ABSTRACT
Shortly after the president’s November 3 speech, dozens of soldiers at Fort Bliss sent the president a letter stating that “those of us in the ‘vocal minority’ who have demonstrated for peace … are neither basicly [sic] anti-American nor even anti-Nixon. Despite the harsh language in your speech,” they continued, “we do not seek to ‘defeat’ or ‘humiliate’ America. We want our country to be strong. And we believe wholeheartedly that the policies we advocate will benefit America by extricating her from a war which is sapping both her international and domestic strength.” Their letter speaks to the growing disillusionment of the men and women who served in the American armed forces during the Vietnam War. The soldiers took issue with Nixon’s insistence on the bloodbath theory, pointing to what they saw as an obvious logical shortcoming – the United States was perpetrating a “slaughter” while ostensibly attempting to prevent one – and they questioned U.S. support for the South Vietnamese regime. At its heart, the soldiers’ letter speaks to the debates over the meaning of patriotism that the war inspired.
