A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

About A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

A Matter of Conscience is the story of the Vietnam War that the U.S. government and military don't want you to know. Hosts Bill Short and Willa Seidenberg reveal a hidden history of the war born out of personal experience. As an Army infantry platoon sergeant, Bill was serving in heavy combat in South Vietnam in 1969 when he refused to keep fighting. He was imprisoned in South Vietnam by the U.S. Army and court-martialed twice. The podcast shares the stories of GIs who took individual and collective action while in uniform to oppose the war—including refusing to go to Vietnam or to fight in the field, publishing underground GI newspapers, sabotaging operations, going AWOL (Absent Without Leave), and even deserting. These deeply personal stories remain highly relevant today in light of current wars and issues of free speech, the meaning of patriotism, and following your conscience.

Publisher

Willa Seidenberg | Bill Short

Category

arts

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

3 Apr 2025

Latest episode

24 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

22 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   24 Jun 2026

   A Ferocious Place: Long Binh Jail

   Long Binh Jail — nicknamed LBJ — was the U.S. Army's largest prison in Vietnam, and many soldiers feared it more than the battlefield. Overcrowded, brutal, and seething with racial tension, it held men imprisoned for resisting an increasingly unpopular war — going AWOL, defying orders, refusing to fight. In the summer of 1968, that tension exploded. Black inmates rose up, overwhelmed the guards, and took control of the stockade. In this episode of A Matter of Conscience, we go inside LB...

2. 

   28 May 2026

   War is Hell: In Country Resistance, Part 2

   In this powerful episode of A Matter of Conscience, veterans of the Vietnam War bear witness to the unthinkable — and reveal the moral courage it took to refuse complicity. From infantry soldiers surviving ambushes, to a military intelligence officer who risked his life to stop the torture of prisoners, to a whistleblower threatened into silence after reporting war crimes, these are stories of young men — barely out of their teens — confronting the darkest extremes of warfare. We’ll also hear...

3. 

   14 May 2026

   The Quiet Mutiny

   In this episode, we take you to the battlefields of Vietnam, where many young soldiers faced a moral conflict while just trying to stay alive. This is the first part of our look at resistance on the battlefield. GIs, like George Silver and Roy Barrington, practiced “search and evade” tactics where they would avoid engaging with the enemy. And, the military had to confront the prevalence of drug use fundamentally driven by a collapse of morale amongst troops. Warning: this episode has disturbi...

Who has been a guest on A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• John Boyko
• Alan Klein
• Susan Schnall
• Andy Stapp
• Jane Fonda

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.7 / 5

20 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 21 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

22

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

51

Contact A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.