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The Oleo Strut was a GI coffeehouse located in
John Kniffin biography in ''The Veteran''
*{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060703212646/https://ryanoddey.tripod.com/aboutus/, date=2006-07-03, title=Another Fine Mess website GI Coffeehouses Fort Cavazos Restaurants established in 1968 1968 establishments in Texas Restaurants in Texas 1972 disestablishments in Texas Restaurants disestablished in 1972
The Oleo Strut was a GI coffeehouse located in Killeen, Texas
Killeen is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Bell County. According to the 2020 census, its population was 153,095, making it the 19th-most populous city in Texas and the largest of the three principal cities of Bell County. It is ...
, from 1968 to 1972. Like its namesake, a shock absorber in the landing gear of most large aircraft and many smaller ones, the Oleo Strut’s purpose was to help GIs land softly. Upon returning from 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 ...
to Fort Hood
Fort Cavazos is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. The post is currently named after Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, a native Texan and the US Army’s first Hispanic four-star general. The post is located halfway between Austi ...
, shell-shocked
Shell shock is a term that originated during World War I to describe symptoms similar to those of combat stress reaction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which many soldiers suffered during the war. Before PTSD was officially recogni ...
soldiers found solace amongst the Strut’s regulars, mostly fellow soldiers and a few civilian sympathizers. The GIs turned the Oleo Strut into one of Texas’s anti-war headquarters, publishing an underground anti-war newspaper, organizing boycotts, setting up a legal office, and leading peace marches.
The coffeehouse was an organizing center for the support of the Fort Hood 43
After Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, thousands of U.S. troops stationed at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, were sent to Chicago for riot control duty. Several black civilians were killed.
In mid-August 1968, another large ...
, a group of Black soldiers who had been disciplined for refusing to perform riot control duty at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
See also
*GI Coffeehouses
GI coffeehouses were coffeehouses set up as part of the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War era as a method of fostering antiwar and anti-military sentiment within the U.S. military. They were mainly organized by civilian antiwar activists, ...
* Under the Hood Café
Under the Hood Café was a coffee house located at 17 South College Street in Killeen, Texas. It provided services for soldiers located at Fort Cavazos (then Fort Hood), one of the largest American military installations in the world. Under th ...
* ''Sir! No Sir!
''Sir! No Sir!'' is a 2005 documentary by Displaced Films about the anti-war movement within the ranks of the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. The film was produced, directed, and written by David Zeiger. The film had a theatr ...
''
References
External links
John Kniffin biography in ''The Veteran''
*{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060703212646/https://ryanoddey.tripod.com/aboutus/, date=2006-07-03, title=Another Fine Mess website GI Coffeehouses Fort Cavazos Restaurants established in 1968 1968 establishments in Texas Restaurants in Texas 1972 disestablishments in Texas Restaurants disestablished in 1972