''Liberated Barracks'' was an underground publication in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, printed from 1971 to 1974. Associated with the

New Left The New Left was a broad political movement that emerged from the counterculture of the 1960s and continued through the 1970s. It consisted of activists in the Western world who, in reaction to the era's liberal establishment, campaigned for freer ...

and the

GI Underground Press The GI Underground Press was an underground press movement that emerged among the United States military during the Vietnam War. These were newspapers and newsletters produced without official military approval or acceptance; often furtively dis ...

, the periodical provided advice to those resisting the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and shared anti-war statements. Its publishers also maintained houses near local military bases where soldiers could seek counsel and freely discuss topics including the war.

Background

The

movement, which opposed the

and

the draft Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

, included an

underground press The terms underground press or clandestine press refer to periodicals and publications that are produced without official approval, illegally or against the wishes of a dominant (governmental, religious, or institutional) group. In specific rece ...

which agitated against the war as well as related issues including

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

and

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

. Roughly 1,500 underground publications were produced from 1964 to 1975, out of over 11,000 total publications. Hawaii was a key location for the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

during the war, serving as a

staging area A staging area (otherwise staging base, staging facility, staging ground, staging point, or staging post) is a location in which organisms, people, vehicles, equipment, or material are assembled before use. It may refer to: * In aviation, a desi ...

from which soldiers and supplies were shipped to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. Hawaii was home to about 15 underground publications out of 75 publications in total during the period, a substantially higher ratio than the national average. These publications, initially inspired by the ''

Los Angeles Free Press The ''Los Angeles Free Press'', also called the "''Freep''", is often cited as the first, and certainly was the largest, of the underground newspapers of the 1960s. The ''Freep'' was founded in 1964 by Art Kunkin, who served as its publisher un ...

'' and the ''

Berkeley Barb The ''Berkeley Barb'' was a weekly underground newspaper published in Berkeley, California, during the years 1965 to 1980. It was one of the first and most influential of the counterculture newspapers, covering such subjects as the anti-war mov ...

'', were generally made through cheap

offset printing Offset printing is a common printing technique in which the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket and then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithography, lithographic process, which ...

. The first underground periodical in Hawaii was ''Carrion Crow'', which appeared in late 1967. Later in the war, the development of the

led to the creation of at least 4 underground GI papers in Hawaii, including ''Liberated Barracks''.

Publication

Turning the Regs Around Ad Liberated Barracks

''Liberated Barracks'' was printed from 1971 to 1974 on an offset press at a residence in

Kailua, Hawaii Kailua () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. It lies in the North Koolaupoko, Hawaii, Koolaupoko District of the island of Oahu, Oahu on the windward and leeward, windward coast at Kailua Bay. It is i ...

. It was part of a program under the same name maintaining G.I. coffeehouses – the titular "liberated barracks" – near military bases for soldiers to freely discuss topics including the war. The publishers also provided counsel to

G.I.s G.I. is an informal term that refers to "a soldier in the United States armed forces, especially the army". It is most deeply associated with World War II, but continues to see use. It was originally an initialism used in U.S. Army paperwork f ...

in Hawaii. Copies of ''Liberated Barracks'' were found on ships carrying troops to

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Content

''Liberated Barracks'' served two purposes, simultaneously acting as an organ to disseminate statements by those who opposed the war and an avenue to advise and organize those resisters. One issue of ''Liberated Barracks'' included a map created by the organization in collaboration with a local

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

anti-war group. Titled "Enjoy Hawaii: Home Staging-Ground for the Vietnam War in Indochina", the map depicted military installations in Hawaii and functioned as an effective tool for agitating against the war; it was widely distributed in Hawaii and a copy was reportedly given to Prime Minister

Kakuei Tanaka was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1972 to 1974. Known for his background in construction and earthy and tenacious political style, Tanaka is the only modern Japanese prime minister who ...

of Japan during his 1972 visit to

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

to meet with President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

References

Citations

Works cited

* * *

External links

''Liberated Barracks''
on

JSTOR JSTOR ( ; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources founded in 1994. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary source ...

''Liberated Barracks''
in the GI Press Collection of the

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of ...

{{Authority control 1971 establishments in Hawaii 1974 disestablishments in Hawaii Underground publishers GI Coffeehouses New Left