The Harrisburg 7 and the Music of Vietnam

Ken Burns’ epic documentary The Vietnam War premieres this Sunday on WITF-TV and PBS. Over the next few days, Smart Talk will look at several aspects of the Vietnam era.

Politically and socially, the United States is a much different place than it was in 1970. Then, the nation was divided on many issues, but most notably the war in Vietnam.

Protests and demonstrations against the war were an everyday occurrence in all corners of the country. The war’s opponents not only saw it as unneeded, unjust and maybe illegal, but they also strongly opposed the military draft of young men over the age of 18.

Many anti-war activities in the early ’70s weren’t peaceful. When some activists saw that protests or other acts of civil disobedience weren’t having an impact, they turned to other measures — sometimes illegal or violent ones.

In 1972, a group known as the Harrisburg Seven went on trial for allegedly plotting to kidnap Henry Kissinger, the man they saw as the architect of the war in the Nixon Administration. The group, led by Catholic Priest Father Phillip Berrigan was also charged with conspiring to blow up underground tunnels in Washington D.C. to disrupt government operations.

On Tuesday’s Smart Talk, William O’Rourke, the author of the book, The Harrisburg Seven and the New Catholic Left joins us to discuss the case.

We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War is a book that examines the part that music played for those who fought in Vietnam. It may not be what you think. Over the years, music that accompanied any conversation about Vietnam or film and video focused on the anger, chaos, and protest to the war – not what the fighting men and women listened to or what impact that music had on them.