Weiners new book, "Called to Serve: Stories of Men and Women Confronted by the Vietnam War Draft," contains testimonies that exemplify various responses to the draft.
Tom Weiner is the author of a new book about the Vietnam War draft.NORTHAMPTON – There were a variety of responses to the draft during the Vietnam War as not everyone who was called to serve actually did; some men were conscientious objectors, some left the country and others found ways to beat the draft.
Testimonies that exemplify the various responses to the draft during the Vietnam era are recorded in Tom Weiner’s new and first book, “Called to Serve: Stories of Men and Women Confronted by the Vietnam War Draft.”
“These are stories of people’s truths with memory factored in,” Weiner said.
Released in May by Levellers Press in Florence, the book contains chapters on such topics as those who served, those who resisted, those who chose conscientious objection, those who beat the draft and those who loved, supported and counseled men facing the draft. Weiner, a sixth-grade teacher at the Smith College Campus School, interviewed 61 people for the book, many now living in the Pioneer Valley. Thirty of the interviews made it into the 360-page book.
“There definitely could be a ‘Called to Serve 2,’” he says, noting the vast volume of information he collected and recorded on nearly 100 hours of audio tapes has been donated to the University of Massachusetts Library in Amherst to be available to the public.
The “labor of love,” as the author calls the book, took seven years from start to publication. Weiner tells his own story in the book: He was a student at Trinity College in Hartford when he got his draft number: 117. “That meant I would be drafted immediately upon graduation,” he said, recalling the stress he felt at the time when he wanted to accept a grant to study alternative education in Europe and the Middle East.
Because he was white and middle class, he had “outs” that he hoped would get him out of the draft, yet his allergies, curvature of the spine and calcium deposits on his feet were not enough.
But when an Army psychiatrist interviewed Weiner and received affirmative answers to his questions about marijuana use and suicidal fantasy, Weiner got a response that enabled him to accept the grant to study: 1-Y. He was qualified for military service only in time of national emergency.
How people responded to the draft determined not only their short-term future but their life choices, Weiner said, noting, for example, the story of one man who served in the Peace Corps in the Philippines rather than in the military. He married a woman from the Philippines. Other men served in Vietnam and came home with drug and alcohol addictions. “These stories intrigued and fascinated me,” Weiner said.
He found them “too important, too powerful” to let die with his generation, and that’s part of the reason he wrote the book and hopes it will be used in college courses. He also hopes the book will assist in the healing process.
The book “tells the back stories” of where people came from, what their family was like, who they were in relationships with, if they went to college – “things that inform your choices,” the author said. So although he is reaching out for the widest audience possible, he hopes those who had to make a choice about service will read the book and come to a better understanding of the people who made different choices
“It has been a tremendous honor, gift and privilege to be the recipient of these stories,” Weiner said. “It’s eye opening to see people’s anguish, suffering and pride.” He uses the names of the people he interviewed, and he said each “has a story that was incredible.”
Weiner is scheduled to speak about his book on July 19, at 7 p.m. at the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley. “Called to Serve: Stories of Men and Women Confronted by the Vietnam War Draft” retails in soft cover for $22.50. It is available at Collective Copies in Amherst and Florence, and online at www.levellerspress.com and at www.amazon.com.