Editing Rod Serling (section)

===Antiwar activism===
Serling's experiences as a soldier left him with strong opinions about the use of military force. He was an outspoken antiwar activist, especially during the [[Vietnam War]].<ref name=Scribner/> He supported antiwar politicians, notably U.S. senator [[Eugene McCarthy]] in his [[1968 United States presidential election|presidential campaign in 1968]].<ref name=Scribner/>

"The Rack" is an example of Serling's use of television to speak his mind on political issues. This script for ''[[The United States Steel Hour]]'' tells the story of an army captain charged with collaborating with the North Koreans. ''The New York Times'' reviewer J. P. Shanley called it "controversial and compelling".<ref name=shanley /> Serling tackled a question that was much in the media at the time: should veterans be charged with a crime if they cooperated with the enemy while under duress? In this courtroom drama, the accused is put on trial for helping the enemy by urging fellow [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] to cooperate with their captors. Serling offers many valid arguments on behalf of both the defense and the prosecution. Each has a strong case, but in the end, the captain is found guilty. There is no Serling narration to conclude the drama, as he had become famous for in ''The Twilight Zone''—instead, the audience is left to make their own conclusions after the verdict has been rendered.<ref name=shanley>{{Citation |last=Shanley |first= J. P. |title='The Rack' Tells Story Of a War Prisoner |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1955/04/17/293886272.html?pageNumber=349  |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 6, 1955 |page= X15 }}</ref>

"No Christmas This Year" was a script written early in Serling's career, around 1950, but was never produced. It told of a place that no longer celebrated Christmas, although none of the residents know why it has been canceled. Meanwhile, at the North Pole, the audience sees Santa Claus dealing with striking elves. Rather than creating toys and candy, the North Pole manufactures a diversity of bombs and offensive gases. Santa has been shot at on his route, and an elf was hit by shrapnel.<ref name=Grams/>

"24 Men to a Plane" recounts Serling's first combat jump into the area around Manila in 1945. The combat jump became a fiasco after the jumpmaster in the first plane dropped his men too early, causing every subsequent plane to drop in synchronization with the mistake.<ref name=Sander1992/>{{rp|48}}