A Matter of Conscience is the story of the Vietnam War that the U.S. government and military don’t want you to know. Hosts Bill Short and Willa Seidenberg reveal a hidden history of the war born out of personal experience. As an Army infantry platoon sergeant, Bill was serving in heavy combat in South Vietnam in 1969 when he refused to keep fighting. He was imprisoned in South Vietnam by the U.S. Army and court-martialed twice.
The podcast shares the stories of GIs who took individual and collective action while in uniform to oppose the war—including refusing to go to Vietnam or to fight in the field, publishing underground GI newspapers, sabotaging operations, going AWOL (Absent Without Leave), and even deserting. These deeply personal stories remain highly relevant today in light of current wars and issues of free speech, the meaning of patriotism, and following your conscience.
Episode : 6 A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE: GI RESISTANCE DURING THE VIETNAM WAR Episode 6: Nine for Peace In this episode of A Matter of Conscience, you’ll hear how churches and chains made an anti-war splash in 1968. Nine young men announced their resignation from the military by chaining themselves to church clergy during a…
Episode 5: By and For GIs What do newspapers and coffeehouses have to do with the Vietnam War? It turns out they were critical tools in the GI anti-war movement. You’ll hear the stories of GIs who got around military restrictions to publish 300 hundred anti-war newspapers, often having to distribute them covertly. The episode…
Episode 4: I Quit! The Green Berets, the special forces branch of the U.S. Army, figures into the stories of two early and well-known GI resisters: Dr. Howard Levy and Donald Duncan. Both men made strong public stands against the war, and both worked tirelessly for the GI anti-war movement after they were discharged from…
Episode 3: Misunderstandings, Lies and Whiskey If you don’t know much about the U.S. war in Vietnam, we’ve got you covered! This episode delves into Vietnam’s struggle for independence and the political influence of figures like President Lyndon Johnson to decipher exactly how we got into the Vietnam war. Through personal accounts from Vietnamese citizens…
Appy Interview Bonus Episode TranscriptFri, May 23, 202500:00Ruben FloresHello, I’m Ruben Flores, an assistant producer for A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance during the Vietnam War. We’re bringing you an extended interview with Christian Appy, who you heard in episodes one and three. Appy is Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and…
Episode 2: It Was All A Lie This episode explores how men of the Vietnam generation were primed for war based on the experiences of their fathers and uncles in World War II, and how that patriotism turned to disillusionment when soldiers were confronted with the realities of Vietnam. Hosts Bill Short and Willa Seidenberg…
Episode 1: The War Against the War In this first episode of A Matter of Conscience, you’ll hear about an important part of the war in Vietnam that history books don’t talk about — the GI anti-war movement. Bill Short, a photographer and once-Vietnam soldier, and Willa Seidenberg, a journalist and professor, set the scene…