Dissidents: Veterans Speak Out for Justice

About This Book

Dissidents:Veterans Speak Out for Justice

Dissidents: Veterans Speak Out For Justice

By Jason A. Higgins

Published by Virginia Tech Publishing with support from a 4-VA Collaboration Grant. 
ISBN: 978-1-962841-58-0
DOI: https://dissidents.vt.domains/veterans

Description

Dissidence is patriotism. This Digital Humanities project shows how some American veterans repurposed their military service to speak out and organize against injustices. U.S. military veterans are not a monolith. Their experiences and their views are as diverse as the communities they represent and serve. In media and popular memory, veterans are often represented as symbols of nationalism - used to quell mass protests, to silence dissent, and to reinforce uncritical support for the U.S. military and government. But throughout American history, veterans fought on the front lines of social change, mobilizing for Black freedom, advocating for equality, and forming mass protests against the Vietnam War. Based on a collection of oral history interviews, this project features the stories of eight veterans who spoke out against systemic injustices - racism, imperialism, and sexual violence in the military. From the Vietnam War-era to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, these veterans served abroad and then organized at home, defending Constitutional rights and fighting for justice.

Copyright

Dissidents: Veterans Speak Out For Justice © 2026 by Jason A. Higgins
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, except where otherwise indicated.

Peer Review and Research Integrity Statement

This project has gone through single-anonymous peer-review processes by two scholars . The oral history collection has been carried out in accordance to the Oral History Association's Principles and Best Practices at every stage of the process, and all participants have reviewed and approved of all content that features their stories. 

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