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Dissidents: Veterans Speak Out for Justice Main Menu Racism in the US Military Veterans Against War Women, Gender, and Sexuality in the US Military Dissidents Veterans Speak Out

John H. Woolwine: Returning to the U.S. amid racial tensions

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John H. Woolwine INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH

[3 SENTENCE INTRO TO CLIP 1]

"One of the ladies gave me a tour of the orphanage and it was very delightful tour. As l remember it. As children are everywhere, they were just delightful young children."

[3 SENTENCE INTRO TO CLIP 2]

"I did send the clothing. I was glad to hear from her because I was concerned about what happened to the children and the nuns during the time of the Tet Offensive"

[3 SENTENCE INTRO TO CLIP 3]

"There were some women praying using the rosary beads and I noticed a uniform guard sitting by the door. He didn't speak to me. I went out and just sat and I prayed and left the church, and there was no disturbance for me are the others."

Mr. Woolwine was present when Reverend Martin Luther King gave a speech when he visited Lincoln Nebraska in 1965. When he returned from Vietnam in 1968, he was prepared to be bombarded with anti-war protests, but Dr. King had very recently been murdered. In this clip, he talks about arriving in San Francisco and how the expectation he had clashed with the reality of the moment.

"I heard Reverend Martin Luther King Junior give a speech...When I returned to the U.S. in April of 1968, it was right after the assassination of Dr. King."

Charlie Liteky is most remembered for being awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in Vietnam, and then returning it as a protest against the Reagan administration's various affairs in Central America. Mr. Woolwine only briefly knew him, but despite the brief experience and clashing political ideals, he still calls Liteky the greatest man he ever knew. In this clip, Woolwine talks about the conversations he had with Liteky, and the the priest had upon him.

"I did not feel like I could talk about him while he was living because I didn't know that he wanted anybody to talk about him."

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In this full interview, Woolwine talks about his life growing up in Blacksburg, Virginia and the plans he had both prior to going to Vietnam and after coming back from it. Much of the full interview focuses on that time in Vietnam, from the training he did to the things he went through in the less than a year he was there. He also talks about the Tet Offensive, the things he got up to when he eventually returned later in life, and he expands more upon the topics covered in the previous clips.. You can view the full interview on this page or on Youtube.