E10: The GI resistance in Vietnam, part 1

Working Class History

Society & Culture, Education, History

5.0 • 813 Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2018

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

During the later years of the Vietnam war, a little-known but powerful rebellion developed within the ranks of the US forces. In this two-part episode, we talk about the GI resistance to the war with Jerry Lembcke, a Vietnam army veteran, now sociologist and author, and Bart, a navy veteran about their experiences.
This article gives a good general overview of the GI resistance movement: https://libcom.org/history/1961-1973-gi-resistance-in-the-vietnam-war
Support our work and get access to other exclusive audio and other benefits on patreon: https://patreon.com/workingclasshistory
This is our GI resistance merchandise in our online store: https://working-class-history.myshopify.com/collections/vietnam-gi-resistance
This is our short video history of the movement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzhM9eDoM80
This is our playlist of Vietnam war protest music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pj9AucSc9Y&list=PL71HxBMvC6bxaaxqKun66juixXqPZFjCN
You can get Jerry Lembcke's books here: https://www.amazon.com/Jerry-Lembcke/e/B001HCZKCS/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1533499864&sr=1-1
FOOTNOTES
– Vietnam: the collapse of the armed forces by Marine Colonel Robert D Heinl Jr: https://libcom.org/history/vietnam-collapse-armed-forces
– USS Constellation mutiny: more information about that in this article https://libcom.org/history/1961-1973-gi-resistance-in-the-vietnam-war
– USS Columbia Eagle mutiny: https://libcom.org/history/ss-columbia-eagle-mutiny-1970-steven-johns
– The class war at home: check out our episode 8 (currently a patreon exclusive at time of publishing) for more about class struggle in the US at the time: https://patreon.com/workingclasshistory
– This is a workers' whistleblowing guide: https://libcom.org/organise/workplace/articles/whistle-blowing.php
– This is a workers' working to rule guide: https://libcom.org/organise/workplace/articles/work-to-rule.php
– This personal account of the movement has info about "search and avoid": https://libcom.org/history/aint-marchin-anymore-gis-revolt-vietnam-dave-blalock
– The Bravo Company mutiny: https://libcom.org/history/gi-revolts-breakdown-us-army-vietnam
– The Presidio mutiny: https://libcom.org/history/presidio-mutiny-1968-randy-rowland
MORE INFORMATION
– This is a short history of the war by Howard Zinn: https://libcom.org/history/articles/vietnam-war
– GI resistance photo gallery: https://libcom.org/gallery/gi-resistance-vietnam-war
– Check out the excellent documentary, Sir, No Sir!: https://www.amazon.com/Sir-No-Suppressed-Movement-Vietnam/dp/B000IB0DE4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
– This episode was edited by Stephanie Hydal for editing this episode: http://www.stephaniehydal.com/portfolio/
Full acknowledgements including music and sound effects here on our website: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e10-the-gi-resistance-in-vietnam-part-1/

Transcript

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0:00.0	In the late 1960s, following years of US military involvement in Vietnam, an unprecedented rebellion against military authorities and the war began in the ranks themselves.
0:10.2	Service people began avoiding combat, refusing orders, campaigning against the war, mutineing and even killing their own officers in a movement which helped bring an end to the war.
0:20.2	This is working class history.
0:40.3	In 1936, My sword and shield down by the riverside, study war no more. In 1971, Marine Colonel Robert T. Heinald Jr. wrote a report which said,
0:46.3	By every conceivable indicator, our army that now remains in Vietnam is in a state approaching collapse,
0:51.3	with individual units avoiding or having refused combat, murdering
0:55.6	their officers and non-commissioned officers, drug-ridden and dispirited where not near mutinous.
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1:57.6	In this two-part episode, we'll recover stories of the little-known resistance to the Vietnam War from within the ranks.
2:03.6	We'll follow the journeys of Jerry Lemke, a US Army veteran, now author, sociologist and professor, and Bart, who served in the Navy.
2:11.6	To see how they ended up in Vietnam, we'll start at the beginning with Jerry, 8,000 miles away in Iowa.
2:28.4	I grew up in a small town in northwest Iowa called Hinton, which is near Sioux City.
2:31.3	My parents were working class people.
	...

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