The People Make the Peace

Lessons from the Vietnam Antiwar Movement
edited by Karín Aguilar-San Juan and Frank Joyce

…this collection help[s] fill in many blanks, adding essential color to the story of this astounding citizens’ movement, especially the remarkable saga of the 1970-71 People’s Peace Treaty. They inspire reflection that America still sorely needs.Todd Gitlin, Columbia University

The People Make the Peace

Forty years after the Vietnam War ended, many in the United States still struggle to come to terms with this tumultuous period of U.S. history. The domestic antiwar movement, with cooperation from their Vietnamese counterparts, played a significant role in ending the War, but few have examined its impact until now. In The People Make the Peace, edited by Karín Aguilar-San Juan and Frank Joyce, nine U.S. activists discuss the parts they played in opposing the War at home and their risky travels to Vietnam in the midst of the conflict to engage in people-to-people diplomacy.

The book shatters stereotypes of protesters and shows the activists as thoughtful, courageous and compassionate strategists whose dedication to peaceful diplomacy helped end the war earlier…Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK

In 2013, the “Hanoi 9” activists revisited Vietnam together; this book presents their thoughtful reflections on those experiences, as well as the stories of five U.S. veterans who returned to make reparations. Their successes in antiwar organizing will challenge the myths that still linger from that era, and inspire a new generation seeking peaceful solutions to war and conflict today. The book’s contributors [pictured below] include:

  • Jay Craven
  • Rennie Davis
  • Judy Gumbo
  • Alex Hing
  • Doug Hostetter
  • Frank Joyce
  • Nancy Kurshan
  • Myra MacPherson
  • John McAuliff
  • Becca Wilson

FROM THE EDITORS OF THE PEOPLE MAKE THE PEACE

DEAR READER: Shortly after this book went into print, it was revealed that one of the five ex-combat veterans interviewed by Myra MacPherson in Chapter 9 was an imposter. As it turned out, Chuck Palazzo had fabricated his entire story from beginning to end, entrapping many people for many years in an elaborate and ultimately devastating lie. He was a Marine, but he did not jump out of a helicopter. He was stationed in Okinawa, but he never fought in Vietnam. When Palazzo was finally exposed, the Veterans for Peace discovered that he had also stolen $100,000 from its vital resources to aid Vietnamese victims of unexploded ordnance and Agent Orange.

As you might expect, these revelations shocked and disheartened his colleagues, other veterans, and the journalists who trusted and documented his story. As Chuck Searcy put it, “I felt betrayed…This has severely damaged all of us…every lie was another betrayal.” Myra MacPherson has since submitted a revision of Chapter 9, including new research on “fake warriors.” This revision will be included in the next print run of People Make the Peace.

ON FAKE WARRIORS
“The Vietnam War, once so unpopular that college students bragged about how they pulled scams to avoid the draft, has in the fog of memory mutated into something glamorous to many who never even saw boot camp. The Vietnam memorial and its traveling mini memorials have served to honor the once scorned Vietnam veteran, but danger lies in contorting a fiasco of a war into glory, which fake warriors perpetuate.” –-Myra MacPherson

The People Make the Peace is available in Paperback ($23.99) and Ebook ($9.99)

BUY NOW

272 pages, 6″ X 9″
Published September 2015
ISBN 9781935982593