Public Protests 1965-72
[Protests and Demonstrations] [Combat Refusal and Refusal of Orders] [AWOL and Desertion]
[Papers, Coffeehouses and Organizations] [Riots and Rebellions] [Harassment and Repression]
1965
April 17
- Washington DC - First large antiwar demonstration, organized by SDS.
October 11
- New York City - A large group of World War 2 veterans join 25,000 other people in the first big demonstration against the Vietnam War.
November 2
- Washington DC - Norman Morrison sets himself on fire in front in front of The Pentagon in protest of the war in Vietnam.
November 6
- El Paso - Lieutenant Henry H. Howe, Jr. joins a demonstration, to protest the war in Vietnam. Off-duty and wearing civilian clothes, he carried a placard which read, "End Johnson's Fascist Aggression in Vietnam." Although he broke no laws, including military regulations, he was arrested and surrendered to military police.
November 9
- New York City - Roger Allen LaPorte sets himself on fire in front of the United Nations building in protest of the war in Vietnam.
November 24
- The Ad Hoc Committee of Veterans For Peace in Vietnam sponsor a full page ad in the New York Times denouncing the war in Vietnam. The ad contains the signatures of 500 veterans.
November 27
- >Washington DC - 35,000 anti-war protesters circle the White House then march on to the Washington Monument for a rally.
December 1
- Active duty GI’s Sgt. George Smith and Sp.5 Claude McClure, after being released as Prisoners of War by the Viet Cong, announced their plans to “Quit the army and get the United States out of Vietnam”.
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1966
February
- Having retired from the Marine Corps, Master Sgt. Donald Duncan publishes “The Whole Thing was a Lie,” a stinging rebuke of US involvement in Vietnam in Ramparts.
February 2
- New York City - Edward Bloch, a former marine in World War 2, along with other members of Vets For Peace lead an anti war protest that blocks rush hour traffic in Times Square.
February 5
- Washington DC - During an anti war protest a group of veterans attempt to return their discharge papers and war medals to President Lyndon Johnson. Later that spring members of Veterans and Reservists to End the War in Vietnam burn their military discharge papers in opposition to the Vietnam war.
March 3
- New York City - Donald Duncan is the featured speaker at an anti war meeting held at the Town Hall in Manhattan.
March 26
- New York City - New York City - New York City - At the Second International Day of Protest against the Vietnam war a large contingent of Veterans For Peace lead an anti war march of 30,000 people down 5th Ave. Demonstrations also take place in Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and other major cities around the country. Many of these protest marches were led by contingents bearing the signs “Veterans and Reservists For Peace.”.
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1967
April 15
- New York City - Vietnam Veterans participate in antiwar demonstration.
May
- Fort Sill - Six GIs (Sp/5 Paul J. Gaedtke, Pvt. A. D. Stapp, Sp/4 Richard Wheaton, Pvt. Stan Ingerman, PFC T. E. O'Reilly, and Pvt. J. R. Wood) send telegram of support which said: "We support you in your courageous stand against America's dirty imperialist war in Vietnam. You have recognized that as a doctor your duty lies in healing the sick, not in training Gestapo-like Green Beret killers. We wish you luck in your trial and hope others will follow your example" to Dr. Howard Levy.
- Washington DC - More than 1000, including Veterans, reservists and their families demonstrate in DC calling on Johnson to withdraw all troops from Vietnam.
- 3 Vietnam Veterans, including Donald Duncan testify before the Russell International War Crimes Tribunal about atrocities in Vietnam.
May 30
- Jeff Sharlett "a Vietnam veteran and now chairman of the SDS chapter at Indiana University" addressed a rally saying "the U.S. was the aggressor" and urged young men to refuse induction.
June 1
- Fort Sheridan - 4 GIs [PFC Robert Dietz, PFC Robert Barknam, Pvt Rodney Jackson, Pvt Eugene Melnick] send letter of support to Capt. Howard Levy.
July 4
- Philadelphia - Vietnam Veterans Against the War participate in antiwar demonstration in downtown across the street from Independence Hall.
July 27
- Camp Pendelton - In the aftermath of the Detroit riots, William Harvey and George Daniels urge other Marines to request "captain's mast" to protest, "going over there and fighting the Vietnamese and coming back here and fighting the white man." The next morning, Harvey, Daniels and a dozen others tried unsuccessfully to see the captain ... and then returned to their duties."
August 5
- New York City - Veterans and civilians march into demand release of Dr. Howard Levy.
October 21
- Washington DC - 75,000 March on the Pentagon among them a contingent from VVAW. Liberation News Service reported that 4 soldiers defending the Pentagon switched sides and joined the demonstration.
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1968
February 13
- Fort Jackson - 5 GIs hold an On-Post Pray-In for Peace in Vietnam. All were arrested and 2 received court-martials for refusing to stop praying.
February 23
- Fort Ord - Pvt. Kenneth Stolte and PFC Daniel Amick distribute antiwar petition at Ft Ord, which says in part: "We protest. We protest the war in Viet nam. ... Too many of our friends, not to mention the Vietnamese, are being killed for nothing. . . We are tired of it., We are tired of all the lies about the war. We are uniting and organizing to voice our opposition to this war. If you really want to work for peace and freedom, then join us in our opposition. We are organizing a union in order to express our dissension and grievances."
March 10
- Washington DC - Lt. Dennis Mortisseau pickets the White House with a sign reading “120,000 American Casualties. Why?”
March 19
- Marchie Burns quits Marine Corps as protest against the war.
April
- Federal Judge orders military to allow Seaman David Crane to resign from the military as a conscientious objector.
April 3
- Presidio Stockade - Pvt. John Welty goes on hunger strike to protest US involvement in Vietnam.
- Beale AFB - Jeffrey Goldin goes on hunger strike in protest. To draw attention to his actions, he contacts the local paper in Marysville, who write a story about his action.
(click here to read Jeffrey Goldin's description of his "crimes and punishment")
April 7
- Heilbronn, West Germany - 53 GIs sign petition calling for “day of mourning” for Dr. Martin Luther King.
April 27
- New York and San Francisco - GI-civilian antiwar marches.
May 20
- Boston - Sp/4 William Chase given sanctuary in Arlington Street Church.
June 8
- Seattle - GI-civilian demonstration and picket in support of Ken Stolte and Dan Amick.
June 20
- Fort Ord - Fort Ord Band deliberately play out of tune as protest against war.
June 23
- Providence - Allen Loehmer given sanctuary.
July 15 - 18
- San Francisco - Nine for peace (Sunny Anderson, George Dounis, Dale Herrin, Oliver Hirsch, Paul Howard, Chuck Jones, Keith Mather, Jack Robinson and James Seymour) offered sanctuary at the Howard Presbyterian Church in San Francisco and ended in St. Andrew's United Presbyterian Church in Mann City, Calif.
July 26
- Lance Corporal. Barry Laing resigns from Marine Corps citing moral and religious opposition to the war.
August
- Berkeley - Pvt. Griswold Wilson given sanctuary in Quaker Meeting House.
- New York - Pvt. Michael Locianto given sanctuary in Greenwich Village.
- Seattle - Allan Wakoski given sanctuary in First Church of Christ Esoteric, Seattle.
August 10
- Berkeley - GI-civilian Teach-in - Provo Park. Event addressed by Donald Duncan and active duty GIs.
August 23 - 24
- Fort Hood - 100 Black GIs at Fort Hood hold meeting to discuss deployment to Chicago for the Democratic Convention for Riot Control duties.
September
- 1st Squadron, 18th Armored Cavalry, "has been raising so much hell that their Nam orders were canceled."
- Supreme Court considers class action suit by 700 reservists to block recall.
- Pvt. Gerald Condon resigns from Green Berets in opposition to the war.
September 2
- Honolulu - 106 reservists sue the Army to block their activation, claiming it was illegal because "Congress has not declared war and the President has not declared a national emergency."
October
- Presidio Stockade - 116 inmates file class action suit.
- Fort Knox - GI Teach-in, Speak Out.
- Maj. Lewis Olive resigns commission because of limitations on right to speak out on civil rights.
- Cambridge - Cpl. Paul Olimpieri given sanctuary at Harvard Divinity School.
October 5
- Fort Dix - "Free Speech for GIs” demonstration.
October 10
- San Francisco - Lt [jg] Susan Schnall and 3 others 'bomb' the aircraft carrier USS Ranger, Oaknoll Naval Hospital, Treasure Island Naval Base, Presidio Army H.Q., and Yerba Buena Island, with 20,000 leaflets announcing GI & Vets March for Peace.
October 12
- San Francisco - GI & Vets March for Peace.
- South Korea - GI antiwar demonstration.
- Madison - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
October 13
- Austin - GI-civilian teach-in (150 GIs from Fort Hood, Fort Sam Houston, Laredo and Bergstrom Air Bases).
October 14
- Presidio Stockade - During morning roll call 27 prisoners, sat down in a group and requested to see the Correction Officer to present and discuss their grievances and tell the public what the witnesses among them knew of the shooting of Bunch. While waiting for the CO to arrive they sang songs of protest. An Army photographer, called in to take pictures for evidence, described it as a very moving demonstration." When the CO arrived he refused to even talk to the men. Instead he had the mutiny article read to them again. Witnesses testified that it was inaudible due to feedback on the PA system, In any case, the 27 were totally nonviolent and made no attempt to take over the Stockade, essential elements to any just mutiny convictions. After the reading the CO ordered the guards to put the men back in the cellblock.
October 23
- Albany - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
October 26
- Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis - GI-civilian antiwar demonstrations.
- Fort Dix - "Free Speech for GIs” demonstration.
October 27
- Austin, Atlanta, Seattle GI-civilian antiwar demonstrations.
October 29
- Cambridge - Pvt John Michael O'Connor given sanctuary at MIT Student Center.
November 3
- Los Angeles - GIs and Vietnam Veterans Against the War Caucus of Fun.
November 7
- Philadelphia - GI teach-in - University of Pennsylvania.
November 8
- Cambridge - Pvt. John Michael O’Connor given sanctuary at MIT.
November 10
- New York City - Pvt. William Brakefield and Airman David Copp given sanctuary at City College.
November 27
- Dong Du, South Vietnam - GI antiwar demonstration.
November 29
- Fort Jackson - 68 basic trainees send letter to President Johnson demanding an end to the war.
December 7
- Philadelphia - GI Teach in, at the University of Pennsylvania, organized by Fort Dix Free Speech Movement.
December 20
- Fort Sheridan - Wayne Morse and Gary Wisby, editors of GI paper The Logistic, sue army in effort to block their transfer from Fort Sheridan to South Korea.
December 27
- Dong Du, South Vietnam - GI antiwar demonstration.
- Chicago - GI Teach-in.
December 27 - 29
- Chicago - GI-Civilian Conference.
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1969
January 19
- Washington DC - 75-100 GIs join Counterinsurgent demonstration.
February 10
- Fort Sam Houston - 56 personnel in the Women's Army Corps march on the the Inspector General’s office to protest unwarranted barracks restriction.
February 13
- Fort Jackson - Pray-in for Peace.
February 15
- Newark - GI-civilian conference.
February 16
- Seattle - GI-civilian antiwar march/rally.
February 22
- First Unitarian Church, Los Angeles - GI teach-in.
February 26
- Fort Jackson - GI’s United Against the War in Vietnam petition to hold meeting on-base.
March
- Detroit - Tom Sincavich given sanctuary.
March 1
- Philadelphia - GI Day - University of Pennsylvania.
March 2
- Wright State University GI-civilian conference.
March 3
- Fort Jackson - 300 GIs sign petition claiming they had been “drafted against ... [their] ... will.”
March 15
- San Francisco - "Presidio 27" demonstration, sponsored by the GI Association. Speakers included Susan Schnall, Terence Hallinan, Arlo Guthrie and the San Francisco Mime Troupe.
- Seattle - Informational Picket Line in support of "Presidio 27".
March 18
- Son Phu, South Vietnam - GI antiwar demonstration.
March 20
- Fort Jackson - GIs United Against the War in Vietnam hold on-base meeting to discuss the Vietnam War.
March 23
- Austin - GI-Civilian Picnic.
April
- Fort Bragg - GIs United petition for open meeting.
- AP dispatch estimates that more than 30,000 GIs (both black and white) were militants and against US involvement in South Vietnam.
April 1
- Allen Myers appears on the Frank Ford Show on WPEN to talk about upcoming April 5 GI-civilian demonstration in New York.
April 4
- Fort Lewis - Fort Lewis invaded by members of GI-CAP.
April 5
- Chicago, New York and San Francisco - GI-civilian antiwar demonstrations.
April 5 - 6
- Seattle - Antiwar Basic Training days.
April 6
- Los Angeles - "Free the Presidio 27" demonstration.
April 12
- Austin - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
April 19
- Fundraiser for deserters living in Paris.
April 27
- Monterey - "Presidio 27" support rally.
May
- Champaign Urbana - GI-civilian teach-in.
May 1
- Lawrence- Rally in support of the "Presidio 27".
>May 4
- Tacoma - GI-CAP clambake.
May 10
- Philadelphia - Antiwar Basic Training Day.
May 17
- Seattle - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
May 19
- Joe Miles and 17 other GIs file suit in Federal Court against the Secretary of the Army and the Fort Bragg Commander (Lt. Gen. John Tolson) seeking an injunction which would prohibit the defendants from interfering with the Constitutional liberties of GIs at Fort Bragg.
May 23
- Daenner Caserne, West Germany - On base demonstration.
May 24
- Riverside - GI-civilian Antiwar Picnic/Teach-in.
May 30
- New York City - GI-civilian antiwar Memorial Day Parade.
- Berkeley - GI-Civilian antiwar/anti occupation march.
June
- The June 26, 1969, issue of Time Magazine reports that GIs in South Vietnam were reacting unfavorably to Nixon's decision to withdraw 25,000 men from Vietnam. The report cites Specialist 4/c Arthur Jaramillo a Sergeant in the 25th Division who said "You can have this war and shove it. Why don't they pull us all out?".
- em>GI Press Service reprints letter, sent to The Ultimate Weapon, from a GI who claims most servicemen in Vietnam “openly wear peace medals ands buttons on their uniforms.”.
- Kaiserlautern, West Germany - GI antiwar demonstration.
June 8
- Nixon announces the first withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam.
June 11
- Fort Dix - GIs petition the base commander for permission to distribute the Bill of Rights on base.
June 14
- Fort Jackson - GIs United distribute petition calling for end to military harassment of former Fort Jackson 8 defendants.
- Philadelphia - GI-civilian Victory Picnic.
June 20
- Fort Ord - Fort Ord Band stage antiwar protest.
- Fort Meade - Brass allow antiwar demonstrators to stage on-base protest for 90 minutes.
June 28
- Portsmouth - Rally to demonstrate support for William Harvey and George Daniels.
July
- Chanute AFB - Airman Ralph Dady petitions for permission to distribute the Bill of Rights and Oath of Enlistment.
- Playboy publishes letter from GI in Vietnam, who wrote that 75% of the men in his unite were opposed to the war.
July 4
- Austin - GI-Civilian antiwar picnic.
- Champaign Urbana - GI-Civilian antiwar march.
July 4 - 5
- Case Western Reserve University - National Antiwar Conference.
July 13
- Fort Lewis - On-base invasion by members of GI-CAP.
July 14
- Federal Building, St. Louis - “Liberate Ft. Leonard Wood” GI-Civilian demonstration.
July 16
- Newark - Staff of the Fort Dix Coffeehouse hold news conference to accuse the state of New Jersey and the local police of "harassment and intimidation."
July 22
- Fort Riley - Demonstration in support of GIs in Fort Riley Stockade.
July 30
- Qui Nhon, South Vietnam - GI antiwar demonstration.
August 2
- New York City- Rally to demand the release of the Fort Dix 38.
August 4
- New York Times quotes antiwar GI in Vietnam who claims “if you’ll look closely, you’ll see some beads and a peace symbol under all this ammo. I may look like Pancho Villa on the outside but on the inside I’m nothing but a peacenik.... I just work hard at surviving so I can go home and protest all this killing.”
August 9
- Boston, Chicago - “No More Hiroshima’s, No More Vietnams”, antiwar demonstrations.
- Fayetteville - Gi-Civilian antiwar demonstration.
August 17
- San Clemente - GI-civilian demonstration at Nixon’s Summer White House.
- McKelligan Canyon, Texas - GIs For Peace Rally.
September
- Grafenwoehr, West Germany - GI antiwar protest.
September 22
- Colorado Springs - Anti-Nixon GI-civilian demonstration.
September 28
- Muldraugh - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration/rally
October
- Fort Sam Houston - GIs submit petition (signed by 150 GIs) to hold antiwar meeting on-base in off-duty hours on October 15.
- Fort Carson - Sp/5 Curt Stocker, one of the editors of the antiwar paper Aboveground, files charges under the UCMJ against his CO and an MI officer at Fort Carson for violating his First Amendment rights of free speech.
October 3
- Howard Petrick files suit in Federal Court to get his undesirable discharge changed to honorable.
October 10
- Fayetteville - 100 GIs from Ft Bragg’s GIs United lead 700 civilians in the city’s first antiwar march.
- Fort Sam Houston - GIs submit request to distribute Bill of Rights on base.
October 11
- Fort Bragg - Patriots for Peace Rally, sponsored by “GIs United” Speakers include Donald Duncan and Howard Levy.
October 12
- Fort Dix - Fort Dix invaded by 10,000 demonstrators in support of the Fort Dix 38.
October 15
- First Vietnam Moratorium.
- A large number of active duty GIs and veterans marched with hundreds of thousands of others in protest against the Vietnam war in major cities across the country. Life magazine called these Moratorium demonstrations “a display without historical parallel, the largest expression of public dissent ever seen in this country.” In Vietnam GIs wore black arm bands to express their solidarity with the Moratorium.
- Augsburg - Teach-in and Film Show in support of Moratorium.
- San Antonio - Open Forum on “Dissent Within the Military”.
October 16
- Spartanburg, South Carolina - Fort Jackson GIs United lawsuit on Bill of Rights.
October 28
- 17 of 35 GIs arrested at an ASU meeting at Fort Lewis filed suit against the Secretary of Defense, Melvyn laird, and the Fort Lewis commander, Maj. Gen. Willard Pearson. The suit asks for a declaratory judgment that GIs have the right to attend meetings on or off post and that rules against distribution of literature without approval are unconstitutional.
October 30
- MCRD, San Diego - Pray-in for Peace.
November
- Pleiku, South Vietnam - 200 GIs send letter to Richard Nixon announcing their intention to have a Thanksgiving fast to protest the war.
- Army Airborne Platoon (31 GIs) in S. Vietnam write to Senator McGovern calling for the withdrawal of US forces from Vietnam.
November 5
- Lt. Colonel Karl B. Weber resigns from Army Command Europe over war.
November 7
- Oleo Strut, Killeen - GI movement lecture and conference. Participants included Howard Levy and Barbara Dane.
November 8
- Fort Carson - GI Rights Day.
November 9
- 1365 Gis sign antiwar petition, that was printed in The New York Times urging civilians to take part in November Moratorium demonstrations.
- Denver - GI-civilian demonstration.
- Houston - GI-civilian demonstration.
November 11
- El Paso - GIs for Peace march in Veteran’s Day Parade.
November 12
- Fort Bragg GIs United sue Army in federal court for the right to distribute Bragg Briefs on base.
November 13
- Shreveport - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
- Mannheim, West Germany - 12 GIs stationed wear black armbands to show support for Vietnam Moratorium.
- Long Binh, South Vietnam - 125 servicemen ( including a lieutenant colonel, two majors and two graduates of West Point) sign petition of support for the Moratorium.
November 13 - 14
- Washington DC - National Conference on GI Rights.
November 14
- Chu Lai, South Vietnam - GIs on patrol wear black armbands in support of the Moratorium.
- Los Angeles - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
- Oceanside - GI Moratorium.
November 15
- 2nd Moratorium Against the War in Vietnam.
- El Paso, San Diego, San Francisco - GI-civilian antiwar demonstrations.
- Fort Knox - Sick call.
- Oceanside - GI Moratorium.
- Washington DC - "March Against Death".
November 16
- Washington DC - 100 GIs from Fort Dix demonstrate outside the Court of Military Appeals protesting military "justice"
November 23
- Los Angeles - AWOL Marine, Louis Franchina, given sanctuary in the First Unitarian Church.
November 24
- Pleiku, South Vietnam - 200 GIs of the 71st Evac Hospital hold a Thanksgiving Day Fast to protest the war.
December
- Washington DC - Roger Priest’s lawyer’s file petition with U.S. Court of Military Appeals on the grounds that Admiral Koch’s actions were an “unwarranted interference into the judicial proceedings” and that he had no authority to overrule a military judge on “matters of law”
December 11
- Fort Dix - Soldiers Liberation Front rally
December 12
- Oceanside - Military Moratorium.
December 13
- Oceanside - GI Moratorium.
- Fayetteville, Mannheim - GI-civilian antiwar demonstrations.
- The Republican Club, Mannheim - GI Forum.
December 14
- Riverside- GI-civilian antiwar march and rally. Rally addressed by Donald Duncan, Howard Levy and Susan Schnall.
December 21 - 22
- Los Angeles - Military Law and Organizing Conference, organized by Ken Cloke.
December 24
- Saigon, South Vietnam - 50 active duty GIs held an anti war rally and leafleted calling on their fellow soldiers to hold a ‘cease fire’ during the up-coming Vietnamese Tet holiday season. Their rally was broken up by MP's.
- Colorado Springs - GI-civilian candlelight march for peace.
December 27
- Cu Chi, South Vietnam - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
December 28 - 30
- Muldraugh - GI coffehouse conference.
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1970
January
- Fort Gordon - GIs set up War Crimes Commission.
January 15
- 80 GIs from Fort Bliss picket speaking engagement by Gen. Westmoreland.
January 16
- Columbia, S.C. - GI-civilian demonstration to protest closing of UFO coffee house.
January 22
- Fort Lewis - GIs put the military on trial.
February
- Fort Carson - Aboveground publishes list of CID officers, with their names and rank.
February 27
- West Point graduate, 1st Lt. Louis Font, asks to be released from military because its actions in Vietnam counter his religious beliefs.
March
- Fort Carson - Aboveground publishes list of Military Intelligence agents by name, rank and occupational status.
- South Vietnam - Alvin Glatowski and Clyde McKay hijack the USS Eagle to Cambodia.
- McChord AFB - Airman 1st Class George Larkins goes on hunger strike to protest US hypocrisy in Vietnam.
March 5
- Muldraugh, KY - GIs call for boycott of Muldraugh businesses to protest harassment of Fort Knox Coffeehouse.
March 8
- Columbia, S.C. - Freak the Army Rally
March 14
- Vancouver - American Deserter’s Committee organized GI-Civilian antiwar demonstration.
- Washington DC - GI Rally for Peace and Justice outside the White House.
March 15
- McKelligan Canyon,Texas - GIs For Peace Rally.
March 22
- El Paso - GI-civilian picket of El Paso Selective Service Office.
March 25
- Reservists Committee to Stop the War protest the Use of GIs as "scabs" in the New York mail strike.
April
- Fort Bragg - More than 1000 sign GIs United petition.
April 4
- Iwakuni - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
April 11
- San Diego - MDM rally.
April 12
- Iwakuni MCAS - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration/love in.
April 18
- Atlanta, Fairbanks - GI-civilian antiwar demonstrations.
April 29
- Atlanta - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
May
- Lt. Jim Crawford (member of Concerned Officers Movement) resigns his commission one month early.
May 2
- Antiwar petition, sponsored by the Reservists Committee to Stop the War and signed by more than 1000 Reservists and National Guardsmen published in The New Republic.
May 11
- Reservists Committee to Stop the War file suit against Melvyn Laird and the Defense Department, demanding that the 122 Congressmen and Senators listed as active in the Reserves be asked to resign from the Reserves because "it is unconstitutional for a member of Congress to hold any position in the military, citing conflict of interest and divided loyalties."
May 13
- The Shelter Half, Tacoma - GI Discussion Night.
May 16
- Armed Farces Day.
- Barksdale Air Force Base - GIs held a festival of life and workshops. 600-700 came for the afternoon, with 150-175 GIs. Speakers included a WWI veteran.
- Camp Pendelton - Marines were restricted to the base. Army guys held a rally and march. About 5000 people, 200 GIs, heard Tom Hayden, a Black Panther, and others. Platoons assigned to riot control received for the first time orders to shoot to kill in case of disturbances on the base. Units known to be sympathetic were put on riot control but were not given ammunition.
- Chanute AFB - Trial of the Military.
- Charleston Naval Base - GIs held a rally, their first anti-war demonstration. About 1000 attended, with about 200 GIs. Rennie Davis was among the speakers.
- Fort Benning - GIs put the military on trial, heard testimony from the audience, and found it guilty of war crimes, genocide, etc. About 500 people, with 150 GIs. First anti-war action in the history of Columbus, Georgia.
- Fort Bliss - It was People's Armed Forces Day at Fort Bliss, as GIs held a folk and rock music festival, with about 1000 GIs.
- Fort Bragg - GIs held a rally of over 3000 people, about 750 of them GIs. Following the rally people moved onto the base and leafleted. Speeches by Mark Lane, Jane Fonda, Rennie Davis, and GIs.
- Fort Carson - GIs held a festival of life in Colorado Springs, attended by about 500 people, about 30 of them GIs.
- Fort Devens - GIs and civilians held a picnic and some 70-80 civilians leafleted the base. First issue of a bi-weekly newspaper, Morning Report, distributed.
- Fort Dix - 3000 people attempted a repeat of last October's successful march onto the base. Marchers were gassed. Few GIs were present at the rally, as they had been ordered restricted to base.
- Fort Hood - 800-900 people marched through Killeen to a rally, almost all of them GIs. Another 500 followed on the sidewalks.
- Fort Lewis - GIs held an all day festival-picnic/workshop. About 200 people came, with about 50 or 60 GIs.
- Fort McClellan - GIs led the way, holding the first antiwar demonstration ever in Anniston.
- Fort Meade - GIs held a march and rally towards the base. 500-600 people, with about 100 GIs present. There were speeches by Abbie Hoffman, Sue Schnall, a Black Panther, GIs, and revolutionaries from Spain.
- Fort Ord - The Brass freaked out. GIs held a march and rally. 3000-4000 people, with about 100 GIs. Most GIs were assigned to their barracks, riot control training or make-work details. Trenches were dug along the edge of the Post fronting on Route 1, and miles of sharpened concertina wire had been rolled out in case the marchers charged.
- Fort Riley - John Froines and an editor of The AWOL Press spoke to a rally of 1300 people, 400 of them GIs. First action of this sort.
- Grand Forks Air Force Base - About 1000 people demonstrated in an anti-ABM action at Nekoma, N. D.
- Great Lakes Naval Training Center - Over 500 demonstrators rallied and heard speeches May 16. The Armed Forces Day displays were cancelled due to what Rear Admiral H. S. Ronkin called the threat of "dissident elements."
- Grissom AFB - GIs leafleted the post May 16. A May 17 rally was disrupted by right-wingers, with no chance for GIs to speak.
- Koza, Okinawa - GI antiwar, anti occupation rally.
May 17 -23
- Berlin - GI Week.
May 29 - 31
- Atlanta - GI antiwar conference.
May 30
- Detroit - >GI-Civilian antiwar demonstration.
- Selfridge AFB - Picnic for Peace.
June
- USS Hancock - Half of the officers on USS Hancock sign petition opposing US involvement in Vietnam.
- London - 6 GIs address antiwar rally.
- US Court of Military Review finds the Presidio 27 innocent of Mutiny.
- Fort Lewis - 14 Conscientious Objectors file Article 138s against their commanding officer to get their status recognized.
- Antiwar reservists picket the annual convention of the Reserve Officer’s Association.
June 14
- Fort Lewis - Fort Lewis Main Chapel [re]"dedicated to Saint Maximilian, a Christian Saint who, in 295 AD was executed for refusing to be inducted into the Imperial Roman Army".
June 30
- Call for National GI Strike.
July 4
- Champaign Urbana- - GIs from Chanute AFB picket July 4th parade.
- Antiwar rally sponsored by GIs from Norton AFB - invited guests include Jane Fonda, Mark Lane, Don Freed.
- Heidelberg - 1000 black GIs from all over Germany attend Antiwar rally.
- Cleveland - National GI Antiwar Conference.
- Staten Island - GIs from Fort Hamilton participate in antiwar protest.
July 9
- Great Lakes Naval Training Center - 75 GIs surround building where 4 WAVEs were confined “for their own good.”
July 11
- Augusta - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
July 22
- Fort Dix SPB - On-base demonstration.
July 29
- Fort Dix - On-base demonstration.
August
- Chanute AFB - Petition distributed protesting conditions at the base.
August 22
- Chicago - Chanute AFB chapter of ASU picket City Hall.
September
- Portland - People’s Army Jamboree.
September 4 - 7
- New Jersey / Pennsylvania - Operation R.A.W. (Rapid American Withdrawal), 75 mile march from Morristown, NJ to Valley Forge, PA. Stage simulated search and destroy missions along way to dramatize the horror of the Vietnam War.
September 7
- Valley Forge - VVAW rally, following Operation R.A.W., addressed by Jane Fonda, John Kerry, Mark Lane and others.
- Karlsrühe - Day of Solidarity attended by 200 GIs.
September 11
- Fort Carson - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
September 12
- Heidelberg - Day of Solidarity.
September 17
- Leavenworth - Terry Klug released.
September 19
- Chanute AFB - Demonstration in support of servicemen.
- Great Lakes Training Center - Great lakes Liberation Festival.
September 21
- Nellingen, West Germany - After several fire bombings and other acts of sabotage in protest against racial discrimination and harassment, the Army brass institute a night curfew. That evening over 100 active duty GIs broke the curfew and marched through the base shouting “Revolution” and “Join Us”.
September 24
- Philadelphia - GI People’s Picnic.
September 26
- San Diego - 29 active-duty officers, members of the Concerned Officers Movement, stationed in San Diego submit, through channels a letter protesting the Vietnam War.
- The Concerned Officers Movement hold a press conference in Washington DC, protesting US involvement in Southeast Asia. They release a statement, signed by more than 80 active-duty officers which reads in part "We the undersigned are members of the Concerned Officers Movement, a group of active duty officers in the Armed Forces who want to publicly express their opposition to the war in Indochina. We believe that we have the constitutional right to make our convictions known. We believe that in doing so we are acting in accordance with our obligations as officers, to defend the Constitution.".
October 12
- Federal District Court, Brooklyn - 26th Army Band ... granted preliminary in junction to block [punitive] transfers”
October 20
- Tokyo - >Pfc. James Williams denounces the war at a press conference.
October 25
- Yokosuka - Navy Day celebrations disrupted by GI activists and their japanese supporters, who attempted to distribute cookies with peace signs on them.
October 29
- San Jose - GI- civilian anti-Nixon demonstration.
October 31
- National Peace Action Day.
- New York - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
November 6
- USS Kitty Hawk - On-ship demonstration
November 11
- Ohio State University - VVAW organized March Against Death.
November 14
- Fort Carson - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
December
- Kadena AFB, Okinawa - 30 Black GIs refuse riot control orders.
December 12
- Chanute AFB - Demonstration to protest military’s response to the American Servicemen’s Union.
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1971
January 12
- Washington DC - 5 members of COM Washington (CPT Robert Master, CPT Grier Merwin, CPT Edward Fox, 1st Lt. Louis Font, Lt [jg] Peter Dunkelberger) hold press conference in Washington announcing that they were sending letters to the Secretaries of the Army and Navy requesting authorized persons to convene Courts of Inquiry under Article 135 of the UCMJ to determine whether the United States had committed war crimes in Vietnam.
January 15
- Saigon, South Vietnam - 40 GIs hold antiwar demonstration in honor of Martin Luther King's birthday.
January 30
- Fort Monmouth, NJ - GI-civilian antiwar rally
January 31 - February 2
- Detroit - VVAW sponsored Winter Soldier Investigation. Witnesses gave detailed accounts of the war crimes and atrocities they had committed or witnessed while serving in the US military in Vietnam.
February
- Full page ad for VVAW published for free in Playboy.
April 13 - 14
- Haymarket Coffeehouse - USSF/FTA Show performs at Haymarket Square coffeehouse (Cast includes Peter Boyle, Barbara Dane, Jane Fonda, Dick Gregory and Donald Sutherland).
April 14
- Boston - Members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War stage a mock search and destroy mission at Boston City Hall. 30 men dressed in army fatigues and armed with toy M-16 rifles “attack” a subway exit and take “prisoners” who are also members of their group.
April 18
- John Kerry and Al Hubbard appear on Meet the Press.
April 19 - 23
- Washington DC - VVAW stage operation Dewey Canyon III, 5 days of demonstrations, street theatre and lobbying congress.
April 20
- Washington DC - 100's of Vietnam veterans lobby the Congress to end the war.
- Washington DC - 200 veterans march back to the Arlington Cemetery, which had been locked to keep them out. Officials are forced to back down and give them access.
- Washington DC - Veterans perform guerilla theater “search and destroy” missions on the steps of the Capitol and in the streets, bringing the war home to thousands of tourists.
- Washington DC - The US Supreme Court announces that the 1000 veterans camped on the Mall must leave the next day.
April 21
- Washington DC - Vietnam veterans vote to defy the Supreme Court’s eviction notice and continue their encampment in the Mall. The Court backs down and allows them to stay.
- Washington DC - 50 Vietnam veterans march to the Pentagon to turn themselves in as war criminals. They are not arrested.
- Washington DC - Other vets continue in what is obviously becoming a fruitless anti war Congressional lobbying effort.
- Washington DC - Veterans perform guerilla theater in front of the Justice Department and leaflet in the streets with their anti war message.
April 22
- Washington DC - 110 Vietnam veterans are arrested after a large group of them march to the steps of the Supreme Court demanding to know why the Court has not ruled the war “un-constitutional.”
- Washington DC - Over 1000 veterans make an anti war march around the White House.
April 23
- Washington DC - Nearly 2000 Vietnam veterans end a week long series of anti war actions in the nation’s capital at a ceremony with 800 veterans making short statements and throwing their war medals into a pile labeled “trash” on the steps of the US Capital building.
April 24
- Nearly 1000 active duty GIs lead an anti war protest march of 500,000 through the streets of Washington DC and 250,000 in San Francisco to demand “total and immediate withdrawal from Indochina”.
- Tucson - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
April 30
- Anniston - Fort McClellan GI’s and WAC’s United organize a large contingent of soldiers to march in solidarity with striking hospital workers.
May 1
- Fort Lewis, Newport Naval Base, Washington DC - GI-civilian antiwar demonstrations.
May 3
- Fort Lewis - Thousands of GIs go on a sick-call strike in protest of the Vietnam war and to show their support of the Peoples Peace Treaty.
- Washington DC - VVAW members throw bags of cow manure on the steps of the Mall Entrance to the Pentagon.
May 15
- Armed Farces Day.
- Camp Pendelton - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration and rally.
- Fort Bragg - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration and rally.
- Fort Bliss - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration and rally.
- Fort Campbell - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration and rally.
- Fort Carson - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration and rally.
- Fort Dix - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration and rally. Speakers include Terry Klug and Bob Beatie.
- Fort Hood - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration and rally.
- Fort Jackson - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration and rally.
- Great Lakes Naval Station - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration and rally. Speakers include Steve Geden.
- Portsmouth Naval Station - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration and rally.
- Selfridge AFB - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration and rally.
- Travis AFB - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration and rally organized by Pacific Counseling Service.
- Wright Patterson AFB -GI-civilian antiwar demonstration and rally.
- Killeen - Tyrrell's boycott announced.
May 17
- Chanute AFB - A group called Concerned Black Airmen hold an on-base service on dedicated to the memory of Malcolm X.
May 19
- Okinawa - US bases in Okinawa closed by a GI supported general strike of Okinawan workers.
May 30 -31
- Massachusetts - Several hundred VVAW members march from Concord to Boston, reversing the path of Paul Revere's 1775 midnight ride. After defying a ban on overnight use of Battle Green in Lexington, site of the first battle of the American Revolution, 458 people are arrested and held overnight, including John Kerry. The following day the group marches from Bunker Hill to Boston Common.
May 31
- London - 1,000 American GIs, ignoring army regulations banning overseas demonstrations, gather to protest the Indochina war. 300 deliver an anti war petition to the military.
July 4
- 1,400 GIs hold an “Independence Day Peace Rally” in open defiance of Army regulations and orders forbidding from the Brass.
July 11
- 400 Black EMs ask to attend court martial of Ronald Bolden and Samuel Robertson. To avoid a possible riot the military acquitted Robertson and dropped charges against Bolden.
July 30
- Ft McClellan - As General Westmoreland is speaking on base, GI’s and WAC’s United pickets outside the gates to protest his refusal to accept 200 soldier’s signatures on the People’s Peace Treaty.
July 31
- Fort Huachuca - 4 GIs get permission from the Brass to set up a petition table outside the PX. In one day, 840 GIs and WACs sign the petition which demands “immediate end to the US intervention in Indochina.”
August 7 - 8
- Boise - GIs and civilians from the Mountain Home Project marched against genocide in a 40 mile trek across the desert to Boise.
September 3
- Wright Patterson AFB - GI-civilian demonstration to protest Nixon's presence on the base.
September 17
- US Army Base, Munster - A large crowd of Black and Latino GIs march through the base to protest the burning of a Ku Klux Klan cross by a group of racists.
September 26
- San Diego - Stop Our Ship Referendum, on whether the USS Constellation should remain at home port as opposed to sailing for Vietnam.
October
- USS Coral Sea - Sailors aboard the carrier USS Coral Sea circulate a petition opposing the war in Vietnam and demanding that the ship stay home. 1,200 sailors, one fourth of the crew , signed. At a mass rally over a thousand antiwar protesters gathered to support them. Three junior officers resigned and condemned the war and 35 sailors deserted the ship.
October 13
- Fort Bliss - GIs For Peace Hold an anti-war memorial service at the Post cemetery honoring all war dead. Several hundred GIs and some civilians attend. 8 GIs of the 6th/61st Arty refuse to pull riot control duty at this action.
October 25
- Killeen - Veteran's Day demonstration sponsored by Fort Hood United Front in opposition to the Indochina War and calling for the release of all political prisoners. The city of Killeen had refused to grant the organizers a permit and the demonstration was stopped by the Killeen police who made a mass arrest of 125 people, including David Zeiger, the producer/director/writer of Sir! No Sir!.
November 5
- San Francisco - 300 sailors from USS Coral Sea lead antiwar march.
November 6
- Hawaii - Six GIs apply for sanctuary in protest of US nuclear test at Amchitka.
- Long Binh, South Vietnam - 60 GIs hold meeting to discuss strategies to end the war and get home.
November 10
- USS Coral Sea - 3 junior officers publicly resign their commissions to protest the Vietnam war.
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1972
January 1
- Mountain Home AFB - 125 active-duty air men and women and their civilian supporters participated in a “Vigil For Peace”
January 8
- Fairborn - Over 250 people, half of them active duty airmen and women or veterans, gathered in Fairborn's Central Park to hear speakers and to march to Wright Patterson AFB.
- Travis AFB - 100 active duty airmen and women supported by 100 dependents and community people participate in 24 hour vigil in protest over the escalation of the air war in Vietnam/
January 15
- USS Coral Sea - Secretary of the Navy is greeted on the USS Coral Sea with an antiwar demonstration and a petition signed by 36 sailors. The petition included demands for immediate U.S. withdrawal from Southeast Asia, acceptance of the DRV's 7-point peace plan in order to gain release of American POW's, amnesty for deserters and draft resisters, and freedom for all political prisoners in the U.S. The petition concluded with these words: ''The violence and oppression aimed at the people of Southeast Asia is too often felt by individuals in the military who dare to oppose current policies. Despite this very real hazard, we the undersigned implore proper consideration be given this statement."
February 29
- KPFK devotes 2 hours to GI movement, first hour has program composed of letters and articles by military dependents and women in the military. Second hour has recording of FTA show.
March 24
- St. Louis - Midwestern GI Movement Conference
April
- USS Nitro - 47 sailors out of a crew of 200 sign petition protesting unsafe conditions.
April 7
- Westover AFB - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
April 8
- Mountain Home AFB - GI-civilian Vigil
- Ruby Dorsey resigns from the military because of widespread racism and sexism among the military in Germany.
April 13
- Fort Dix - 100 GIs at Fort Dix, and McGuire AFB, sign petition protesting air war.
April 15
- Fort Sam Houston - About 300 active duty GIs attend concert for GI conscientious objectors, then join candlelight demonstration for 10 GI organizers arrested day before.
- Hanscom AFB - VVAW/GI organized antiwar march and rally.
- Travis AFB - Vigil held across from main gate, speaker from USS Coral Sea Stop Our Ship movement.
- Wright Patterson AFB - Active duty airmen, veterans and civilians demonstrate at base gates for 14th straight week.
April 20
- Wright Patterson AFB - GIs and civilian demonstrators attempt to block gates.
April 22
- Tokyo - 9 GIs from Iwakuni, Yokota, Yokosuka, and Misawa hold press conference to voice "opposition to the continuation and escalation of the Indochina war effort by the United States.".
April 23
- USS Nitro - Sailors from USS Nitro, join picket attempting to block munitions from being loaded aboard ship.
May
- Schweinfurth, West Germany - 100 GIs demonstrate on Memorial day, demanding "Peace Now".
- Hundreds of GIs in Germany sign petition calling for Nixon's impeachment.
May 5
- Yokota AFB - Japanese antiwar activists shut the airbase down with kites.
May 6
- Tokyo - Lance Cpl. Ronald McMiller and Lance Cpl. Phillip Walker read statement condemning racism at Iwakuni NAS at a press conference.
May 1
- Seattle - VVAW members occupy King County Republican Headquarters.
May 13
- Seattle - VVAW led demonstration to protest mining of Haiphong Harbor.
May 14
- Yokohama - At a press conference, Seaman Ted Short reads letter from sailors stationed in Japan with the 15th Destroyer Squadron, to President Nixon appealing to him to bring the Vietnam war to an end, not through escalation but through negotiations.
May 19
- Berlin - GIs from bases all over Berlin attend "People's Unity Dance", organized by GI paper Forward.
May 20
- Armed Farces Day.
- Andrews AFB - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
- Cherry Point MCAS - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
- Great Lakes Naval Training Station - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
- Fort Bragg - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration (150 GIs).
- Fort Campbel - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration (150-200 GIs).
- Fort Devens - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
- Fort Dix/McGuire AFB - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
- Fort Hood - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
- Fort Ord - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration (400 GIs).
- Mountain Home AFB - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration (200 GIs).
- Pease AFB - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
- Portsmouth NAS - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
- Westover AFB - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration.
- Wright Patterson AFB - GI-civilian antiwar demonstration (350 GIs).
June 5
- Newport - 6 sailors from the USS Davis get sanctuary at Channing Memorial Church.
July 8
- Washington DC - GIs picket Court of Military Appeals in support of Billy Smith.
July 15
- San Clemente - MDM/VVAW antiwar demonstration.
August 18
- 1200 vets and supporters participate in cross-country caravan that ended at the Republican national Convention in Miami to "protest the coronation of King Richard".
September
- Camp Hague, Okinawa - VGI stage one day strike.
September 5
- Monterey - VVAW Trial of the Military.
September 6
- Monterey - VVAW Free Billy Smith demonstration and march.
September 9
- Travis AFB - Free Billy Smith Rally.
October
- Subic Bay - 800 sailors and civilian supporters demonstrate in effort to halt deployment of USS Newport News to Vietnam.
October 1
- Hiroshima - Iwakuni MCAS Chapter of VVAW organize "peace tour" of the A-Bomb memorial Peace Park.
October 14
- Yokosuka - Navy Day celebrations disrupted by anti-military demonstration calling for the release of SA Doug Weaver, who had been court martialled for "participating in political activities in a foreign country".
October 15
- Yokosuka - GI rights demonstration.
October 23
- San Francisco - VVAW Veterans Day parade.
October
- 31 sailors petition Senator Alan Cranston to investigate working and living conditions, harassment and racial prejudice on ships in the Seventh Fleet and on the Naval Base at Subic Bay.
October 28
- Frankfurt - GI-civilian demonstration in support of Vietnamese liberation and against US imperialism.
November 3 - 4
- USS Constellation -80 black sailors demand Captain's Mast. When he refused to meet with them, other crew members joined them and they all staged a sit-down demonstration that lasted through the night and into the next day. At one point, there were over 300 sailors, including whites, sitting in protest.
November 9
- USS Constellation - 132 Sailors refuse to return to USS Constellation in San Diego.