"NOTES FROM AN AMERICAN ANTIWARRIOR: REFLECTIONS OF AN UNAPOLOGETIC VIETNAM WAR PROTEST ORGANIZER"
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Review of "Notes From An American Antiwarrior"
David A. Horowitz
History Professor
Portland State University
This is an engaging, fast-moving chronicle of Doug Weiskopf’s personal
experiences as an antiwar activist during the Vietnam War and beyond. Several emotional highpoints speak to the heart of this narrative. They chronicle the significant early impact of a visit to the Berkeley Free Speech Movement in 1964, the reunion with a former high school friend who suffered life-long injuries after the North Vietnamese shot down his B-52 bomber, the patient organizing to ensure that protest on the PSU campus remained non-violent, the minute-by-minute account of the “police riot” against the student-faculty peace vigil on May 11, 1970, the courageous effort to defy authorities at Oregon State and deliver an antiwar speech that inspired a student campout at the conservative university, the clever publicity campaign to use the underground press to inspire national coverage of Portland’s People Army Jamboree in August 1970, the heartfelt references to his father’s experiences and escape from the Third Reich, and the touching moment when he gets to shake the hand of former Vietnam War opponent Muhammed Ali. Another powerful moment includes the expression by Weiskopf’s daughter following the ceremony commemorating the May 11th protest of her pride in her dad’s student activism. Another involves the author’s realization that the Dean of Students he had once harangued as a protester had been a World War II conscientious objector who had submitted to food deprivation experiments for military research on the potential effects of starvation on US prisoners of war.
Weiskopf’s honesty in these segments reveals both his strengths and vulnerabilities as an activist and his effectiveness as a writer. They provide an element of context to the narrative that makes the book something more than a triumphalist celebration of the antiwar tradition. These elements of surprise make it a valuable read for students of the period, one that contemporary activists could well benefit from.
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Barnes & Noble Review
Doug Weiskopf's memoir is a powerful reflection on the themes of nonviolent resistance, youth activism, and the challenges of protesting against the political and cultural status quo. With authenticity and thoughtfulness, he explores the moral dilemmas faced by those who opposed the war, and how they navigated the often contradictory pressures of their time. At the core of his story is a dedication to peaceful activism a conviction that choosing nonviolence, even in the face of great adversity, is both a principled and revolutionary stance. Through his experiences, Weiskopf illustrates that nonviolent resistance is not about passivity, but about actively creating a better, more just world.
In addition to his unwavering belief in nonviolence, Weiskopf's memoir emphasizes the importance of collective action and the impact of grassroots movements. It's a proof to the power of young people who, despite being ignored by the political establishment, came together to challenge the status quo. Drawing on his years of involvement in the antiwar movement, Weiskopf delves into the personal and political intersections of activism, showing how these experiences shaped his view of justice, freedom, and human rights.
Weiskopf's reflections are both a tribute to the movements of the past and a call to action for future generations. His unwavering commitment to peace, justice, and the pursuit of a more equitable world offers invaluable insights for today's activists who seek to make meaningful change. It is not just a memoir it's a meditation on how nonviolent resistance can shape history and inspire future movements.
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Review by retired Portland State University Professor, Dr. Dory Hylton
I just finished your book, Doug, and I’m left nearly in tears with despair as you bullet point Trump’s incredibly rapid march to dictatorship and certain destruction of our democracy should he (they) succeed. As I said earlier, your book succeeds as a memoir. You speak directly to your reader and hold attention by scattering in vivid descriptions of your surroundings while you narrate events.
Your description of recent PSU violent protests startlingly contrasts with the antiwarriors’ nonviolent activism. No mistaking how the violent versions of youth protest are counterproductive, and as they were in our time, just plain stupid.
You have indeed created something valuable.
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Thank you, Burbank Leader, for your published announcement that there would be civil rights protests on July 27 at the Burbank Airport. Standing that afternoon with a group of anti-ICE activists at the street entrance to the airport was equal parts protest and celebration of Avelo Airlines leaving town that day after months of local boycotts over flying immigrants swept up from our streets off to detention camps.
We look at this as a long battle for humanity, just as Vietnam War protests were, and in the end I believe we will win again!
Fortunately the protest crowd at the airport was peaceful and generally good-natured without any arrests.
Doug Weiskopf, Burbank, Ca.
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About the Author
Doug Weiskopf is the author of the book, "Notes From An American Antiwarrior: Reflections of an Unapologetic Vietnam War Protest Organizer". He graduated from Portland State University in 1971 and currently resides in Burbank, California, just over the hill from where he was born and raised in Hollywood. He is the proud father of Virginia Weiskopf.
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MAY 23, 1970 STUDENT ACTIVISTS STOPPED NERVE GAS TRAIN
In 1969 the U.S. military began planning to move sarin-like military nerve gas stored in Okinawa, Japan, transporting the shipments a dangerous 380 miles, from Seattle, Wash., through Portland, Ore., and on to the Umatilla Army Depot in Eastern Oregon. A train derailment and resulting fire could have caused many thousands of deaths and injuries in populated areas. On May 23, 1970 the shipment was canceled by the Nixon Administration, 11 days after 4,000 students and faculty members protested a violent police attack by 150 Portland policemen at the campus of Portland State University the day before on May 11, 1970, sending 31 students to the hospital with injuries. It was at that protest in front of Portland City Hall that PSU activists announced they had joined with Seattle protesters in organizing thousands in the Pacific Northwest to sit on the track to block the nerve gas train the entire distance between their two cities. The planned shipment had been part of a program, named "Operation Red Hat," to better secure chemical weapons in the possession of the armed forces. Although Oregon Governor Tom McCall initially approved the shipment, he reversed his decision the next day, when his adviser Ron Schmidt showed him research indicating that the amount of nerve gas that would be shipped was sufficient to kill double the world's current population. McCall gathered 62,000 signatures on a petition opposing the plan and personally delivered it to the White House. Additionally, a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Portland asking for an injunction against the planned shipment. In late March 1970, the group People Against Nerve Gas (P.A.N.G.) formed to support the lawsuit, with Portland State University chemistry professor Gordon L. Kilgour as its chair.
The Nixon administration ignored these and other actions and statements protesting the planned shipment throughout March and April 1970. Finally, U.S. Senator for Washington Henry "Scoop" Jackson, fearing that the issue would affect his popularity, persuaded Nixon to cancel the shipment in late May. After considering a site in Alaska, the military ultimately chose to ship the nerve gas to Johnston Atoll, southwest of Oahu.
In the end, however, it was a victory for grass roots organizing, which had been active in stopping the nerve gas train for many months in order to force its Oregon and Washington State politicians to finally support their cause and ultimately win the nerve gas train battle!
Related Sources: Articles in The Oregonian, March-June 1970; "Operation Red Hat," by Mark Henkels, Oregon Encyclopedia, https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/operation_red_hat/
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"Animal House"
The classically beloved movie, "Animal House", was filmed at University of Oregon in 1977 but was based on actual 1970 events 90 minutes to the north at Portland State University, where Vietnam War protesters were the subject of a comical student/faculty disciplinary hearing and had several confrontations with conservative fellow students, including a food fight in the cafeteria. In Aug. of '70 war protesting Portland State students famously disrupted an American Legion Convention parade and appearance by President Nixon through the nearby downtown area, just as hilariously as in the ending of "Animal House". I recently wrote about all of the 1970 PSU events in my book, "Notes From An American Antiwarrior", available in hard & soft cover at Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and as an e-book on kobo.com
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