijuana is legalized.
"Until that time comes, our fight continues to raise awareness of veteran prosecution for the possession of marijuana," VFWU’s message said.
The POW/MIA image has been used since the end of the Vietnam War by the National League of POW/MIA Families to focus attention on troops still missing from the country’s wars. In the VFWU’s version, the silhouetted profile of the prisoner is smoking a joint.
Because the original is not copyrighted, it remains in the public domain and can be modified and used by anyone. The families group has asked VFWU to stop using the image, but the organization refused.
The real VFW was in a better position to demand compliance when it pushed back against the pro-pot group. The VFW has owned the copyright to its abbreviation for more than 60 years. The century-old veterans’ organization made clear in a letter to the pro-pot group on Monday that it would take legal action against it unless it removed "VFW" from its site and all its products.
The newly renamed VFWU did not mention the legal letter in its online message Wednesday, in which it also announced that it would be closing down the online store through which it sold Veterans for Weed products.
"The store did not make any profit, but was merely a device to help publicize the site and offset some of the costs of hosting," the group said this morning. "However, in the spirit of good faith, we decided that the store isn’t needed."
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