Hell, No, We Didn't Go!
University Press of Kansas (Verlag)
978-0-7006-3630-3 (ISBN)
As long as there have been wars, there has been conscription. And conscription has never been popular.When asked in a Gallup poll taken in August 1965 whether the US decision to send troops to Vietnam was a mistake, sixty percent of Americans polled said no. But as American casualties increased and the war escalated, polls showed fewer Americans supporting US actions in Vietnam. That, however, did not stop the drafting of Americans into military service. Later, when the leaked Pentagon Papers revealed that the United States had misled Congress and the American public about the extent of US involvement in Vietnam through lies and the withholding of information, support was driven further downward. Today, the Vietnam War is regarded as the most unpopular war of the twentieth century.
In Hell, No, We Didn’t Go! Eli Greenbaum presents firsthand accounts of men who were driven to resist or dodge the Vietnam draft at all costs. He introduces readers to a cross section of individuals who found ways to defy the draft by leaving the country, going to prison, becoming conscientious objectors, gaming the system, conspiring to fail physicals, and even enlisting--anything to avoid being drafted. These vivid essays and candid oral histories detail events that were often controversial, sometimes volatile, and almost always emotionally charged. Greenbaum brings together a chorus of first-person accounts of draft resistance and protest, held together by an overarching personal narrative, while providing context, commentary, and an unusual fifty-year perspective on the men’s decisions to avoid the Vietnam War no matter what.
While some men passively accepted conscription as their fate, others actively resisted it, sometimes going to extremes. Each account reveals individual motivations, fears, and hopes--everything from disagreement with American foreign policy to questions of cowardice and the meaning of patriotism, all underlined by courage and determination.
Eli Greenbaum is an attorney and former ad agency creative director and is the author of several published short stories and articles.
Author’s Note
Introduction
1. Setting the Stage
Carol
2. First Impressions
3. Meet the Bureaucracy
Mike, Joseph
4. Noise and Numbers
Bert, Stan, Ed, Mark
5. Better Information, Better Decisions
Jim, Alix, Michael
6. Bend Over and Crack a Smile
Jason, Ray, Bert, Mark, Larry, Rick
7. Do What You Gotta Do
Sid, Carey, Daniel
8. Hiding in Plain Sight
Al, Larry
9. Questions of Conscience
Bert, Erick
10. Choice versus Chance
Alan, George, Lance, Budd, Paul
11. Go North, Young Man
David, Bob, Tim, Tom, Alan, Leo
12. We Could Complicate Things
RJ, Richard, John, Steve
13. Connections
Ernest, Paul, Lou, Psylvia, Barry, JÜrgen
14. Facing Jail Time
Dylan, Howard, Tom, Jim
15. Perspectives
Acknowledgments
Appendix 1: Selective Service System Statistics, Classifications, and Chain of Events
Appendix 2: Items Received from the Selective Service
Selected Bibliography
For Further Reference
| Erscheinungsdatum | 12.04.2024 |
|---|---|
| Zusatzinfo | 33 b&w illustrations |
| Verlagsort | Kansas |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 152 x 229 mm |
| Gewicht | 172 g |
| Themenwelt | Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte |
| Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte | |
| Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung | |
| Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie | |
| ISBN-10 | 0-7006-3630-7 / 0700636307 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-7006-3630-3 / 9780700636303 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
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