The anti-war movement became strong when the United States began bombing North Vietnam in February 1965. College students, middle-class citizens, and those in labor unions were all united by their opposition of the Vietnam War. The younger generation, those who were being called to war, wanted to know exactly what they were fighting for. No one was sure. People wanted to know why there were several peace talks being held, but no progress was coming from them. Many rallies and marches were held by college organization, like Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). The first march took place in April 1965 in Washington. Celebrities began supporting the anti-war movement, reflecting the anger American citizens were feeling by writing songs and speeches over it. Even those fighting in the war began to support the anti-war movement by refusing the orders they were given.
As the war continued and the protests grew stronger, more arrests were being made on protesters. President Johnson’s ratings were dropping, and he didn’t run for a re-election later on. The support of anything war related was quickly diminishing. Returning soldiers were regarded as “baby killers”, and young men fled to Canada to avoid being drafted. War slogans were being created, some not appropriate for this blog. People would chant “Draft Beer, not boys”, “Make love, not war”, “Eighteen today, dead tomorrow”, and “Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?” to show their support in the anti-war movement. Anti-war slogans were known as “doves”, and pro-war slogans were known as “hawks”.
The most violent Vietnam War protest took place at Kent State University in Ohio. On May 1st, students were assaulting police with beer bottles and the National Guard was called in to control the protesters. On May 2nd, the protesters set fire to the ROTC, surrounded the building, cut a fire hose, and began assaulting the firefighters with objects such as rocks. After protesters refused to follow a curfew set by the mayor on May 3rd, teargas was used on them. Protesters of the bombing of Cambodia had planned a protest for May 4th, but the university cancelled it. Around 2,000 people showed up anyway and threw rocks at a police officer that told them to leave. Guardsmen fired a total of 67 shots in the air, on the ground, and also at people. 13 protesters were hit, and 4 of them were killed.
During the same time as the Vietnam War protests, “Counterculture” began to appear. 1965-1972 is considered the peak of the movement, and took place heavily in the United States and United Kingdom. Countercultures supported the ideas of peace, love, and harmony, and were very music-oriented. Meditation, yoga, and psychedelic drugs were practiced by many. The supporters of the counterculture movement were known as “Hippies” (or less-referenced “Flower Children”) and were identified by their tie-dye, long hair, frequent involvement of sex and drugs, and their music. Everything they did was to express peace and freedom. The Beatles were one of the most well-known bands to come out of the movement. The Woodstock Music and Art Fair took place on August 15-18, 1969, in Bethel, New York. The event was a peaceful gathering of over 500,000 people and 32 musicians, all anti-war and counterculture supporters. Counterculture began to fade after involvement in the Vietnam War ended.
I’m glad I chose the topic of Vietnam War protesters and counterculture. I’ve always been interested in learning more about it, so what better way to force yourself to finally learn something? I never realized that musicians that I listen to (The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, The Clash, Guns N’ Roses, Dolly Parton, Billy Joel, R.E.M., among others) have written about anti-war and counterculture directly. I found a list on Wikipedia of all the songs that have been written about different wars, and it’s pretty interesting. I had heard about the Kent State shooting before the blog, but honestly had no idea when it happened or why. Getting some background information on that was also a plus. One of the most interesting parts to the blog was finding the different anti-war slogans. Language aside, they’re all very clever and fitting for the time. I used multiple sources on this blog not just for my writing, but also for my personal learning. Every website I went to had a sentence or two that was interesting and helped me picture the movement better. This entire blog was fun to do, because it’s something I’ve been interested in for as long as I can remember (seriously) without having much background on it at all.
Source Source Source Source Source Source Source"What do we keep on fighting for?" -Billy Joel (Leningrad)
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