"In August 1969 Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 196th Light Infantry refused an order to attack. In a response that can only underscore the political sensitivity of the refusal, the forty-nine men were not reprimanded." - Richard R. Moser
It was not long before the anti-war movement in America bled through the sea and into the soil of Vietnam. Facilitated by the draft, previously dormant or even non-existent anti-war sentiment was ignited within soldiers serving Vietnam. Combat refusal, letters to congress, petitions, abandonment, and "fragging" were just a few of the ways that protest manifested itself within the rank and file infantries in Vietnam. Undoubtedly, especially after Tet, these widespread "mini-rebellions" within the military in Vietnam were not politically convenient to those who were still trying to sell the war at home. Certain instances of military protest could have easily been construed by the American people as mutiny or even treason. It was not a story that Nixon would have been pleased to see on 60 minutes.
"By 1971, soldier complaints to Congress totaled 250,000 a year and became one of the most popular forms of protest." - Richard R. Moser