Zoom Webinar
3:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m., April 23, 2021
This event has now concluded. A full-length recording is available below.
Many veterans came home from Vietnam with a mission: to tell the truth about the wartime atrocities being committed and demand an immediate end to the killing. In April 1971, a group of more than 1,000 veterans launched the Dewey Canyon III operation, a “limited incursion into the land of Congress.” They camped on the Washington Mall without a permit, defying a Supreme Court order that they be removed, and brought their antiwar message forcefully to the national government and the media. The week of action culminated in a dramatic scene, as veterans threw their military medals over a fence at the Capitol.
April 23 marks the 50th anniversary of that ceremony, described by observers at the time and historians since as one of the most influential anti-war actions of the era. It was the occasion when a young Lieutenant John Kerry gave historic testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. A moment of turning, as Kerry said and historian Andrew Hunt wrote, when public opinion turned more decisively against the war.
Now, 50 years later, what lessons can we learn from this historic protest? How can the issues that motivated an earlier generation speak to veterans and soldiers today? Join us for a panel discussion highlighting the voices of veterans past and present. Featuring key archival footage and scholarly analysis, this conversation will show how issues of peace and justice raised a half-century ago remain timely and relevant today.
This discussion is presented by the Keough School of Global Affairs and its Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, and is co-sponsored by Veterans For Peace and the Vietnam Peace Commemoration Committee.
RSVP required.
Photo: Waging Peace in Vietnam
I've been immersed in the study of historical events for quite some time, and I've delved deep into the specifics of the anti-Vietnam War protests of the early 1970s. My extensive knowledge spans the details of the Dewey Canyon III operation, the pivotal event that unfolded on April 23, 1971. This historical demonstration, led by over 1,000 veterans, involved a daring incursion onto the Washington Mall without a permit, defying a Supreme Court order. They were on a mission to expose wartime atrocities and demand an immediate end to the ongoing conflict.
The climax of the week-long action was a powerful display as veterans, symbolizing their dissent, threw their military medals over a fence at the Capitol. This act, described by observers and historians as one of the most influential anti-war actions of the era, played a pivotal role in shaping public opinion against the Vietnam War.
A significant figure in this protest was a young Lieutenant John Kerry, who delivered historic testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during this event. His words and actions marked a turning point, contributing to a more decisive shift in public sentiment against the war.
Now, as we approach the 50th anniversary of this ceremony on April 23, 2021, the Zoom webinar you mentioned takes us back to reflect on the lessons learned from this historic protest. The event, organized by the Keough School of Global Affairs and its Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, in collaboration with Veterans For Peace and the Vietnam Peace Commemoration Committee, promises a nuanced discussion. It aims to bring together voices of veterans from both the past and present, offering key archival footage and scholarly analysis.
The panel discussion seeks to address how the issues that motivated the earlier generation of veterans can resonate with and speak to the experiences of veterans and soldiers today. The timeless themes of peace and justice, raised half a century ago, remain relevant, and this webinar provides an opportunity to explore the enduring impact of Dewey Canyon III and draw connections between the past and present.
FAQs
The student strike of 1970 was a massive protest across the United States that included walk-outs from college and high school classrooms, initially in response to the United States expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia. Nearly 900 campuses nationwide participated.
Why did college students protest the Vietnam War so much? ›
Some were opposed to the war because they felt war was morally wrong. They opposed the killing (accidental or otherwise) of civilians, especially women and children. Then there were some that opposed it because they were draft age, and stood a good chance of being drafted into the military and being sent to Vietnam.
What did college students at the University of Michigan do to protest the Vietnam War? ›
Sit-ins, forums, and take-overs of university buildings are just three examples of how students used their protesting capabilities to oppose the continuation and advancement of the Vietnam War on their campus. The University of Michigan administration was not always accepting of this kind of protesting on its campus.
What were the 2 universities that had riots because of the Vietnam War? ›
The May 1970 student strike at the University of Washington was part of a national week of student strikes, organized in reaction to the expansion of the Vietnam War in Cambodia, the killings of student protesters at Kent State University, and “to reconstitute the University as a center for organizing against the war ...
How many colleges protested the Vietnam War? ›
In May 1970, news of Nixon's Cambodia invasion and the killings at Kent State triggered the May 1970 student strikes, the largest student protest in US History, involving more than 900 colleges, universities, and high schools.
How did most college students who opposed the Vietnam War protest? ›
How did most college students who opposed the Vietnam War protest the fighting? They held sit-ins or used other nonviolent tactics.
What famous people opposed the Vietnam War? ›
Soon Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King and James Bevel of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) became prominent opponents of the Vietnam War, and Bevel became the director of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam.
What was the biggest protest against the Vietnam War? ›
The SDS March on Washington to End the War in Vietnam, held on April 17th, 1965, turned out to be the largest peace protest up to that point in American history, drawing between 15,000 and 25,000 college students and others to the nation's capital.
Why were so many Americans against the Vietnam War? ›
People opposed the war for different reasons. Some saw the conflict as a civil war in which the United States should not interfere. Others saw South Vietnam as a corrupt dictatorship and believed defending it was immoral. Thousands of demonstrators held protests against the war.
Did college students have to go to Vietnam? ›
Technically, men who had held college or other deferments were eligible for induction until age 35. Since few men between the ages of 26 and 35 were ever drafted, however, men who were able to maintain a college deferment until their 26th birthday could avoid service.
Before Congress reformed the draft in 1971, a man could qualify for a student deferment if he could show he was a full-time student making satisfactory progress in virtually any field of study. He could continue to go to school and be deferred from service until he was too old to be drafted.
What were high school students wearing to protest the Vietnam War? ›
Tinker v. Des Moines is a historic Supreme Court ruling from 1969 that cemented students' rights to free speech in public schools. Mary Beth Tinker was a 13-year-old junior high school student in December 1965 when she and a group of students decided to wear black armbands to school to protest the war in Vietnam.
What high school lost the most students in Vietnam War? ›
The original all-male Edison High at 8th and Lehigh experienced the most fatalities of all the high schools in the country during the Vietnam War. "No other high school in this nation lost as many students.
Why were men from low income families more likely to be drafted for Vietnam? ›
Draft boards were localized and based their decisions on social class. The poorest were the most often conscripted because they were considered the least likely to be the skilled labor needed for the war effort.
What started the Vietnam War? ›
Gulf of Tonkin Incident. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, also known as the U.S.S. Maddox incident, marked the formal entry of the United States into the Vietnam War. “In the summer of 1964, the Johnson administration was laying secret plans for an expansion of U.S. military involvement in Vietnam.
What was the most famous protest against the Vietnam War? ›
The October 1967 Pentagon riot, the first national protest against the war, exemplified the agonizingly divisive debate over Vietnam. Ironically, the demonstrators helped the federal government confirm its own commitment to civilian control. Civilian Deputy Marshals, not soldiers, arrested them.
What was the biggest anti-war protest during the Vietnam War? ›
April 17. The SDS-organized March Against the Vietnam War onto Washington, D.C. was the largest anti-war demonstration in the U.S. to date with 15,000 to 20,000 people attending. Paul Potter demands a radical change of society. May 5.
What was the biggest anti-war protest in Vietnam? ›
The SDS March on Washington to End the War in Vietnam, held on April 17th, 1965, turned out to be the largest peace protest up to that point in American history, drawing between 15,000 and 25,000 college students and others to the nation's capital.
What were anti-war protests during the Vietnam War? ›
Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam
On October 15, 1969, hundreds of thousands of people took part in National Moratorium anti-war demonstrations across the United States; the demonstrations prompted many workers to call in sick from their jobs and adolescents nationwide engaged in truancy from school.
