Vietnam War Soldiers Helped End the Vietnam War

I. The GI Anti-War Movement (The "Quasi-Mutiny")

  • Definition: Active-duty soldiers and veterans engaged in a mass withdrawal of willing participation, which was likely decisive in ending both the draft and the U.S. war in Vietnam.

  • Key Tactics:

    • Refusal to Deploy: Notable examples include the Fort Hood Three, who called the war "unjust".

    • Fragging: The intentional killing of officers by rank-and-file soldiers, with over 500 documented cases between 1968 and 1973.

    • Public Testimony: The Winter Soldier Investigation (1971) featured GIs testifying about war crimes they witnessed overseas.

    • Solidarity Symbols: Thousands of soldiers wore black armbands in 1969 to support the Moratorium to End the War.

II. Major Legal and Protest Milestones

  • The Fort Hood Three (1966): Three soldiers refused to go to Vietnam, highlighting the connection between the Black freedom struggle in the U.S. and the Vietnamese struggle for self-determination.

  • Howard Levy (1967): An army dermatologist who used the "Nuremberg defense," arguing that he could lawfully refuse to train Green Berets because the U.S. was committing war crimes.

  • The Presidio Twenty-Seven (1968): Soldiers in a military jail staged a sit-in to protest the killing of a fellow inmate. They initially faced mutiny charges and possible death sentences before public outcry led to reduced charges.

III. The Impact of the Draft vs. the All-Volunteer Force (AVF)

  • The Draft as "Dark Democratization": Conscription blurred the civilian-military divide by forcing randomly selected people into the military, which integrated anti-war sentiment directly into the ranks.

  • The All-Volunteer Force (AVF): Created after the Vietnam War to "insulate" the military from civilian politics and prevent future internal resistance.

  • Recruitment in the AVF era: Now relies on "predatory recruitment" and the promise of welfare benefits (healthcare, education) that are often denied to civilian workers.

IV. Debunking Historical Myths

  • The Spitting Myth: The story of protesters spitting on returning GIs is a "tall tale" debunked by historians. Soldiers usually returned to isolated air bases, not civilian airports, and many protesters were veterans themselves.

V. Modern Resistance (The War on Terror)

  • Isolation of Dissent: Without the mass GI movement of the 1960s, modern resisters often face retaliation alone.

  • Conscientious Objectors: Soldiers like Kevin Benderman and Camilo Mejía were imprisoned for desertion after applying for conscientious objector status.