Master Sergeant Donald Walter Duncan (March 18, 1930 – March 25, 2009) was a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

Special Forces soldier who served during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, helping to establish the guerrilla infiltration force

Project DELTA Project DELTA was the first of the Reconnaissance Projects, which were special reconnaissance (SR) units named with a Greek letter. The Reconnaissance Projects were formed by the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) during the Vietnam Wa ...

there. Following his return to the United States, Duncan became one of the earliest military opponents of the war and one of the antiwar movement leading public figures. Duncan is best remembered as the cover image on the February 1966 issue of '' Ramparts'' where he announced "I quit", as well as for his testimony to the 1967

Russell Tribunal The Russell Tribunal, also known as the International War Crimes Tribunal, Russell–Sartre Tribunal, or Stockholm Tribunal, was a private People's Tribunal organised in 1966 by Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and Nobel Prize winner, and ...

detailing American war crimes in Vietnam.

Biography

Early years

Donald Walter Duncan was born to Walter Cameron Duncan and Norma Duncan (née Brooker) in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

on March 18, 1930, but was a US citizen."Donald Duncan,"
Project Delta, www.projectdelta.net/ Duncan's father died when he was young, and his mother married Henry de Czanyi von Gerber, a naturalized American, cellist and orchestra conductor. Through the marriage Duncan gained a stepsister, Frances (later known as actress

Mitzi Gaynor Mitzi Gaynor (born Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber; September 4, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Her notable films include '' We're Not Married!'' (1952), '' There's No Business Like Show Business'' (1954), '' The Birds ...

Military career

Duncan was drafted into the

and first served as a non-commissioned officer in Germany in the field of operations and

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be des ...

. Duncan married Apollonia Röesch in West Germany 1955, after a previous marriage ended in divorce. They had two daughters and later divorced; ''The New York Times'' reported that Duncan married additional times, but their identities and whether he had more children is not known. Duncan transferred to

U.S. Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army. The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal m ...

(the "Green Berets") in the first part of 1961, where he continued to work in the field of operations and intelligence. During this interval Duncan received additional training in communications, weapons, and demolitions. Duncan served as an instructor at the United States Army Special Warfare School at

Fort Bragg, North Carolina Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within C ...

for a year and a half, teaching courses to Special Forces members on intelligence tactics and interrogation methods. Duncan was deployed in Vietnam in March 1964, serving in a variety of capacities with the

5th Special Forces Group The 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (5th SFG (A)) is one of the most decorated active duty United States Army Special Forces groups in the U.S. armed forces. The 5th SFG (A) saw extensive action in the Vietnam War and played a pivotal role ...

and

, which he helped to organize. In addition to briefing and debriefing incoming and outgoing soldiers in the theater, Duncan directly participated in 8-member intelligence and "hunter-killer" teams. As a result of his combat activity, Duncan was a recipient of two awards of the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

, the

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

, and the

Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry The Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross also known as the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross or Vietnam Cross of Gallantry ( vi, Anh-Dũng Bội-Tinh) is a military decoration of the former Government of South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam). The medal ...

with Silver Star. He was additionally recommended for the Silver Star and the Legion of Merit as well as a

field promotion A battlefield promotion (or field promotion) is an advancement in military rank that occurs while deployed in combat. A standard field promotion is advancement from current rank to the next higher rank; a "jump-step" promotion allows the recipient ...

to captain, all of which he refused over time. Duncan was also tapped to help write the official history of U.S. Special Forces in Vietnam, spending the last 6 or 8 weeks of his tour engaged in this task. He later recalled, "I had to pore over MACV (

Military Assistance Command, Vietnam U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) was a joint-service command of the United States Department of Defense. MACV was created on 8 February 1962, in response to the increase in United States military assistance to South Vietnam. MACV ...

) intelligence reports almost daily.... I was absolutely astounded. It was bullshit. Pure fabrication. Routine fabrication.... From that day I grabbed and analyzed every report I could get my hands on having anything to do with intelligence and policy. It was obvious we had no policy and intelligence was whatever MACV said it was." He continued, "Instead of cleaning up corruption in the country, we became the biggest contributors to it. We supported the worst elements in the country. We had nothing to win. The whole thing was a lie." Disillusioned with the military situation of the war, Duncan declined the offer of promotion and ended his military career, returning to America.

Journalistic career

Back home in the United States, Duncan moved to

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

with his wife. There he became active in the

anti-war movement An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to p ...

and became a writer for '' Ramparts'' magazine, one of the leading publications of the New Left in America. In the February 1966 issue of ''Ramparts,'' Duncan published a fierce critique of American participation in the war, entitled "The Whole Thing was a Lie!" The magazine cover famously showed Duncan in his full Master Sergeant uniform announcing "I quit". The article explained his opposition to the war by providing details on the American connection to the corrupt government of South Vietnam as well as atrocities in the American conduct of the war effort, including training in the use of

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

in interrogations and the use of Vietnamese proxies for the summary execution of prisoners. In 1967

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

published a book written by Duncan entitled ''The New Legions'' which was sharply critical of the American military campaign in Vietnam. Duncan also presented testimony on American war crimes in Vietnam to the

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

in November 1967, where he was one of the first three former American soldiers to testify.Tod Ensign
"Organizing Veterans Through War Crimes Documentation,"
Citizen Soldier, www2.iath.virginia.edu/ There he detailed a de facto class in torture techniques conducted for members of the Special Forces entitled "Counter-Measures to Hostile Interrogation."Anthony A. D' Amato, with Harvey L. Gould and Larry D. Woods
"War Crimes and Vietnam: The 'Nuremberg Defense' and the Military Service Resister,"
''California Law Review,'' vol. 57, 1055 (1969) Code A69d; fn. 43, pp. 31–32. In 1971 Duncan delivered the closing statement to the

Winter Soldier Investigation The "Winter Soldier Investigation" was a media event sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) from January 31, 1971, to February 2, 1971. It was intended to publicize war crimes and atrocities by the United States Armed Forces ...

conducted by

Vietnam Veterans Against the War Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) is an American tax-exempt non-profit organization and corporation founded in 1967 to oppose the United States policy and participation in the Vietnam War. VVAW says it is a national veterans' organization ...

Later life, death, and aftermath

Donald-Duncan-from-A-Matter-of-Conscience

Duncan settled in Indiana around 1980 and in 1990 founded a nonprofit group that provided services for the poor. He died at a nursing home in

Madison, Indiana Madison is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River. As of the 2010 United States Census its population was 11,967. Over 55,000 people live within of downtown Madison. Madison is the larges ...

on March 25, 2009, aged 79. The only known mention of his death from the time is an obituary in ''The Madison Courier'', though it did not mention his military career or his activism. His death was not further reported, and connected with his work in opposition to the war, until 2016, when ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' published an obituary. Editor William McDonald later wrote that the death became known to the newspaper during research on what was planned to be Duncan's advance obituary, written by

Robert D. McFadden Robert Dennis McFadden (born February 11, 1937) is an American journalist who has worked for ''The New York Times'' since 1961. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1996. Biography McFadden was born in Milwaukee, and raised in both Chicago and the small t ...

. Regarding the decision to complete and publish the article seven years after the subject's death, McDonald said:

Works

* ''The New Legions.'' New York: Random House, 1967.

Originally published in ''Ramparts,'' February 1966. Vietnam Full Disclosure

Footnotes

External links

Donald Duncan Testimony and Questioning
Russell Commission, November 1967

Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Jan 31 to February 2, 1971.
Donald Duncan oral history from A ''Matter of Conscience – GI Resistance During the Vietnam War''

''Sir! No Sir!'', a film about GI resistance to the Vietnam War

Waging Peace in Vietnam – US Soldiers and Veterans Who Opposed the War

A Matter of Conscience – GI Resistance During the Vietnam War

Waging Peace in Vietnam Interviews with GI resisters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Donald W. 1930 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers Activists from Toronto American anti-war activists Members of the United States Army Special Forces New Left People from Madison, Indiana Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War United States Army soldiers Writers from Berkeley, California