ABSTRACT
In a letter to the Ally, an anti-war newspaper published during the Vietnam War for GIs in the San Francisco Bay area, veteran James Daniel criticized the military’s “manhood game” for its veneration of fighting and sexual promiscuity. He argued that manhood means learning “to truly love—a woman, an idea, a place, a time.” Most lonely GIs simply wanted “a meaningful relationship with a member of the opposite sex … and someone to talk to and be with” (“GI Town, Part I”). Bruce Springsteen paints a picture of that desire in “Born in the USA.” The song spins the tale of a vulnerable, battle-weary warrior who finds solace in the arms of a Vietnamese woman: “He had a woman he loved in Saigon / I got a picture of him in her arms now.” In Vietnam, some soldiers wished to trade the cold companionship of a gun for the friendship of a woman. At home, Vietnam veterans leaned on girlfriends, wives, and mothers to help them survive the transition back to civilian life. Their stories admit fear, uncertainty, and the need to be protected and nurtured, and they contradict the myth that warriors are numb, solitary male fighters blindly dedicated to the service of their nation.
