“From the superb opening (‘Draft dodging runs in my family’) to his effective closing chapter, Eli Greenbaum has crafted an exceptional study that adds considerably to what we know about opposition to the military draft during the Vietnam War. Of the many oral histories about the conflict, Greenbaum’s is the first I have read that combines the two genres of memoir and oral history. That Greenbaum has made this approach work is a tribute to his skills as a writer and storyteller. A thoroughly good read!”—Thomas M. Grace, author of Kent State: Death and Dissent in the Long Sixties
“Eli Greenbaum has written one of the best studies of those who fought, often successfully, their being drafted to fight in Vietnam. Based on long and colorful interviews with many resisters, his volume enriches our understanding of what drove unprecedented numbers of young men to challenge the Selective Service System.”—Melvin Small, author of At the Water’s Edge: American Politics and the Vietnam War
His draft board wanted him. But there was no way he going to fight in Vietnam. No way was he going to be drafted. No way was he going to be cannon fodder in a bad war. If his draft board was going to bust his balls, he would bust theirs. So he did what a gutsy young resister targeted for the Vietnam War could do. At his draft physical, he took his Selective Service file, stuffed it down the front of his pants and walked out the door. No one stopped him. No one said a word. Called back for a second physical a year later, he did it again. And he never went to Vietnam.
As long as there have been wars, there has been conscription. And conscription has never been popular. That was clearly evident during the Vietnam War when thousands of young men and women across the country angrily protested the war and the draft. The Vietnam War era was a hellish time, and the US military draft could kill you. The young man described above wasn’t alone in resisting the draft. Other men did similar things—anything to avoid the draft. Anything to stay out of a war they didn’t believe in.
Hell, No, We Didn’t Go! presents vivid firsthand accounts from men and women who were driven to oppose the Vietnam War and the draft at any price. Readers encounter a cross section of individuals who found ways to avoid the call to serve: Some got letters from sympathetic doctors; some went to Canada; some went to prison; some found God; and some simply went crazy.
These personal accounts reveal individual motivations, fears, and hopes that have been crystallized by a 50-year perspective. They address issues of bravery and cowardice, the meaning of patriotism, and the courage and determination it took to say no.
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