The Shelter Half was a GI Coffeehouse that operated at 5437 South Tacoma Way, in Tacoma, Washington, United States, from 1968 to 1974.[1] Named after a military tent called a Shelter-half, the coffeehouse's purpose was to provide a place for GIs at Fort Lewis military base in Washington State to resist the war in Vietnam. The Shelter Half served as an anti-war headquarters, publishing underground anti-war newspapers, organizing boycotts, connecting civilian activists with local GIs, and leading peace marches.[2][3][4]
In November 1969, the Armed Forces Disciplinary Control Board prevented military personnel from attending the coffeehouse by placing it on a list of off-limits places.[5][6]
The Shelter Half closed in the summer of 1974.[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ United States Congressional Serial Set. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1972.
- ^ Mitchell K. Hall (31 January 2018). Opposition to War: An Encyclopedia of U.S. Peace and Antiwar Movements [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. pp. 288–. ISBN 978-1-4408-4519-2.
- ^ United States. Congress. House. Internal Security (1972). Investigation of Attempts to Subvert the United States Armed Services, Hearings Before ... 92-1... 92-2...
- ^ Christopher H. Pyle (1986). Military Surveillance of Civilian Politics, 1967-1970. Garland Pub. ISBN 978-0-8240-8290-1.
- ^ "Tacoma Coffeehouse".
{{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires|magazine=(help) - ^ "Army Acts to Close Coast Coffee House Where G.I.'s Relax off Duty and Damn the War". The New York Times. 22 January 1970.
- ^ David L. Parsons (13 March 2017). Dangerous Grounds: Antiwar Coffeehouses and Military Dissent in the Vietnam Era. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 119–. ISBN 978-1-4696-3202-5.
External links
edit- http://www.coffeestrong.org/ The Coffee Strong coffeehouse is currently operated by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in the Fort Lewis / McChord AFB / Tacoma area.
- archived publications of The Shelter Half on SirNoSir.org.
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