Fragging Action, August 1971, vol. 1, no. 2
Anti-Vietnam War Movement
Fragging Action was an underground newspaper created at Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base in Cookseytown, New Jersey, in the early 1970s. This issues examines personal experiences of G.I.s; a drug use amnesty program; letters "from the Dix stockade"; conscientious objection; comics; unemployment among veterans; the Travis Air Force Base Rebellion; military pollution; a resource list.
Fragging Action
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
August 1971
newspaper
Join the New Action Army
Anti-Vietnam War Movement
In 1967, Captain Howard B. Levy faced a court-martial after declining to provide medical training for Green Berets heading to the war zone in Vietnam, arguing that such a practice was against medical and his personal ethics. The trial received national attention and raised questions about the responsibility of military doctors to teach soldiers medicine, as well as an individual’s right to refuse to participate in war crimes. Levy served two years in prison for his actions and his case ultimately reached the Supreme Court.
New York Medical Committee to End the War on Vietnam
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
ca. 1967
poster
The Military Left, vol. 3, no. 1
G.I. Anti-War Movement
The Military Left was one of more than 130 underground newspapers published on U.S. military bases across the world during the Vietnam era. The papers were usually published anonymously and gave servicemen and women an opportunity to express their opposition to the war in Vietnam, or the military system, more broadly. Those who wrote or distributed these alternative G.I. press newspapers were often subjected to harsh punishment from military brass, if found out. The Military Left was published from 1969 through 1973 by G.I.’s at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Under the masthead, editors included the text of a military regulation that stated, “All G.I.’s have the right to receive any written matter they desire in the mail, and have the right to keep any books, newspapers or pamphlets they want” and promised, “They lie. We won’t.” In this issue, articles explore G.I. rights; repression against activist service-members; “Lifer of the Month” column; conscientious objector status; a history of amnesty; comix; song lyrics; Arlo Guthrie quote.
The Military Left
Roz Payne
Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
ca. late-1969
underground press