Soldiers and Veterans Against the War

1-1990

GI Resistance: Soldiers and Veterans Against the War

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(1990) "GI Resistance: Soldiers and Veterans Against the War," Vietnam Generation: Vol. 2 : No. 1 , Article 1.

Available at: h t p://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/vietnamgeneration/vol2/iss1/1

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G I RESISTANCE:

S o l d i e r s a n d V e t e r a n s

AGAINST THE WAR

Vic t ima m Ge n e r a t io n

Vietn a m Gen era tion wa s fou n d ed in 1988 to p rom ote a n d en cou ra ge in terd is cip lin a ry s tu d y of th e Vietn a m Wa r era a n d th e Vietn a m Wa r gen era tion . Th e jou r n a l is p u b lis h ed by Vietn a m Gen era tion , In c., a n on p rofit corp ora tion d evoted to p rom otin g s ch ola rs h ip on recen t h is tory a n d con tem p ora ry is s u es .

ViETNAM G en er a t io n , In c .

ViCE-pRESidENT

PRESidENT

SECRETARY, TREASURER

H erm a n Bea vers

Ka li Ta l

C in d y Fu ch s

Viet nam Gener at ion

Tec Hn Ic a I A s s is t a n c e

EdiTOR: Ka li Ta l

La wr en ce E. H u n ter

A dvisoR y BoARd

MICHAEL KLEIN
Un iversity of Ulster
GABRIEL KOLKO
York Un iversity
RUTH ROSEN
NANCY ANISFIELD

Ch a m pla in College
KEVIN BOWEN
UC Da vis
WILLIAM J . SEARLE
Ea stern Illin ois Un iversity
J AMES C. SCOTT
Ya le Un iversity
Willia m J oin er Cen ter Un iversity of Mas sa ch u setts J ACQUELINE LAWSON
Un iversity of Mich iga n at Dearborn
DAVID MARK
Au stra lia n Nation al Un iversity
J OHN CLARK PRATT
Colora do Sta te Un iversity
J OCK REYNOLDS
Wa sh in gton Project for th e Arts
TOM RIDDELL
J E AN BETHKE ELSHTA1N
Va n derbilt Un iversity
RICHARD FALK
Corn ell Un iversity
DAVID HUNT
William J oin er Cen ter Un iversity of Mas sa ch u setts
PHILIP J ASON
US Naval Aca dem y
WILLIAM KING
ROBERT SLABEY
Un iversity of Notre Dam e
NANCY WEIGERSMA
Fitch bu rg State College
CHRISTINE PELZER WHITE
Corn ell Un iversity
MARILYN B. YOUNG
New York Un iversity
Sm ith College
Un iversity of Colorado

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Articles pu blish ed do n ot n ecessarily represen t the opin ion of, and are n ot th e legal respon sibility of Vietna m Genera tion, or Vietn am Gen eration , Inc. or its editorial staff.

Cop yrigh t © 1990, b y Vietn a m G en era tion , In c.
ISSN: 1 0 4 2 -7 5 9 7

Viet nam Gener at ion

VoluiviE 2

INufvibER 1

Gl R esist an c e: SoldiERS ANd Vet er an s aq aIn st t Re War

SpEciAl EdiTOR, Ha r r y W. Ha in es

5

H eq eim o n y

ANd

t He

Gl

R e s is t a n c e :

iNTROduCTORy NOTES

Ha rry W. Ha in es

ft

ThE W a r WiT h iN a W a r : D Is s en t iN t He VIet na ivi- E r a M iliTARy

J a m es R. Ha yes

20

BREAkiNq RANks: Gl A n t Iw a r Ne w s p a p e r s ANd t He C u I t u r e o f P r o t e s t

Ba rb a ra L. Tis ch ler

51

65

81

B U c k G l R es is t a n c e DuRiNq ThE V iet n a m W a r

Da vid Cortrigh t

ThE PREsIdio 27

Gerry Nicos ia

A M a t t er of C o n s c ien c e: R es is t a n c e WiThiN ThE U.S. M iliTARy D u r I n q ThE V iet n a m W a r

Bill Sh ort a n d Willa S eid en b erg

104 110

S t ea Unq HubcAps

W.D. Eh I'll art

Gl ANd Vet er a n s M o v em en t A q a In st ThE Viet n a m

W a r , 1965-1975: A SElECTEd BiblioqRAphy

Sk ip Dela n o

119

Lieu t en a n t HATfiEld

La rry Rollm a n n

120

No t es o n ThE AuThoRS

DEdicATEd t o t He Me m o r y of

MICHAEL PATRICK MADDEN

1948 1989

HEQElMONy ANd ThE Gl R es is t a n c e:

IfMTROduCTORy NOTES HARRy W. HAiNES

Now the s ons of-bitch es a re killing us ba ck home.

—Arm y com b a t m edic at Ca m Ra n h Bay, Vietn a m , rea ctin g to ih e New s w eek rep ort o f th e killin gs o f wa r protes ters at Ken t Sta te Un ivers ity, h is a lm a m a ter, 1970.

I pu t in J or th ree tours o f d uly. / ,w a s in a pos ition to keep people a live. I ha d influ ence over a n en tire provin ce. I p u t my men to w ork helpin g w ith the ha rves t. They p u t up build ings . On ce the NVA un d ers tood w ha t I w a s d oin g,th ey ea s ed up. I'm ta lking to you a bout a d e fa cto bxice, you und ers ta nd . Th e w a r s topped in mos t o f the provin ce. It’s the kind o f his tory tha t d oe s n ’t get record ed . Few peop le even know tha t it ha ppened , a n d no on e w ill e ver a d m it tha t it ha ppened .

—U.S. Arm y Colon el, in a u n ivers ity libra ry, 1974.

We lea rned how to ch ea t on the numbers . We w orked w ith the com pu ters tha t w ere us ed to ca ll in a rtillery s hells a n d w e chea ted . An d w e w ere good ! We p u t thos e s hells w here they cou ld n ’t hurt a nybod y. Som e peop le proba bly got killed , but not a s ma ny, a nd not in the villes .

—Vietn a m vetera n , on a tra in between Sa n Fra n cis co a n d Salt In k e City, 1974.

An ecd ota l da ta . A com b a t m ed ic weep s for th e Ken t S la te wa r dea d, a ca reer officer s p ea k s p rou d ly of s old iers wh o a void ed b a ttle, a son of a p ion eer Morm on fa m ily ta k es p a triotic p ride in m is gu id ed m is s iles . Th e Vietn a m wa r ’s id eologica l con tra d iction s p rod u ced exp erien ces wh ich were so fra ctu red a n d s eem in gly d is con n ected from th e on -goin g s tory of Am erica th a t Peter E h ren h a u s s u gges ts it wa s “th e firs t p os tm od ern wa r.”1 An d so p erh a p s Rick Berg exp ects too m u ch wh en he com p la in s th a t cu ltu ra l form s h a ve fa iled to a d equ a tely rep res en t th e w a r ’s m ea n in g:2 p erh a p s ou r cu ltu re is s im p ly u n a b le to p roces s th e d eb ris of id eologica l cris is . Still, s om e of u s wh o s u rvived th e Vietn a m wa r both at h om e a n d a b roa d h a ve s om e rea s on to h ope th at a b roa d er ra n ge of in terp reta tion s m igh t on e d a y u n fold in Am erica n film s , televis ion s eries , a n d n ovels a n d —m os t im p orta n tly—in th e pu b lic ritu a ls cen tra l to ou r n a tion a l p olitica l life. An d th a t h op e gu id es th e writers wh os e es s a ys a re p res en ted in th is s p ecia l is s u e of Vietn a m

Gen era tion .

4 Vie t n a m Ge n e r a t io n

I

h a ve a s ton is h ed m y s tu d en ts a n d a n gered s om e of m y fellow

vetera n s by p oin tin g ou t th at m a n y Am erica n s old iers op p os ed th e Vietn a m wa r a n d took a ction to lim it U.S. m ilita ry effectiven es s . Th is a ction in clu d ed th e refu s a l of ord ers , th e a s s a s s in a tion o f officers , th e d is trib u tion o f a n tiwa r p rop a ga n d a , u n ion -lik e orga n izin g, d es ertion , s a b ota ge an d a gen era l n on com p lia n ce with m ilita ry ob jectives . By 1970, Am erica n p olitica l a n d m ilita ry lea d ers cou ld n ot lon ger d ep en d on U.S. troop s to p erform th eir m is s ion in Vietn a m . Th er e d evelop ed a n a m orp h ou s , often u n coord in a ted “GI Res is ta n ce,” reflectin g a b roa d id eologica l s p ectru m a n d in clu d in g s old iers wh o took a ction in d ivid u a lly or in grou p s . Th is im p orta n t com p on en t of ou r n a tion a l exp erien ce in Vietn a m is pa rt of th e wa r ’s s u b m erged h is tory. It is n ot well d ocu m en ted . An d it is s u b ject to revis ion is t in terp reta tion s wh ich id en tify televis ion n ews covera ge of th e wa r, civilia n a n tiwa r a ctivis ts , or s om e oth er fa ctor a s th e “ca u s e” of “m ora le p rob lem s ” a m on g th e troop s . To id en tify th e GI Res is ta n ce as a s ign ifica n t com p on en t o f th e Vietn a m w a r exp erien ce is to ris k th e in cred u lity of th e you n g, th e ch a rge o f h ost ility from certa in vetera n s ' grou p s , a n d th e a ccu s a tion of p a rtis a n s h ip from revis ion is t a ca d em ics . Th e h egem on ic p roces s wh ereb y a d is cred ited p olitica l elite re-es ta b lis h es its id eologica l d om in a n ce h a s res u lted in th e p os ition in g of th e Vietn a m vetera n a s a s ign of con s en s u s ; d is cu s s ion s of a n tiwa r s old iers go a ga in s t th e gra in , b eca u s e s u ch d is cu s s ion s th rea ten th e p os ition in g of th e Vietn a m vetera n as a s ign — a witn es s — of id eologica l cr is is .3
Th is s p ecia l is s u e of Vietn a m Gen era tion is in ten d ed to p rovok e d eb a te a n d to en cou ra ge con tin u ed s ch ola rly exa m in a tion of th e GI Res is ta n ce. Ma n y of th e con trib u tors con cep tu a lize th is s p ecia l is s u e as an a ttem p t to b rin g th e GI Res is ta n ce from th e m a rgin s , to p os ition it as a m a jor top ic with in th e on goin g s tru ggle over th e wa r ’s m ea n in g.'1 Ad d ition a lly, s om e of u s con cep tu a lize th is effort in exp licitly id eologica l term s . We a re la yin g cla im to a s p ects o f th e lived s ocia l exp erien ce of th e Vietn a m wa r, a n d we m ea n to h elp s et th e circu m s ta n ces in wh ich th e Vietn a m vetera n ca n exp a n d h is or h er ra n ge of p os twa r in terp reta tion s

a n d s u b jectivity.

Th e im p orta n ce of th is ob jective requ ires s om e

exp la n a tion of th e Vietn a m veter a n ’s d evelop in g role a s a s ign with in th e id eologica l s tru ggle over th e wa r ’s m ea n in g.
Da vid Ra b e’s 1972 play. Sticks a n d Bones , p red icted th e im m ed ia te p os twa r fa te of th e Vietn a m vetera n .5 Ad a p tin g th e con ven tion s o f th e televis ion s itu a tion com ed y, Ra b e loca ted th e w a r ’s id eologica l cris is with in th e fa m ily rela tion s h ip s of Ozzie, Ha rriet, Da vid a n d Rick, ch a ra cters b orrowed from th e ra d io a n d TV s eries , Th e Ad ve n tu re s of Ozzie a n d Ha rriet. Old er b roth er Da vid retu rn s from Vietn a m , a n d h is wa r s tories s h a tter th e fa m ily’s com p la cen cy. Da vid ch a llen ges th e fa m ily’s u n th in k in g com m itm en t to a n ticom m u n is m a n d ra cism . Ha rriet vom its wh en s h e lea rn s a b ou t h is Vietn a m es e lover, wh om Ozzie ca lls "s om e yellow fu ck in g wh or e.” Da vid is th e qu in tes s en tia l p a in -in -fh ea ss, a n d h e id en tifies th e con tra d iction s of Am erica n p olicy in Vietn a m .