How American soldiers opposed and resisted the war in Vietnam
While mainstream narratives of the Vietnam War all but marginalize
anti-war activity of soldiers, opposition and resistance from within
the three branches of the military made a real difference to the
course of America’s engagement in Vietnam. By 1968, every major
peace march in the United States was led by active duty GIs and
Vietnam War veterans. By 1970, thousands of active duty soldiers and
marines were marching in protest in US cities. Hundreds of soldiers
and marines in Vietnam were refusing to fight; tens of thousands were
deserting to Canada, France and Sweden. Eventually the US Armed
Forces were no longer able to sustain large-scale offensive
operations and ceased to be effective. Yet this history is largely
unknown and has been glossed over in much of the written and visual
remembrances produced in recent years.
Waging Peace in
Vietnam shows how the GI movement unfolded, from the numerous
anti-war coffee houses springing up outside military bases, to the
hundreds of GI newspapers giving an independent voice to active
soldiers, to the stockade revolts and the strikes and near-mutinies
on naval vessels and in the air force. The book presents first-hand
accounts, oral histories, and a wealth of underground newspapers,
posters, flyers, and photographs documenting the actions of GIs and
veterans who took part in the resistance. In addition, the book
features fourteen original essays by leading scholars and activists.
Notable contributors include Vietnam War scholar and author,
Christian Appy, and Mme Nguyen Thi Binh, who played a major role in
the Paris Peace Accord.
The book originates
from the exhibition Waging Peace, which has been shown in Vietnam and
the University of Notre Dame, and will be touring the eastern United
States in conjunction with book launches in Boston, Amherst, and New
York.