Vietnam Conflict
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Vietnam Conflict
Columbians’ student participation in the Vietnam conflict was limited, and casualties among those who did serve were low. All the same, the war had a profound impact on the University.
Like the rest of the country, the Columbia community was deeply divided about the war. Some students enlisted; others were drafted, and still others enrolled in Naval ROTC to obtain commissions to serve their country. Opposition on campus to the war grew over time, creating intellectual as well as political ferment among students, faculty, and staff. While not the precipitating cause, resistance to the war contributed to the atmosphere of unease and unrest that culminated in the student strike of 1968.
Naval Reserve Officers' Training Corps (NROTC) parade as captured in the Columbian of 1965.
Alumni who perished in this war
CC - Columbia College
J - Journalism
UNC - Unconfirmed
| Name | School | Class Year | Date of Death |
| Bushey, Peter B. | J | 1966 | December 22, 1967 |
| Chiarello, Vincent Augustus | CC | 1961 | MIA July 29, 1966 |
| Engstrom, Robert Allen | CC | 1968 | October 13, 1968 |
| Equi, Russell Lloyd | CC | 1966 | January 26, 1969 |
| Gerstel, Howard Martin | CC | 1959/60 | October 4, 1967 |
| Keithline, Richard Ward | CC | February 28, 1969 | |
| Norton, Jr., John Townsend | CC | 1968 | June 3, 1969 |
| O'Buck, Warren | UNC | ||
| Russell, Peter Fransson | CC | 1962 | May 23, 1969 |
| Shea, James J. | CC | 1966 | November 16, 1972 |
| Welles Hangen, Putnam | J | 1966 | June 1970 |