“It was pure hell… for the fact that I took that stand. I mean, all the labels, “Draft Dodger”, “Pinko”, “Commie”, “Shirker”,” recalls Fran Da Vinci.
Podcast
Podcast: “The common thing is that no one wants war” – Col. Ann Wright (ret.)
“You are doing the right thing because this is going to be horrible for the people of Iraq, but it’s going to be horrible for the United States, too.”
Podcast: “Strong religious commitment against war” – David Finke
David Finke is a conscientious objector, military counselor, and lifetime nonviolent activist. David shares his personal history.
Podcast: “I’m going in for a long time” – William Short
“I could probably speak louder with my photography than I could with my painting….I consider myself not just an artist, but a cultural worker.”
Podcast: “They did it of their own volition” – Dissenting POWs
Tom Wilber & Jerry Lembcke — “The POWs who came out against the war … as far as anything they said … they did so as a matter of conscience.”
Podcast: “I was trying to put the army on trial” – Steve Morse
“I challenged the army … This time I did dissent and went to the stockade,” shared Steve who joined the Army to organize against the war from within.
Podcast: “We started to unite” – Cleve Andrew Pulley
“We didn’t renounce our constitutional rights simply because we were soldiers” – Andrew Pulley, “Fort Jackson 8” anti-war GI defendant.
Podcast: “It didn’t make any sense to me” – Mike Wittels
“Why would I want to blow a hole the size of a grapefruit into someone, just because somebody said, ‘Hey, that’s your enemy””?
Podcast: “You’ve got to bear witness” – Mike Hastie
“Put more and more of the puzzle pieces together, and then you realize that you’ve got to bear witness,” Mike Hastie, Vietnam War medic.
Podcast: “The only thing I’m proud of” – Mike Turek
“The only thing I’m proud of was my involvement with the anti-war movement,” Mike Turek, Vietnam Era Air Force.
Podcast: “I wanted to forget about it” – Mike Tork, Vietnam Veteran
Mike Tork joined the Navy before turning 18 and served in Vietnam with the Mobile Riverine Force (1966-1967).
Podcast: “Based on nothing but a stack of lies” – Greg Laxer
“I wanted to show that an actual active duty GI in 1968 could do this, could take a very public stance against the war,” shares Vietnam War GI resister.
Podcast: “That’s me — I AM the enemy” – Howard Morland
Air force pilot Howard Morland’s exposure to the atrocities in Vietnam and extreme military training led him to question what the war was really about.
Podcast: “Real awakening for someone … brought up on John Wayne” – Mike Ferner
“I walked up into that plane … on both sides, there were no seats, but just hooks for the stretchers to be placed on,” recalled Mike Ferner, Navy Corpsman.