Full Description
In the late 1960s, as the Vietnam War divided the country, millions of young American men faced the choice of how to respond to the draft. Some accepted conscription and went to fight. Others attended protests or fled the country. But most draft-aged men, avoiding both combat and exile, stayed home, punched the clock, watched Walter Cronkite, and mowed the lawn while history swirled around them. Decades later, members of this forgotten majority still live with the war's aftermath, questioning their response to the most polarizing conflict of their time.
Skirmishes with Patriotism is Tad Tuleja's lyrical and deeply personal memoir about this overlooked segment of his generation. Tracing his own journey from a flag-waving Boy Scout to a disillusioned humanist wrestling with the consequences of saying "no" to military service, he explores the complex pressures of family, expectations about masculine duty, and the fevered nationalism that continues to grip the United States today. This is not a tale of heroism or protest, but a candid reckoning with moral ambiguity and the cost of a life-altering decision. With clarity and wit, Tuleja fills a critical gap in Vietnam War-era literature and offers a powerful reflection on what it means to be an American grappling with the legacy of patriotism and conflict.
Contents
Preface_x000D_
At the Doorway_x000D_
Standing Guard_x000D_
Sailor's Son_x000D_
History Lessons_x000D_
Raising the Flag_x000D_
High Noon_x000D_
Fishing for Facts_x000D_
Breaking the Spell_x000D_
Bellum Dulce_x000D_
In the Tower_x000D_
Ragged Individualism_x000D_
Hating the War_x000D_
The Movement_x000D_
Choices_x000D_
The Right No_x000D_
On the Fear of Fear_x000D_
There and Back Again_x000D_
Avoiding the Cliff_x000D_
Hollywood's Nam_x000D_
Into the Fog_x000D_
Victims or Villains_x000D_
An Incentivizing of Death_x000D_
Little Cruelties_x000D_
Little Kindnesses_x000D_
The Invisible Guerrilla Problem_x000D_
Shouting Down Sorrow_x000D_
Kill 'em All_x000D_
Discontents_x000D_
Something Worth Dying For_x000D_
Onward Through the Fog_x000D_
Panel 35W Line 9_x000D_
What I Missed_x000D_
What They Remember_x000D_
Looking for America_x000D_
Parade
