“I was a coward. I went to the war.” is one of the most true and courageous lines in Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried.” He went because he didn’t have the courage to explain his opposition to his family, his neighbors.
As it happens, there were quite a crew of young men who were not cowards. They stood and they explained why they were not going to the war. Again and again. To strangers and to friends. They took the opprobrium. Many broke with families. Some went to prison.
Though the popular opposition to the US war in Vietnam was big news for several years, and helped to change its course, the stories of those who threw their whole lives into opposition has not been well told, or well-remembered. Now several of them are producing a film to fill in that void.
Folks I know, and knew then, talking about their decisions, and why what they learned and did has urgent relevance today.
They need help to keep the film going forward. Give them a hand, I did.
To the End of April, Here:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-boys-who-said-no–2
For more on the project and post-April ways to donate, here:
http://www.boyswhosaidno.com/