Description:
In the late 1960s, as the Vietnam War divided the country, millions of young American men faced the choice of how to respond to the draft. Some accepted conscription and went to fight. Others attended protests or fled the country. But most draft-aged men, avoiding both combat and exile, stayed home, punched the clock, watched Walter Cronkite, and mowed the lawn while history swirled around them. Decades later, members of this forgotten majority still live with the war's aftermath, questioning their response to the most polarizing conflict of their time.
Skirmishes with Patriotism is Tad Tuleja's lyrical and deeply personal memoir about this overlooked segment of his generation. Tracing his own journey from a flag-waving Boy Scout to a disillusioned humanist wrestling with the consequences of saying "no" to military service, he explores the complex pressures of family, expectations about masculine duty, and the fevered nationalism that continues to grip the United States today. This is not a tale of heroism or protest but a candid reckoning with moral ambiguity and the cost of a life-altering decision. With clarity and wit, Tuleja fills a critical gap in Vietnam War-era literature and offers a powerful reflection on what it means to be an American grappling with the legacy of patriotism and conflict.
Brief description: Tad Tuleja is a folklorist, songwriter, and former college writing instructor. His thirty books include American History in 100 Nutshells: From "The Mayflower Compact" to "A Kinder and Gentler Nation" and Curious Customs: The Stories Behind 296 Popular American Rituals. He is the editor of Usable Pasts: Traditions and Group Expressions in North America; Different Drummers: Military Culture and Its Discontents; and, with Eric Eliason, of Warrior Ways: Explorations in Modern Military Folklore.
Review Quotes:
In this fluid, thought-provoking memoir, a self-described 'disenchanted humanist' explores what it meant to be among the military-aged men who did not serve in Vietnam and who were not active antiwar protestors. This isn't about high-profile protest gestures or headline-grabbing moments. Tuleja is telling the story of a forgotten majority. A must-read for everyone who studies the Vietnam War.
--Brian D. Laslie, author of Air Power's Lost Cause: The American Air Wars of Vietnam