Women and the GI Movement to End the War in Vietnam During the Early 1970s: A Case Study

The role of women in armed forces’ dissent against the Vietnam War is an overlooked aspect of the history of antiwar activism. Based on new oral testimony and the GI underground newspaper, the Lewis-McChord Free Press, this talk considers the case study of women associated with the GI Alliance in the Seattle-Tacoma area. Opposed to sexual discrimination the Alliance’s “GI sisters”, WACs/WAFs, and GI wives were involved in various causes besides opposing the War; especially on- and off-base housing, female/child health, including reproductive rights, active support of International Women’s Day and a pro-United Farm Workers lettuce boycott.