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, though many GIs participated in establishing them 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 were also several antiwar coffeehouses created during the U.S. led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, while not called coffeehouses, there were at least two Labor Canteens created near the end of World War II which promoted racial integration and demobilization of the troops.

The first GI coffeehouse

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 GIs 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."

The UFO opens

In late 1967 Gardner and Donna Mickelson 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, "a not-so-subtle caricature" of the pro-military U.S.O. that was right down the street, it 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."

A pray-in

In mid-February 1968 "thirty-five uncertain but determined soldiers gathered [in uniform] in front of the main post chapel" for a pray-in to express "grave concern" about the war. The US armed forces prohibit political activity in uniform, but encourage uniformed attendance at religious services, so the GI were unsure how the military authorities would react. Most of the GIs were quickly disbursed by the Fort's MPs, who closed the post and surrounded the chapel, while two soldiers kneeling in prayer were "dragged away and placed in confinement". Eventually all official charges against organizers and participants were dropped but, in a soon to become familiar pattern, the military found other ways to discipline the soldiers: two were sent to Vietnam, one to Korea and others were demoted.

By August 1968, President Lyndon Johnson called a meeting with the Army's Chief of Staff, General William Westmoreland, "to discuss soldier dissent" and "demanding to know how many coffeehouses there were" and "what the Army was doing about it".

Fort Jackson Eight

In late 1968 a black soldier by the name of Joe Miles led the formation of a group called GIs United Against the War in Vietnam. They began publishing a newspaper called The Short Times, held regular meetings at the UFO and began distributing letters and petitions declaring their right to the protection of the First Amendment and to oppose the war. On March 20, 1969, they held a meeting outside a barracks on base that drew almost 200 soldiers, including several officers who, other than criticizing the dress and haircuts of some of the GIs, did not interfere with the meeting. The gathering eventually dispersed without incident but the next day the Fort Jackson command claimed the meeting was a "riot" and arrested nine members of GIs United. The group became the Fort Jackson Eight when one member was discovered to be an Army informer. Soon the case made national news, eventually becoming "a public relations and legal embarrassment for army officials". The New York Times noted, "By harassing, restricting and arresting on dubious charges the leaders of an interracial militant enlisted group there called GIs United Against the War in Vietnam, Fort Jackson's Brass has produced a cause celebre out of all proportion to the known facts." In April the GIs United group also sued the army "in an attempt to obtain the same right to protest that civilians have under the First Amendment". By June the army had dropped all charges against the eight.

Harassment and arrest

After the Fort Jackson Eight were released, the UFO experienced "a conspicuous increase in harassment by undercover FBI agents, local police, and civilians". The acting chief of staff at Fort Jackson later admitted that they "just called the police department, the chief, and he closed the coffeehouse... the fire department went in, and said, 'Ah! Fire hazard here, fire hazard there... Increasing harassment of this nature continued until January 13, 1970, when the local police chained the front doors of the UFO and arrested the staff members. At the resulting trial in April the coffeehouse was fined $10,000 () and the staff members were sentenced to "six years each in prison for operating and maintaining a public nuisance". The UFO was unable to recover from this and never reopened, although The Short Times continued to publish until 1972.

General Westmoreland also ordered Army personnel to conduct "clandestine operations" to gather intelligence on GI coffeehouses near military installations.

Coffeehouse movement grows

Despite the difficulties at the UFO, the news of the early rapid development of GI antiwar activity at Fort Jackson spread quickly within the broader peace movement. In addition, the chapel pray-in and the seemingly incongruous scene of GIs hanging out in a psychedelic coffeehouse attracted media attention, soon becoming national news. All of this convinced peace movement leaders to support and help raise funds for additional GI coffeehouses.

The Oleo Strut

The next major effort was directed at Fort Hood, which at the height of the Vietnam War housed more than 40,000 soldiers, 65% of whom had recently returned from thirteen-month stints in the war. As the army itself soon realized, these returnees with little time left in the military were the soldiers most likely to become involved in political activity against the war. In June 1968, Gardner and other activists rented an old shop at 101 Avenue D in Killeen, Texas, where Fort Hood was located. When Gardner left town to help set up other coffeehouses, Josh Gould and Janet "Jay" Lockard stepped in to become the principle operators of the soon to open Oleo Strut. The name was picked because an oleo strut is a shock absorber in the landing gear of many aircraft and the Strut's purpose was to help GIs land softly.

The Strut's grand opening, on July 5, 1968, was a counter-culture "love-in" at a local park that "included folk and rock performances, antiwar speeches, and copious amounts of marijuana". Among the 800 attendees were over 200 Fort Hood GIs. The Killeen establishment was not at all pleased, and by the end of the day, the local police broke up the party in riot gear. Soon, one of the Fort Hood soldiers, Private Bruce Peterson, founded an underground antiwar newspaper called Fatigue Press. With the help of the Strut's staff he would mimeograph hundreds of copies and then smuggle them onto the post for distribution. Peterson faced extreme retaliation from the military as he was set up on a charge of marijuana possession and sentenced to eight years of hard labor at Leavenworth, a questionable conviction overturned two years later on appeal. This did not stop the GI political activity, however, as Fatigue Press and more continued in his absence.

Soldiers refuse Democratic Convention orders

Considerable controversy arose among the troops at Fort Hood as thousands of GIs were being prepared for possible use against civilian demonstrators expected at the August 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. In an unprecedented act, a group of 60 black soldiers from the 1st Armored Division met on base to "discuss their opposition to Army racism and the use of troops against civilians". An all-night assembly ensued, including a visit from the base commanding general. Guy Smith, one of the soldiers attending, recalled that "a lot of black GIs knew what the thing [in Chicago] was going to be about and they weren't going to go and fight their own people". The meeting lasted all night and when 43 men remained in the morning they were arrested by the military police for refusal to follow orders. The Oleo Strut supported the arrested soldiers and helped with their legal defense.

Jane Fonda visits

Jane Fonda visited the Oleo Strut on May 11, 1970. In one of her first public antiwar actions, she took a stack of Fatigue Press underground newspapers and other leaflets and went onto Fort Hood at the East Gate. She began handing out the material to the stunned GIs who immediately recognized her, especially for her role in the 1968 campy sci-fi film Barbarella. She was quickly arrested by the military police and barred from the base, but told a press conference that afternoon that she did it "because GIs aren't allowed to distribute literature there, I think it's appalling that men who are sent overseas to fight and die for their country are denied the constitutional rights which they are supposed to be defending." Cited in Fonda returned to the Oleo Strut with actor Donald Sutherland on September 18, 1971, for several abbreviated versions of their then touring FTA Show (the anti-USO show), which had been denied any larger Killen venue by the increasingly hostile local establishment.

Armed Farces Day 1970 and 1971