GI Coffeehouses

GI Coffeehouses were a consequential part of the antiwar movement during the Vietnam War era, particularly the resistance to the war within the U.S. military. They were mainly organized by civilian antiwar activists as a method of supporting antiwar and anti-military sentiment among GIs, but many GIs participated as well. They were created in numerous cities and towns near U.S. military bases throughout the U.S as well as Germany and Japan. Due to the normal high turnover rate of GIs at military bases plus the military’s response which often involved transfer, discharge and demotion, not to mention the hostility of the pro-military towns where many coffeehouses were located, most of them were short-lived, but a few survived for several years and “contributed to some of the GI movement’s most significant actions.” The first GI coffeehouse of the Vietnam era was set up in January 1968 and the last closed in 1974. There have been a few additional coffeehouses created during the U.S. led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the late-1960s, Fred Gardner, a Harvard graduate, editor at Scientific American, ex-Army reservist and antiwar activist, began studying and writing about the emerging GI antiwar movement. He noted increasing instances of insubordination, rebellion, and other forms of antiwar activity within the military. He also knew from his own military experience that the typical GI often felt isolated and unsupported, especially those who might see themselves as out of sync with military culture. He knew many GIs were looking for ways to check out the growing youth counterculture and became convinced that civilian antiwar activists could play a role in facilitating that, perhaps helping GI to express budding antiwar sentiments. Gardner later wrote of that time: “By 1967 the Army was filling up with people who would rather be making love to the music of Jimi Hendrix than war to the lies of Lyndon Johnson.”

In late 1967 Gardner and Donna Mickleson moved to Columbia, South Carolina, near Fort Jackson. Fort Jackson was one of the U.S. Army’s largest training posts and site of the trial of Captain Howard Levy, an army doctor, charged with "refusing to teach medicine to Green Berets and for 'conduct unbecoming an officer' in criticizing the Vietnam War”. Gardner and Mickleson rented a space at 1732 Main Street in downtown Columbia turning it into a counterculture coffeehouse complete with photos of Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin along with many rock posters and alternative newspapers from around the country like the Berkeley Barb and The Village Voice. Named UFO, it was located not far from the pro-military USO and opened its doors in January 1968. “The UFO was almost instantly popular, especially among Columbia’s high school and college students. But there were also large numbers of soldiers from Fort Jackson visiting the UFO every week, some of whom were eager to organize political activity on post.”

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