The Pinkerton Story

In 1966, america was in turmoil, roiled by the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, resurgent feminism, and a brutal fight for civil rights. The Ballad of the Green Berets, a tribute to a soldier slain in Vietnam, was the nation’s number one record. The song inspired and moved millions, but support for the war was already collapsing—as was the broad consensus that American instincts were inevitably right. Even some members of the so-called establishment were calling for radical change.