Letters From Past War

History always seemed like a dull or boring subject, until I did research on past letters to Congressman Bizz Johnson during the Vietnam War. I read a total of 38 letters addressed to the Congressman, all during the year 1970. The average “push” in all the letters was to dissolve the Vietnam War and bring our troops home. My most surprising discovery upon these letters was that about 95% of them were written by women, just common household, child bearing women. I was so taken aback because in that time period women did not have the same rights as men to voice their opinions, especially in politics.

The most interesting letter I came across was from a young Californian  woman named Nola Houlgate. Like her I’m a teenager with younger brothers and a responsibility to look out for them. She begins her letter by informing Johnson that she opposes the “‘conflict”‘ in Vietnam and states that she feels that the government is lying to American citizens. Nola then goes on to say that in our country (US) it is illegal to murder people, but our people are killing thousands. One of her arguments in the letter that I personally agree with is, “Who is the government to decide who shall kill and be killed?”. It interests me that a 17 year old girl has the courage to write her political views to a Congressman, but these letters foreshadow the upcoming battle for women in that time period.

It has recently occurred to me by looking upon past wars that there is always a big push or movement for a specific group of people’s rights after a war. So in the 70s’ the second wave of feminism started to progress, mainly with issues involving inequality in the workplace. Women pushed for rights such as: equal pay among men and women, non-discrimination laws during the hiring process, and total gender equality. Reading the all the letters from the women brought me to the conclusion that women were taking charge and voicing their opinions of the war so they could also make a stand for their civil rights. Thus being said women were mostly the ones losing their husbands, sons, and brothers to the war, which forced them to take over the mens jobs.

 

 

Sources:

• http://www.workforce.com/articles/the-women-s-movement-in-the-70s-today-you-ve-come-a-long-way-but
• CSU Channel Islands Bizz Johnson collection