A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

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. You heard him in Episode 10: Leaving America Behind – Deserters and the War. This interview explores Canada's complex and often contradictory role in the Vietnam War, detailing the country's significant economic involvement in manufacturing and selling weapons to the U.S. military, while simultaneously becoming a refuge for over 40,000 American draft evaders and military deserters. For show notes, photos, and more, visit our website.

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, then took them to the Soviet Union, and ended with asylum in Sweden. Researcher Rogelio Vargas-Rodriguez introduces us to the role of Beheiren, a Japanese organization dedicated to ending the Vietnam War, and we learn why their case has become an infamous part of Vietnam War history.For show notes, photos, and more, visit our website.

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 emotional and personal sacrifice of desertion. Hear the extraordinary journeys of four men: Mike Wong, who crossed the border into Canada; Gerry Condon, whose path wound from Canada to Sweden and back again; Michael Sutherland (formerly Lindner) and Steve Kinnaman, two men granted asylum in Sweden and who never returned to their homeland. We'll also explore the secret routes to freedom—the 'underground railroad' to Canada, guided by historian John Boyko, and the resilient deserter community in Sweden, as shared by its unofficial historian, Jim Walch, a conscientious objector who made Sweden his permanent home.For show notes, photos, and more, visit our website.

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 – one against Vietnam and the other against their own country. Four Black GIs tell their stories of fighting back and how PTSD affected the rest of their lives. Historian Sam Black gives context on how an integrated military and colonialism intersected with the GI experience. We uncover the origin of the DAP, discuss the rise of fraggings, where soldiers deliberately killed their officers, and consider the influence on Black GIs of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, and Muhammad Ali. For show notes, photos, and more, visit our website.

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 (Absent Without Leave) in protest of the war.  Alan's story of foot-dragging within the military speaks to some of the more pervasive resistance that took place during the Vietnam War.Note: this episode contains profanity.