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a writer of books, short stories and arti-
cles, including the award-winning Leo’s
Dilemma.
Hell, No, We Didn’t Go is based upon
oral history interviews Greenbaum con-
ducted with like-minded friends, asso-
ciates and others, all people who resisted
the draft. Although he makes it clear that
he is not a scholar of the Vietnam War,
Greenbaum does provide a solid historical
context for the war and, in particular, the
administration of the Selective Service
System, the agency that managed the draft
and still monitors draft-age American men
today.
Greenbaum’s interviews are the heart of
the book. These narrators are men willing
to talk about their experiences (some still
will not talk about this), their reactions to
and thoughts about the draft for an ulti-
mately unpopular war. These are voices that
are not often recorded for history. Local
Detroit Jewish men are included among the
narrators.
DRAFT RESISTERS
Greenbaum presents several salient con-
clusions in his work. First and foremost,
perhaps, he and his interviewees demon-
strate that, the commonly used term, “draft
dodger,
” is woefully lacking in substance
as a descriptor. Draft resister is a more
appropriate and meaningful term, which
denotes those who resisted being drafted
for what they considered an unjust war in a
myriad of ways, from attempting to fail
physicals by whatever means necessary to
enlisting … or fleeing the country.
Moreover, these men are not cowards. As
Greenbaum states, it took courage to “say
no to the Vietnam War machine, to a gov-
ernment and its systems that were geared to
use you.
”
The resisters held no ill feelings toward
those young men who were drafted or
enlisted and fought in the war, indeed they
admired those who sacrificed, but they
chose a different path.
It was also a choice that affected those
around the resisters, their families, friends
and neighbours
The key issue was choice. The narrators
were largely angry that the government
chose to fight an unjust war, and thereby left
American men without a choice regarding
the draft. If there were a large existential
threat to the United States, as there was for
World War II, almost all of the resisters
would choose to defend America without
hesitation.
It’s nearly 50 years since American troops
left Vietnam. By the time the last Marines
left on the last helicopter in 1975, over
2.5 million men had served there. Now,
we have an entirely volunteer military in
America.
As Greenbaum notes: “We were the last
American generation in which lives and
careers were interrupted and placed on
hold, redirected, overturned, damaged or
even ended” due to the “whims of govern-
ment officials committed to winning a war.
Those of us who later joined the military
did so because it was entirely our choice, no
one else’s.
”
This is a good book. It is an insightful
and well-written contribution to the history
of the Vietnam War. Greenbaum’s story is
nuanced and excellent reading for anyone
who desires further understanding of the
Vietnam War era, the Draft, and its affects
upon those who “didn’t go.
”
Hell, No, We Didn’t Go! Firsthand Accounts
of Vietnam War Protest and Resistance by Eli
Greenbaum (University Press of Kansas: Laurence,
KS, 2024) is available on Amazon.
ask questions.
My mother did not want me to
go into the military, but I don’t think
that’s an attribute exclusive to Jewish
moms; mothers always worry about
their sons and daughters serving.
MS: The people that you interviewed
all appear to be well-educated or
artisans and in the skilled trades,
which is another sort of intense
education. How different do you
think the reaction or resistance was
from working-class folks subject to
the draft?
EG: I’m not sure I’m qualified to
answer this question. I’m not a
sociologist. My thoughts regarding
resistance, or lack of it, by certain
groups is based on indirect
information and limited exposure.
My own roots are working class, but
it would be presumptuous of me to
speak for people I did not interview
or meet. But some minority-group
individuals that I engaged with, for
example, were not resistant. They
did not object to the draft because
in some cases the army was a good
economic/educational opportunity
when other opportunities were not
readily available.
MS: Your book explores the
Selective Service System, its
operations, flaws and decidedly
human administration at the local
level. What reforms would you
enact, if America should need a
draft in the future?
EG: It did not appear to me that
Selective Service deferments,
exemptions and programs were
uniformly applied. One draft board’s
conscientious objector could be
another board’s draft dodger. There
was favoritism for certain individuals.
If there’s a draft, and I hope we
never need one, transparency is
necessary, fairness is necessary,
consistency is necessary, and it
must be universal and all participate.
MS: In the all-volunteer U.S. military,
a large portion of recruits hail from