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Veterans Against War

1 Veterans Against War

On April 24, 1971, thousands of Vietnam Veterans Against the War marched on the US capitol. Hundreds tossed their war medals on the steps of the Capitol in a climactic act of rejection of the war. One by one, each veteran called out their names, units, gave emotional speeches, and angrily threw their medals at the Capitol. Along with other Vietnam veterans, John Kerry testified to a Senate committee on the atrocities and war crimes.

The antiwar movement is often misremembered as draft-dodging students at elite universities, but the most powerful leaders of the antiwar movement had actually fought in the Vietnam War and then used their voices to speak out against it. Many of them had volunteered to fight for the United States against the global spread of communism. In Vietnam, their actual experiences of violence contradicted their previous ideals and violated their sense of morality, justice, and patriotism. The stories of these veterans remind us that civil disobedience and protest are the duties of citizenship. 

 

This page has paths:

  1. Introduction Jason Higgins
  2. Jennifer Dane Jason Higgins

Contents of this path:

  1. The Life and Death of Dennis Magnussen
  2. Steve Sober: Turning Against the War
  3. Mike Wittels: A Pacifist Takes A Stand

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