Michael J. Gaffney: A Passion For Justice

BY MOKIE PRATT PORTER

Whether reviewing contracts, weighing in on VVA-initiated lawsuits, or addressing other matters of concern to Vietnam Veterans of America, General Counsel Mike Gaffney has been there to protect VVA’s legal affairs. A nimble legal mind, Gaffney has helped VVA work through a wide variety of personnel matters, service officers’ issues, and even potential problems that could harm the organization.

“Any time VVA is considering an agreement, a memorandum of understanding, or a contract, I give Mike a call,” CFO Joe Sternburg said. “Together we go over the details, debate the pros and cons, and with his insight and assistance, we produce a binding legal agreement to present to the officers for their review and approval.”

Gaffney enlisted in the Army in October 1966. Following Basic Training at Fort Dix, he spent seventeen weeks at Fort Benjamin Harrison, where he completed his training as a finance clerk/pay distribution specialist. He served thirteen months in Vietnam, attached to Service Battery, 7th Battalion, 15th Artillery in Qui Nhon.

Gaffney’s life, like that of so many Vietnam veterans, has been molded by his time in the war. After returning home he went to school on the GI bill, earning a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. His decision to pursue a law degree was based in large part on the deep sense of responsibility he felt for those with whom he had served, as well as for those who could not afford the price of justice in America. He believed that in order to defend people victimized by those in power, he needed to be able to fight for their rights through the legal system.

In 1976 he earned his Juris Doctor from Antioch School of Law. As a staff attorney with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, he tackled educational reform, working to ensure that Title 1 of President Johnson’s War on Poverty was being implemented equitably. Gaffney believes that education is key to social change and that every child in America, no matter how economically or socially disadvantaged, should be given fair and equal access to a good education.

While working as a staff attorney for the Lawyers Committee, Gaffney met his current law partner, Dan Schember. They soon joined others to create their own law firm in several practice areas, including military law. 

Gaffney was a founding member of the Military Law Task Force (MLTF) of the National Lawyers Guild, an organization of legal workers, lawyers, and law students dedicated to fighting for the rights of GIs. MLTF was officially formed in the 1970s, when Gaffney, along with Vietnam veterans Jim Klimaski and Keith Snyder, began publishing On Watch, a journal of military law. For many years, Gaffney successfully represented service members in cases before Boards of Military Corrections.

Gaffney, who has a passion for history, became enamored with the Internet in the 1980s. He devotes countless hours researching the Vietnam War. His Vietnam War Library, comprised of hundreds of links to material—news articles, journal entries, web pages—is a massive undertaking. Ask Gaffney a question about an aspect of the war—say, about the number of gallons of the different herbicides and desiccants sprayed over South Vietnam—and he will provide you with definitions and explanations and pages and pages of links.

He played a key organizing role in VVA’s 2001 Pentagon Papers Conference, held at the National Press Club to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the release of the Papers. In the final chapter of Inside the Pentagon Papers, published in 2004, Gaffney wrote a summary of the legal and constitutional issues raised by the Pentagon Papers case and subsequent secrecy-related episodes.

Gaffney has always felt at home at VVA and is intimately familiar with its complexities and mission. He was influential in getting the Associates of Vietnam Veterans of America established as an independent corporation. “From the very beginning, in August 1998, when the IRS ruled against associate members in VVA, Mike was a driving force helping AVVA get organized,” AVVA President Nancy Switzer said. “He gave many hours of his time, and through the years he continues to answer our calls and be there to give us direction.”

Gaffney also works closely with Quentin Butcher, Director of VVA’s Household Goods Program. “Mike is a trustworthy friend and ally,” Butcher said. “He has built a solid foundation for VVA through his protectiveness and passion for the veterans’ community. In my nearly two decades of knowing him, I haven’t left one conversation without learning something worthwhile or thought provoking.” 

VVA President John Rowan, who has known Gaffney since “the early days,” perhaps summed him up best: “Mike has kept us out of trouble. And thanks to him, over the years we have had no major legal problems that could otherwise have been avoided. He is always a phone call away. His advice is always sterling, and we rarely move forward on an issue of consequence without his consent.”