"I was proud of the youths who opposed the war in Vietnam because
they were my babies."
Benjamin Spock
Michael Ferber, Benjamin Spock, William Sloane Coffin Jr., and two others were put on trial for their resistance, convicted, but those later were overturned. Though there were men who opted to go to prison rather than war, others could not out of fear. David Clennon, a Boston draft resister, thought that he was unable to stand more than two years in prison and chose to get a psychological deferment instead; thirty years later, he regretted his decision and viewed it as a “copout.” Women were able to join in the resistance but had to fight for the responsibility in the resistance organizations. Nan Stone, a key resistor, stated that women could not be prosecuted for resisting but tried to put herself at as much risk as the men.
Dr. Benjamin Spock, Rev. William Sloan Coffin, Mitchell Goodman, Michael Ferber
"Each of our acts of returning our draft cards is our personal No; when we put them in a single container or set fire to them from a single candle we express the simple basis of our unity."
Michael Ferber |
"I'm not a pacifist. I was very much for the war against Hitler and I also supported intervention in Korea, but in this war we went in there to steal Vietnam." Benjamin Spock who was convicted for aiding draft resistors in Boston "We must say Yes to the long struggle ahead or this service will be a mockery."
Michael Ferber |
"In short, I argue that draft resisters were the antiwar movement's equivalent to the civil rights movement's Freedom Riders and lunch-counter sit-in participants; today, Americans regard those dissenters as heroes while they view draft resistors as selfish, cowardly, and traitorous."
Michael S. Foley, Confronting the War Machine: Draft Resistance During the Vietnam War
Michael S. Foley, Confronting the War Machine: Draft Resistance During the Vietnam War
Bailey Adolph
Senior Division Webpage
Senior Division Webpage