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A Matter of Conscience
A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War is an artist book published in 1992 at the time of the Addison Gallery of American Art exhibition, “A Matter of Conscience” and “Vietnam Revisited.” It contains oral histories of Vietnam era GIs, gathered and edited by Willa Seidenberg and William Short, and 58 photographs by William Short. Each oral history is complemented by a portrait in which the Vietnam veteran holds an object of some significance such as a newspaper clipping, a legal document, a book, or photograph. The large black and white photographs allow readers to see the veteran while reading the brief but moving oral histories to learn why they turned against the Vietnam War. The veterans' stories and portraits were collected over a five-year period and have been exhibited throughout the United States, Vietnam, Japan and Australia. A number of them were also included in the book Waging Peace in Vietnam: U.S. Soldiers and Veterans Who Opposed the War edited by Ron Carver, David Cortright, and Barbara Doherty. It was published in September 2019 by New Village Press. Also, the A Matter of Conscience oral history interviews with GI resisters were turned into an ongoing podcast, which started being in produced in 2025 for the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
The book contains 27 interviews collected from 1987 to 1992 with accompanying black and white photographs of each Vietnam veteran. A number of the subjects in the book were well known GI resisters during the war, including Carl Dix, one of six GIs who in June 1970 refused orders to Vietnam in the largest mass refusal of direct orders to Southeast Asia who became known as the Fort Lewis Six; Donald W. Duncan, a U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Beret) Master Sergeant who became one of the earliest opponents of the war and one of the antiwar movement leading public figures; Captain Howard Levy, an Army doctor who was court-martialed for refusing an order to train Green Beret medics on their way to Vietnam; Susan Schnall who in 1968, while a U.S. Navy Lieutenant, dropped antiwar leaflets over military bases and an aircraft carrier from a small plane and then, while in uniform, held a press conference and lead a mass peace march; Andy Stapp, known for organizing the American Servicemen's Union, an unofficial union for the U.S. military, in opposition to the Vietnam War; Keith Mather and Randy Rowland, two of the GIs involved in the Presidio mutiny, and Roger Broomfield, one of Presidio mutineers' guards in the military stockade. While many of the others in the book are lesser known, all together — the well known and those known mainly by their friends and family — represent a much larger demographic of GIs in the Vietnam era who resisted the war. The authors say they "represent only a fraction of the stories of GI resistance that might be told" and quote Defense Department figures that "as many as 503,926 incidents of desertion occurred between July 1, 1966 and December 31, 1973; compared with 191,840 reported cases of men refusing draft induction between 1963 and 1973."
The stories and images come from every branch of the U.S. military, most during the Vietnam era and a few from the Gulf War era.
We hear from Marines like Paul Atwood who expressed a deep fear of where he saw patriotism lead — "into mindless, unquestioning, uncritical acceptance of policy by governmental leaders". He bluntly concluded, "A more fucked up war couldn't be imagined." Atwood's photo shows him holding his ribbons and dog tags which he once felt stood for something good and now were "a symbol of its opposite."
And Steve Fournier who witnessed "Marines cutting ears and penises off enemy bodies and displaying them proudly." He "saw an eight-year-old boy shot in the leg for saying, 'Fuck you Marine,' and an 80-year-old woman beaten by a marine with his rifle butt." He describes coming home and going to his first antiwar demonstration where he apologized to the crowd for previously disparaging them. He told them he thought they were doing "something wonderful" and said he was proud to be with them. He received a "wonderful ovation" and felt "God, I'm home, I'm finally home."
Clarence Fitch recalled being influenced by the Black "consciousness" and "black power movement" of the times. He said the Black Marines segregated themselves in Vietnam, "we didn't want to integrate into what we considered the white man's war." He started looking at the enemy, "not so much as the enemy, but as another minority, brown people." In his photo he is wearing his Vietnam Veterans Against the War t-shirt.
Captain Howard Levy became one of the most well known GI resisters during the Vietnam War when he refused to train combat medics. His photo radiates this defiance as we see him, arms crossed with a determined look on his face. During his court-martial he recalls trying "to put the war on trial, but the military court said the truth is no defense."
John Tuma was assigned to military intelligence and soon realized he was expected to participate in torturing the prisoners. When he refused and reported the use of a torture device he was transferred and then almost killed twice by his own side. His photo reveals a wiser and sadder man.
A Matter of Conscience
A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War is an artist book published in 1992 at the time of the Addison Gallery of American Art exhibition, “A Matter of Conscience” and “Vietnam Revisited.” It contains oral histories of Vietnam era GIs, gathered and edited by Willa Seidenberg and William Short, and 58 photographs by William Short. Each oral history is complemented by a portrait in which the Vietnam veteran holds an object of some significance such as a newspaper clipping, a legal document, a book, or photograph. The large black and white photographs allow readers to see the veteran while reading the brief but moving oral histories to learn why they turned against the Vietnam War. The veterans' stories and portraits were collected over a five-year period and have been exhibited throughout the United States, Vietnam, Japan and Australia. A number of them were also included in the book Waging Peace in Vietnam: U.S. Soldiers and Veterans Who Opposed the War edited by Ron Carver, David Cortright, and Barbara Doherty. It was published in September 2019 by New Village Press. Also, the A Matter of Conscience oral history interviews with GI resisters were turned into an ongoing podcast, which started being in produced in 2025 for the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
The book contains 27 interviews collected from 1987 to 1992 with accompanying black and white photographs of each Vietnam veteran. A number of the subjects in the book were well known GI resisters during the war, including Carl Dix, one of six GIs who in June 1970 refused orders to Vietnam in the largest mass refusal of direct orders to Southeast Asia who became known as the Fort Lewis Six; Donald W. Duncan, a U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Beret) Master Sergeant who became one of the earliest opponents of the war and one of the antiwar movement leading public figures; Captain Howard Levy, an Army doctor who was court-martialed for refusing an order to train Green Beret medics on their way to Vietnam; Susan Schnall who in 1968, while a U.S. Navy Lieutenant, dropped antiwar leaflets over military bases and an aircraft carrier from a small plane and then, while in uniform, held a press conference and lead a mass peace march; Andy Stapp, known for organizing the American Servicemen's Union, an unofficial union for the U.S. military, in opposition to the Vietnam War; Keith Mather and Randy Rowland, two of the GIs involved in the Presidio mutiny, and Roger Broomfield, one of Presidio mutineers' guards in the military stockade. While many of the others in the book are lesser known, all together — the well known and those known mainly by their friends and family — represent a much larger demographic of GIs in the Vietnam era who resisted the war. The authors say they "represent only a fraction of the stories of GI resistance that might be told" and quote Defense Department figures that "as many as 503,926 incidents of desertion occurred between July 1, 1966 and December 31, 1973; compared with 191,840 reported cases of men refusing draft induction between 1963 and 1973."
The stories and images come from every branch of the U.S. military, most during the Vietnam era and a few from the Gulf War era.
We hear from Marines like Paul Atwood who expressed a deep fear of where he saw patriotism lead — "into mindless, unquestioning, uncritical acceptance of policy by governmental leaders". He bluntly concluded, "A more fucked up war couldn't be imagined." Atwood's photo shows him holding his ribbons and dog tags which he once felt stood for something good and now were "a symbol of its opposite."
And Steve Fournier who witnessed "Marines cutting ears and penises off enemy bodies and displaying them proudly." He "saw an eight-year-old boy shot in the leg for saying, 'Fuck you Marine,' and an 80-year-old woman beaten by a marine with his rifle butt." He describes coming home and going to his first antiwar demonstration where he apologized to the crowd for previously disparaging them. He told them he thought they were doing "something wonderful" and said he was proud to be with them. He received a "wonderful ovation" and felt "God, I'm home, I'm finally home."
Clarence Fitch recalled being influenced by the Black "consciousness" and "black power movement" of the times. He said the Black Marines segregated themselves in Vietnam, "we didn't want to integrate into what we considered the white man's war." He started looking at the enemy, "not so much as the enemy, but as another minority, brown people." In his photo he is wearing his Vietnam Veterans Against the War t-shirt.
Captain Howard Levy became one of the most well known GI resisters during the Vietnam War when he refused to train combat medics. His photo radiates this defiance as we see him, arms crossed with a determined look on his face. During his court-martial he recalls trying "to put the war on trial, but the military court said the truth is no defense."
John Tuma was assigned to military intelligence and soon realized he was expected to participate in torturing the prisoners. When he refused and reported the use of a torture device he was transferred and then almost killed twice by his own side. His photo reveals a wiser and sadder man.