In Remembrance of the Vietnam Moratorium
Consciousness raising becomes a force when enough people demand some form of change.
And if enough people demand change, it can shake major power centers and the demand turns into a reality. Forty-nine years ago today, Oct. 15 in 1969, many voiced support for change in the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War when millions marched in a the US Vietnam Moratorium.
The moratorium amounted to a number of peace initiatives across the country to show opposition to the Vietnam War. The Peace Moratorium is believed to be the largest demonstration in U.S. history, with 2 million people involved.
In big cities and small towns across the nation students, blue and white collar workers, young people and old people, and religious leaders took part in street rallies and meetings. Many of the activities were concentrated in our nation’s capital, Washington D.C., where 40 different activities went on and 250,000 demonstrators gathered to make their position on the war known. Some wore black armbands to signify their dissent and paid tribute to American personnel killed in the war since 1961.
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said at the time: “I do believe this nation is in danger of committing itself to goals and personalities that guarantee the war’s continuance.” Senator Kennedy called for a withdraw of troops from Vietnam by October of the next year and for all forces to be gone by the end of 1972. Pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, addressing a rally in Washington D.C., called the Vietnam War “a total abomination” that was crippling America and must be stopped.
Not all of the opposition was expressed with simple words and demonstrations. There were scuffles between police and demonstrators and some were arrested. In Portland, Ore., 400 protesters clashed with police after attempting to keep conscripts from entering an Army induction center.
Some of the opposition took place overseas. Peace activists congregated outside of U.S. Embassies all across Europe to voice their opposition to the war. In London, 300 people demonstrated outside the embassy in Grosvenor Square.
Opposition to the Vietnam War continued to increase as the years went by. Eventually, our country’s footprint was decreased and there was a withdraw from the war in 1975.
