Starship Troopers - Heinlein's Military Background and Political Views

Heinlein's Military Background and Political Views

Heinlein graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1929, and served on active duty in the U.S. Navy for five years. He served on the then new aircraft carrier USS Lexington in 1931, and as a naval lieutenant aboard the destroyer USS Roper between 1933 and 1934, until he was forced to leave the Navy because of pulmonary tuberculosis. Heinlein never served in active combat while a Navy officer and he was a civilian during World War II doing research and development at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Heinlein's non-combat Naval service would become a point of contention in later criticism of Starship Troopers.

According to Heinlein, his desire to write Starship Troopers was sparked by the publication of a newspaper advertisement placed by the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy on April 5, 1958 calling for a unilateral suspension of nuclear weapon testing by the United States. In response, Robert and Virginia Heinlein created the small "Patrick Henry League" in an attempt to create support for the U.S. nuclear testing program. During the unsuccessful campaign, Heinlein found himself under attack both from within and outside the science fiction community for his views. The novel may, perhaps, be viewed as Heinlein clarifying and defending his military and political views of the time.