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Vietnam: Harrisburg 7/Music

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What to look for on Smart Talk Tuesday, September 12, 2017:

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.

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William O’Rourke

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.

Doug Bradley, one of the co-authors of We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War appears on Tuesday’s Smart Talk.

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Douglas Bradley

emails

– Don’t forget the folk music people. Peter Paul and Mary’s “Where have all the flowers gone?” Simon and Garfunkle’s “scarborough fair.” And Buffalo Springfield’s “For What it’s Worth.”            – Tom, Carlisle

– Interesting  timing for this.  I was just at my friends house last night whose father had just recently celebrated his 50th anniversary of coming home from Vietnam. In his folder of papers and pictures was a 45 record.  Mr. Dream Merchant by Jerry Butler. 

Told us that music significantly helped them get through what they needed to get through. He told us a story of how one of his buddies managed to get the Aretha Franklin record with Respect on it and they played it so much that they were put on battery rations as they were going through too many of the batteries that powered their little record player!    – Eric

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