First episode of the WCH Crime podcast, about the Columbia Eagle mutiny in 1970, perhaps the most spectacular act of resistance to the Vietnam war, when two sailors hijacked their ship transporting thousands of tonnes of napalm for US forces, and sailed it to Cambodia.
You can listen to all 4 parts of this series, plus 2 bonus episodes, by supporting us on patreon: https://patreon.com/workingclasshistory
Full footnotes for this episode, including photos and more information are here on our website: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/wch-crime-columbia-eagle-mutiny/
WCH Crime will feature cases where people have faced criminal charges for their beliefs or political activities, and will look at cases where people have been framed or even killed by the state. It will be in the same feed as the regular Working Class History podcast.
All four parts, and two additional bonus episodes, are available for all of our patrons contributing $5 a month or more. For everyone else, subsequent parts will be released each week.
Pictured are the two mutineers: Alvin Glatkowski, left, and Clyde McKay, right, superimposed on the ship.
We speak to Al about his experiences, in addition to Vietnam war-era sailor and historian Roberto Loiederman.
We have been working on this miniseries for almost a year, and have put in so many hours we lost count some time ago. We are taking time out from our day jobs through 2019 to devote more time to WCH and podcast, but this will only be sustainable in the longer term if we get more support from our listeners on patreon. So if you appreciate what we do, and if you can afford it, please consider supporting us. If you can't afford it, no problem, please just give us a review on your podcast app, and share episodes on social media.
MORE INFORMATION
We will be adding more information about the mutiny, as well as photographs and videos to this our website shortly at https://workingclasshistory.com
For a detailed history of the events, we recommend the book The Eagle Mutiny, by Roberto Loiederman and Richard Linnett.
To find out more about different aspects of the Vietnam war check out the other WCH podcast episodes in our Vietnam war series: E14: The Vietnam war with Noam Chomsky and a member of the Vietnamese Women's Union is about the geopolitics of the conflict and human cost, especially on women, E10-11: The GI anti-war movement, E8: The strike wave is about the wave of strikes which took place in the US during the war
MERCH
We've produced a range of merchandise commemorating the anti-war movement by service people during the Vietnam war using some of their original artwork to help fund our work. Check it out here: shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/vietnam-gi-resistance
CORRECTIONS
Part 1: We erroneously say that Al was born in Norfolk, Virginia. Al was born in the military base at Ford Gorgon in Georgia. He later moved to Norfolk for his high school years.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
These episodes were written by WCH and Daniel Woldorff
Editing by Daniel Woldorff
Music composed by Austin Coulson: https://www.mixcloud.com/tsonazores/