“In a number of cases, American soldiers, sailors and airmen have protested orders, defied their commanders and even risen in open rebellion. Consider these examples.”

IN SEPTEMBER 2013, cyberspace was a-buzz with photos of what appeared to be U.S. military personnel voicing their opposition to the White House’s plan to strike Syria.

As the Obama Administration continued to make its case for war in response to Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons, photos surfaced of individuals in American uniforms hiding their faces behind signs denouncing the proposed military action.

“I didn’t join the U.S. Navy to fight for Al Qaeda in a Syrian civil war,” wrote one protester referring to the notorious terrorist organization’s role in the anti-Damascus insurgency. Another image showed what appeared to be an American soldier hiding behind a sign reading: “Stay out of Syria!”

A group of hackers even posted the shots on the official USMC website. A pro-Assad activist group known as the Syrian Electronic Army later took responsibility for the coup.

And while doubts as to the authenticity of the images were widely voiced, it didn’t stop an army of bloggers and armchair pundits from weighing on the fiasco.

One writer wondered if the images (if genuine) constituted “treason.” Another news site called the situation a “historical disgrace.” Pundits breathlessly (and not without some measure of hyperbole) declared the protest as outright “mutiny”.

Yet, even if the images are in fact legitimate, it certainly would not be the first case of open resistance to military authority in the United States. In a number of cases, American soldiers, sailors and airmen have protested orders, defied their commanders and even risen in open rebellion. Consider these examples:

Vietnam: ‘Soldiers in Revolt’

During the latter years of American involvement in Vietnam, opposition to the war within the armed forces had become a crippling problem for the Pentagon. Soldiers deserted in huge numbers while others circulated petitions demanding an end to hostilities. In some cases, sailors sabotaged their own vessels to prevent deployments. According to historian David Cortright author of the book Soldiers in Revolt: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War
 there were at least a dozen bona fide instances of mutiny among U.S. troops serving in Vietnam. In one case, a company in the 7^th Cavalry openly refused to head out into the field — and right in front of a CBS news camera crew. The entire affair became part of a 1970 documentary from the network entitled The World of Charlie Company.

Pilots’ Mutiny

It wasn’t just grunts to who balked at fighting. During the Christmas bombings of North Vietnam in late 1972, B-52 crews flying from bases in Guam and Thailand destroyed their own officers’ clubs and refused to participate in further missions. While some pilots reportedly opposed taking part in the raids on moral grounds, more protested the appalling casualty rates being suffered by the American bomber crews. As many as 16 Stratofortresses were lost to enemy air defences during the 11-day campaign along with a dozen other aircraft. Eventually a 12 officers were disciplined for dissenting, however mission planners ultimately suspended the campaign.

Racial Tensions

A number of American military mutinies have stemmed from racial unrest. For example, an armed rebellion by 156 black soldiers in Houston erupted in November of 1917 after civilian police viciously beat an African American infantryman in the streets of the city. According to eyewitnesses, the soldier was attacked while trying to prevent the officers from assaulting a civilian woman in public. When news of the beating spread, black soldiers seized weapons and marched on the city. Sixteen civilians and four soldiers were killed in the night-long uprising. Eventually, order was restored, but 19 supposed ringleaders were tried and hanged. More than a half-century later, another nineteen mutineers were charged following a riot by as many as 200 black sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk as it cruised off the coast of Vietnam on Oct. 11, 1972. The crewmen were protesting a perceived imbalance in the enforcement of discipline between white and black sailors by officers on board. Nearly 60 crewmen were wounded in the two-day disturbance, which threatened to keep the carrier’s combat aircraft from taking part in the Linebacker raids.

Rebels at Sea

An alleged mutiny on another U.S. Navy vessel wasn’t motivated by racial injustice, but rather greed. While returning to New York from Africa in November of 1842, the skipper of the ten-gun brig USS Somers got wind of a plot by 20 crewmen to take the ship and go a-pirating. The captain, an officer by the name of Mackenzie, launched an investigation into the alleged conspiracy. His probe netted number of seamen along with a 19-year-old midshipman who happened to be the son of the U.S. Secretary of War. After a hasty drumhead trial, Mackenzie had three crewmen, including the junior officer, summarily hanged and dropped over the side. Once in port, an inquiry and later a court marshal found that Mackenzie had lawfully exercised his authorit. Mackenzie’s critics charged that the Somers was just days away from port and that the skipper could have easily clapped the offenders in irons and turned them over to military authorities for a proper trial. The captain’s acquittal caused a stir in the media. Novelist James Fenimore Cooper publically denounced the navy for letting Mackenzie off.

Unruly Continentals

Mutiny is almost as old as the U.S. military itself. Case in point: On New Years Day in 1781, much of Pennsylvania’s 2,400-man army stationed at Jockey Hollow, New Jersey staged a mass walk out after serving without pay in unbearable conditions for more than three years. Commanders tried to rein in the dissidents with threats of violence, but troops sent to suppress the mutiny joined it themselves. The disgruntled soldiers claimed that their enlistments, which stipulated only three years of service, had expired. Sensing an opportunity to split the rebels, the British general Sir Henry Clinton promised to compensate the Pennsylvanians for their back wages if they quit the rebellion and sat out the war at home. The soldiers refused the offer. They were eventually placated when general Anthony Wayne and George Washington’s aide de camp Joseph Reed granted all mutineers formal discharges with special cash bonuses if they’d re-enlist for the duration of the war.  About 1,200 soldiers accepted the offer, and many re-upped.