Speak up and hold the powerful accountable

I am pretty sure no one in my high school had ever heard of Vietnam when our country decided to get involved there. It was interesting how the war of our generation worked its way into our psyches as our government stumbled its way from 600 “advisors” in the 1950s to 58,000 dead young American soldiers by 1975.

My post-Korean War generation generally started its ignorance of Southeast Asia believing our government’s policies were rooted in American values of support for democracy, humanitarian aid and the principle of “Let’s fight them over there so we won’t have to fight them over here.” Or, from a geo-political concern, after the Bay of Pigs debacle, our crushing of Communists in Vietnam might restore our nation’s unbeatable image.

Most college students, including me, either were unaware or unconcerned about a “Police Action” with little risk. In fact, many college students, including me, were rather excited by the possibility of adventures in a foreign land. What few debates that occurred on college campuses were more about which folk songs to champion. Students, including me, flocked to recruiters’ offices and had few worries about dodging the draft.

But by the time I had received my honorable discharge and returned to campus, young people had experienced an awakening due to such events as the Tet Offensive, B-52 carpet bombing of primitive villages and coffins being returned draped with American flags. As for me, the most significant event was the combat death of my childhood friend, Gary Malone, in 1966.

College campuses had metamorphsized from the indifference of the unaffected to protests against government censorship and misinformation. Such student-led political successes as President Lyndon Johnson publicly declaring on television that he would not seek and would not accept his party’s nomination to run for another term energized young people on campuses throughout America. Students were no longer going to accept the government’s Party Line.

I now see a similar fire smoldering and sometimes blazing among many students who object to their country involving itself in killing innocent civilians and borrowing billions of dollars of future tax revenues. Their grandchildren will not be able to afford infrastructure because our country chooses to give away billions of dollars worth of munitions.

Another similarity I remember from the Vietnam-era campus environment was the stifling of free expression from students whose political and moral views differed from the government’s and the college administrations. College administrations from Harvard, M.I.T., Pennsylvania, Columbia and so many others have allowed contributors to silence pro-peace and pro-Palestinian views or criticism of the Israeli government’s military suppression and oppression in Gaza and the West Bank. Money has trumped the raison d’être for the existence of colleges, the free interchange of ideas.

Under the disingenuous charge of antisemitism, the actions of Israel have become immune from campus debate. However, what is really occurring is the blanket expulsion of free expression in return for contributions and political acceptance. The Vietnam era is being revisited.

A recent shocking and cowardly action by a university’s administration occurred recently at the University of Southern California. The chosen 2024 valedictorian, Asna Tabassum, who is a Muslim, was banned from giving her valedictory speech because of her pro-Palestinian views. One need not guess what the administration would have done had she supported the military actions of Israel.

There is an encouraging similarity between my generation’s awakening and activism that finally brought an end to our war in Vietnam and today’s campus climate. It is reminiscent of the 1960’s folk singer Phil Ochs’ song about student free speech:

♫ We’ve even helped to overthrow the leaders of the land.

I wouldn’t go so far to say we’re also learning how,

But when I’ve got something to say, sir,

I’m going to say it now. ♫

If colleges are that afraid of student free expression, we should remember, the first casualty of war is truth.

Jim Redwine graduated from Pawhuska High School in 1961. He later studied law at Indiana University and served as a state court judge in Posey County, Indiana. He and his wife, Peg, reside in Osage County.