he served in an army-intelligence unit in southwest china during world war ii. after his discharge, he returned to berkeley. california began to require university employees to sign a loyalty oath in the 1950s, and tussman was a key organizer of protests. twenty percent of the berkeley faculty refused to sign, and 31 professors were dismissed. being untenured, however, tussman eventually signed the oath for economic reasons. he said it was the saddest day in his life.