Confronting the War Machine: Draft Resistance during the Vietnam War

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Overview Of Vietnam War Draft Resistance Movement
Review: Nothing inspires so much enduring controversy and strongly held opinions as the subject of active draft resistance during the Vietnam War. The draft resisters were composed of a relatively small segment of the hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of young American men of draft age who avoided serving in the Army in one fashion or another. While most avoided active service in one or another fashion by enrolling in colleges or graduate schools, getting married and quickly having children, or by crossing the border into Canada, the draft resisters stood their ground and actively (and often quite dramatically) confronted the system by openly opposing the draft, burning their draft cards publicly, and serving themselves up for the legal and social consequences of refusing to serve in the military.

The author's approach is both appealing and effective; he uses a plethora of anecdotes and then places them in context by providing an overall history of the movement as well as an effective analysis of the effect of the movement both for the individuals choosing to participate in it as well as for the society at large. Author Michael Foley is a history professor at the City University of New York College of Staten Island, and he obviously has some personal experience informing his awareness of the phenomenon, which was in his estimation one of the most important and most progressively attempted efforts at defanging the war machine, a technique which comprising the cutting edge of young Americans opposition to the war in Southeast Asia. It found its inspiration in the Gandhi-like examples of the civil rights movement, and found widespread philosophical and legal support for a method that eventually forced the formal apparatus of government to sit up and take notice.

What I found especially fascinating about Foley's approach is his concentration on events transpiring in the greater Boston area, where I had many personal experiences, both with the active resistance against the war as well as the other related anti-war activities. So the author's cogent analysis and colorful anecdotes often churn up memories of people and the times from my own reservoir of such experiences some thirty-five years ago. What was so intriguing about the movement was the way it transformed what was initially a massive loathing for what was considered an unmanly and suspect strategy into one that was much more widely supported and endorsed by mainstream Americans. Thus, by placing themselves and their futures on the line (many resisters eventually served time in prison rather than serve in the military), the resisters did change public opinion and popular perception of the war itself and on the ways in which honorable young men could behave in response to it.

Eventually, such efforts actually helped to end the draft, as President Nixon foisted a lottery system as an interim approach to the patently unfair policies of the draft, and soon thereafter created an all-volunteer service in response to the public outcry over 'selective service'. The actions of the war resisters sparked a wide-spread recognition among their peers of the obviously unfair nature of the draft itself, and helped to legitimize the mass-protests against the war involving millions of Americans outraged by the racist and social class distinctions made in draft policies. Finally, Foley shows how greater civic awareness is required to ensure a more enlightened and informed understanding of one's patriotic duties to the country during time of war. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Overview Of Vietnam War Draft Resistance Movement
Review: Nothing inspires so much enduring controversy and strongly held opinions as the subject of active draft resistance during the Vietnam War. The draft resisters were composed of a relatively small segment of the hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of young American men of draft age who avoided serving in the Army in one fashion or another. While most avoided active service in one or another fashion by enrolling in colleges or graduate schools, getting married and quickly having children, or by crossing the border into Canada, the draft resisters stood their ground and actively (and often quite dramatically) confronted the system by openly opposing the draft, burning their draft cards publicly, and serving themselves up for the legal and social consequences of refusing to serve in the military.

The author's approach is both appealing and effective; he uses a plethora of anecdotes and then places them in context by providing an overall history of the movement as well as an effective analysis of the effect of the movement both for the individuals choosing to participate in it as well as for the society at large. Author Michael Foley is a history professor at the City University of New York College of Staten Island, and he obviously has some personal experience informing his awareness of the phenomenon, which was in his estimation one of the most important and most progressively attempted efforts at defanging the war machine, a technique which comprising the cutting edge of young Americans opposition to the war in Southeast Asia. It found its inspiration in the Gandhi-like examples of the civil rights movement, and found widespread philosophical and legal support for a method that eventually forced the formal apparatus of government to sit up and take notice.

What I found especially fascinating about Foley's approach is his concentration on events transpiring in the greater Boston area, where I had many personal experiences, both with the active resistance against the war as well as the other related anti-war activities. So the author's cogent analysis and colorful anecdotes often churn up memories of people and the times from my own reservoir of such experiences some thirty-five years ago. What was so intriguing about the movement was the way it transformed what was initially a massive loathing for what was considered an unmanly and suspect strategy into one that was much more widely supported and endorsed by mainstream Americans. Thus, by placing themselves and their futures on the line (many resisters eventually served time in prison rather than serve in the military), the resisters did change public opinion and popular perception of the war itself and on the ways in which honorable young men could behave in response to it.

Eventually, such efforts actually helped to end the draft, as President Nixon foisted a lottery system as an interim approach to the patently unfair policies of the draft, and soon thereafter created an all-volunteer service in response to the public outcry over 'selective service'. The actions of the war resisters sparked a wide-spread recognition among their peers of the obviously unfair nature of the draft itself, and helped to legitimize the mass-protests against the war involving millions of Americans outraged by the racist and social class distinctions made in draft policies. Finally, Foley shows how greater civic awareness is required to ensure a more enlightened and informed understanding of one's patriotic duties to the country during time of war. Enjoy!