JULY 4 • 2024 | 41

continued on page 42

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