Dangerous Grounds

Among the most persistent myths of the Vietnam War era is the ostensible conflict between hippy antiwar activists and less privileged American soldiers, who suffered and sacrificed on the battlefields of Southeast Asia. The intractable image of demonstrators spitting on returning soldiers or calling them “baby killers” persists, even in the more nuanced PBS series The Vietnam War (2017–2018). David L. Parsons's valuable Dangerous Grounds provides an important corrective by bringing to light a significant but underappreciated feature of the period. He tells a fascinating story, which he handles with great clarity and thoughtfulness. Underpinning the emergence of an antiwar movement within the military was the establishment of coffeehouses near most major military bases in the United States. These openings were most frequently the achievement of civilian antiwar activists who were attempting to create welcoming spaces where soldiers could explore their feelings and consider ways of organizing. One of Parsons's most important points is that the initiators and staffs of the coffeehouses did not provide specific organizing advice or recommendations to their military guests, as a matter of both principle and pragmatism. The civilian activists did not think it appropriate for them to counsel young men, caught in the military, about personal choices they should make. And, as a practical matter, any advice the activists might offer could be construed as encouraging soldiers to violate their terms of service, making them legally vulnerable

Antipathy · CLARITY · Dissent · Feeling · Military service · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Vietnam War · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies