In 1969 Peter Hagerty, Navy ROTC instructor, inspected a destroyer the way he was supposed to.
He followed the rules. The ship was in bad shape. He told his superior that the hairline crack on the barrels of the guns could cause an explosion. He said he would not approve the ship for battle. The captain told Peter, "you're a goddamn agitator” and said he would court-martial him.
He found an attorney to defend him as he refused to go to Vietnam. Hagerty, motivated by guilt that his class background spared him from fighting the Navy in court, became involved in GI rights for men who went AWOL.
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