A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War
A Matter of Conscience is the story of the Vietnam War that the U.S. government and military don't want you to know. Hosts Bill Short and Willa Seidenberg reveal a hidden history of the war born out of personal experience. As an Army infantry platoon sergeant, Bill was serving in heavy combat in South Vietnam in 1969 when he refused to keep fighting. He was imprisoned in South Vietnam by the U.S. Army and court-martialed twice.
The podcast shares the stories of GIs who took individual and collective action while in uniform to oppose the war—including refusing to go to Vietnam or to fight in the field, publishing underground GI newspapers, sabotaging operations, going AWOL (Absent Without Leave), and even deserting. These deeply personal stories remain highly relevant today in light of current wars and issues of free speech, the meaning of patriotism, and following your conscience.
Episodes
19 episodes
The Quiet Mutiny
In this episode, we take you to the battlefields of Vietnam, where many young soldiers faced a moral conflict while just trying to stay alive. This is the first part of our look at resistance on the battlefield. GIs, like George Silver and Roy ...
BONUS EPISODE: First person with Peter Hagerty
In 1969 Peter Hagerty, Navy ROTC instructor, inspected a destroyer the way he was supposed to.He followed the rules. The ship was in bad shape. He told his superior that the hairline crack on the barrels of the guns could cause an...
Breaking the Chain of Command
Resistance among military officers takes courage. Most officers have earned their promotion from following orders. To say “No” an officer might be risking their career. In this episode, we showcase the stories of two officers, also pilots, who ...
BONUS EPISODE: Interview with John Boyko
This is a bonus episode of A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War, featuring more of our interview with Canadian historian and author John Boyko, who wrote The Devil's Trick: How Canada Fought the Vietnam War<...
BONUS: The Intrepid Four
Move over James Bond! In this companion to Episode 10 about deserters during the Vietnam War, we hear about the wild journey of four sailors who deserted from the USS Intrepid during the Vietnam War. Their act of conscience began in Japan...
Leaving America Behind: Deserters and the War
More than half a million soldiers abandoned their posts during the Vietnam War, seeking refuge primarily in Canada and Sweden. In this gripping episode of A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War, we plunge into the...
Fighting Two Wars
For Black soldiers, the Vietnam War was not only a struggle to stay alive but a battle against the persistent racism in the U.S. military. In this episode, we examine the resistance efforts by Black soldiers who were literally fighting two wars...
BONUS EPISODE: First person with Alan Klein
As part of A Matter of Conscience, we bring you bonus episodes featuring the first-person stories of the veterans we interviewed some 35 years ago. We begin with Air Force veteran Alan Klein, who was sent to the brig for going AWOL (Abse...
Join the GI Movement
Demonstrations, labor organizing within the military, and a Hollywood show for GI resisters. Part two of our look at the GI anti-war movement. You may want to hear episode 5 first, to learn about GI newspapers and coffeehouses. In this episode,...
We Shall Overcome: The Presidio Mutiny
On October 14, 1968, at San Francisco’s Presidio Stockade, 27 anti-war GIs staged a bold act of civil disobedience. Protesting brutal prison conditions and the moral wrong of the Vietnam War, they sat down on the stockade lawn, locked arms, and...
BONUS EPISODE: Free Speech Today
Free speech is under attack in the United States today, just as it was during the Vietnam War. As a companion to Episode 5, which looked at GI newspapers and coffeehouses of the Vietnam-era, we are delving into the ways that free speech is bein...
Nine for Peace
In this episode of A Matter of Conscience, you’ll hear how churches and chains made an anti-war splash in 1968. Nine young men announced their resignation from the military by chaining themselves to church clergy during a 48-hour servi...
Misunderstandings, Lies and Whiskey
If you don’t know much about the U.S. war in Vietnam, we’ve got you covered! This episode delves into Vietnam’s struggle for independence and the political influence of figures like President Lyndon Johnson to decipher exactly how we got into t...
By and For GIs
What do newspapers and coffeehouses have to do with the Vietnam War? It turns out they were critical tools in the GI anti-war movement. You’ll hear the stories of GIs who got around military restrictions to publish 300 anti-war newspapers, ofte...
I Quit!
The Green Berets, the special forces branch of the U.S. Army, figures into the stories of two early and well-known GI resisters: Dr. Howard Levy and Donald Duncan. Both men made strong public stands against the war, and both worked tirele...
BONUS EPISODE: Extended Interview with Historian Chris Appy
Episode 3 gives listeners a brief overview of the history of the war in Vietnam. If you want to get more detailed information, listen to this extended interview with Chris Appy, a professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, and dir...
It Was All A Lie
This episode explores how men of the Vietnam generation were primed for war based on the experiences of their fathers and uncles in World War II, and how that patriotism turned to disillusionment when soldiers were confronted with the realities...