Each oral history is complemented by a portrait in which the Vietnam veteran holds an object of some significance such as a newspaper clipping, a legal document, a book, or photograph.

The large black and white photographs allow readers to see the veteran while reading the brief but moving oral histories to learn why they turned against the Vietnam War.

The veterans' stories and portraits were collected over a five-year period and have been exhibited throughout the United States, Vietnam, Japan and Australia.

A number of the subjects in the book were well known GI resisters during the war, including Carl Dix, one of six GIs who in June 1970 refused orders to Vietnam in the largest mass refusal of direct orders to Southeast Asia who became known as the Fort Lewis Six; Donald W. Duncan, a U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Beret) Master Sergeant who became one of the earliest opponents of the war and one of the antiwar movement leading public figures; Captain Howard Levy, an Army doctor who was court-martialed for refusing an order to train Green Beret medics on their way to Vietnam; Susan Schnall who in 1968, while a U.S. Navy Lieutenant, dropped antiwar leaflets over military bases and an aircraft carrier from a small plane and then, while in uniform, held a press conference and lead a mass peace march;[3] Andy Stapp, known for organizing the American Servicemen's Union, an unofficial union for the U.S. military, in opposition to the Vietnam War; Keith Mather and Randy Rowland, two of the GIs involved in the Presidio mutiny, and Roger Broomfield, one of Presidio mutineers' guards in the military stockade.

While many of the others in the book are lesser known, all together — the well known and those known mainly by their friends and family — represent a much larger demographic of GIs in the Vietnam era who resisted the war.

The authors say they "represent only a fraction of the stories of GI resistance that might be told" and quote Defense Department figures that "as many as 503,926 incidents of desertion occurred between July 1, 1966 and December 31, 1973; compared with 191,840 reported cases of men refusing draft induction between 1963 and 1973.

We hear from Marines like Paul Atwood who expressed a deep fear of where he saw patriotism lead — "into mindless, unquestioning, uncritical acceptance of policy by governmental leaders".

In late 1967, he met with dissident GIs from nine different bases and started the American Servicemen's Union, which had ten demands, including an end to racism in the Army and the right to refuse illegal orders.

Carl Dix, a Black man from Baltimore, recalls arriving at Fort Bragg in North Carolina and seeing a big sign outside the base — "Welcome to KKK Country".

Green Beret Master Sergeant Donald Duncan spent 10 1/2 years in the U.S. Army before publicly announcing "I quit" on the cover of Ramparts Magazine.

Dave Cline recalls reading Donald Duncan autobiography The New Legions while recovering from an NVA bullet through his knee.

He co-founded Left Face, the GI underground newspaper at Fort McClellan in Alabama and was one of 1,366 active-duty servicemen who signed an antiwar petition printed in The New York Times on November 9, 1969.

Dave Blalock's photo shows him holding the full page in NY Times petition which Skip Delano had signed.

At the next morning's formation all the enlisted men and some of the doctors and helicopter pilots were wearing armbands - the commanding officer was so shocked he gave the whole unit the day off.

Susan Schnall signed on as a Navy nurse to provide good care for the young kids being "sent overseas and shot".

"[7][8][9] The American Book Review described the photos as having "a powerful cumulative effect", one that emphasizes "the vulnerability and dignity of a class of people who are often stereotyped as mere servants of our nation's war machine.

"[11] The On Guard reviewer says the book is "a spare but amazingly complete 'look' at the GI resistance movement, presented in a beautiful, dignified way.