"I was part of a war that I came to see as unjust, immoral, illegal" - David Cortright podcast

“I’m in basic training, and I’m beginning to have questions about what the commanders are telling us. The kind of propaganda they’re giving us about Vietnam was not making sense. I went to my first duty assignment at Fort Hamilton. More and more, other soldiers in the barracks are starting to question this war. In particular, I remember they were telling us at Fort Hamilton, “Don’t go over to the coffee shop during duty hours, because the guys are coming back from ‘Nam, and we don’t want to have mixing of the new guys with the returning vets.” Listen to David Cortright's story now.

Former Selective Service director says it's time to end draft registration

On April 25, 2019, Courage to Resist supporter Edward Hasbrouck provided testimony before the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service (NCMNPS) at their Washington DC hearing on potential policies to “encourage or require military, national, and public service from all Americans.” Watch Edward’s testimony on C-Span here (beginning at 19:25 min.).

The day before Edward's comments, the former director of the Selective Service, Dr. Bernard Rostker, told the Federal hearing that the program he helped create and once ran is no longer working, that the database of registrants has become so hopelessly incomplete and inaccurate that it couldn’t be used for a military draft that could be enforced or would stand up to due process and fairness challenges, and that it can and should be shut down entirely rather than trying to expand it to women. Read more.

This year marks 50 years of GI resistance, in and out of uniform, for many of the courageous individuals featured in our currently weekly podcasts highlighting Vietnam-era veterans. We've raised about $2,000 of the $7,500 needed to produce this year-long series of dozens of interviews. We can't let this history be lost!