Proposals for October Moratorium 50th Anniversary Programs

VPCC May 30 Newsletter on Moratorium https://conta.cc/2Mjwy9P

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The BBC reported, "The Peace Moratorium is believed to have been the largest demonstration in US history with an estimated two million people involved.In towns and cities throughout the US. Students, working men and women, school children, the young and the old, took part in religious services, school seminars, street rallies and meetings."

Church and school bells rang; black armbands were worn; candlelight vigils were held; films were shown; neighborhoods were canvassed; names of war dead were read; groups of business people, professionals and government workers participated; more than 1,000 high schools joined in. Several cities witnessed demonstrations of thousands, most notably 50,000 in Washington and 100,000 in Boston. Forty members of the House and Senate endorsed the action. 

Rick Perlstein's summary from his book "Nixonland" can be read here. There is also a good description in the invaluable reference book for the anti-war movement "The War Within" by Tom Wells, available used on Amazon.

A good example of what took place at many non-elite schools is North Carolina State University as documented in 2011 by its library (click here) A Google search is likely to quickly turn up similar accounts from where you lived then or your home now.

A month later some schools and communities carried on the Moratorium's goal of monthly grassroots action, but most energy and media attention went to the Mobilization, the largest anti-war demonstration until then. It brought as many as 500,000 people to Washington and 150,000 to San Francisco, including for the first time organized active duty GIs and Vietnam veterans.  

The Mobilization was preceded by the 40 hour March Against Death.  Contingents carried on individual placards the names of Americans from their own state who had been killed, totaling 38,000 at that time, as well as of destroyed villages. They paused and proclaimined each name in front of the White House and deposited them in coffins (pictured below).  

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A useful reminder of what took place during the October 15th moratorium is a section of Rick Perlstein's Nixonland available here

"Witness to the Revolution" by Clara Bingham An oral history of 1969-1970 includes interviews about the Moratorium and Mobilization with Sam Brown, David Hawk, David Mixner, Daniel Ellsberg, Seymour Hersh, Oliver Stone, Barry Romo, Wayne Smith and Bobby Muller. Random House, 2017

See also pages in the encyclopedia of the anti-war movement, "The War Within, America's Battle Over Vietnam" by Tom Wells (available used on Amazon)

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Ideas for projects commemorating the anniversaries of the Moratorium and Mobilization in October and November (please add your own in the comment box below)

1) Inspire and assist local media and institutions to recall what happened in your community and campuses. Bring local history to life from interviews and digging into archives.

A well defined google search will yield surprising things. Archives of local newspapers from 50 years ago may be on line, in a library or at their office. Colleges and universities can be a source for campus publications as well as for regional newspapers, including the "underground" press.

If you have students or interns, this can be a great project. Through google, I happened across "Public Opinion on Long Island about the Vietnam War: A School Year Project Using Local Sources and Perspectives in the Classroom and in Student Research Papers" written in 2004 by Charles Howlett of Amityville Memorial High School and Molloy College

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1555550?seq=1

Finding articles and asking around can lead to individuals who still live in the area or organizations with their own records. Councils of Churches and campus ministries may be able to identify available people who were active against the war.

Some communities have an historical association that might love to collaborate with you.

Your PBS and NPR stations, as well as independent college radio, should be approached early on as potential partners.

Chapters of Veterans for Peace and Vietnam Veterans of America may also wish to be involved.

2) Sponsor a weekly film series.

Hearts and Minds

the most powerful film made during the war by Peter Davis; preview it free https://vimeo.com/126567345; purchase a high definition digital restoration with unused interview footage https://www.criterion.com/films/711-hearts-and-minds

Sir, No Sir

the GI movement, produced and directed by David Zeiger; preview it free https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nPJgeg6hpA ;

purchase at http://www.displacedfilms.com/films/sir-no-sir/

The War at Home

the anti-war movement in Madison, Wisconsin; available on Netflix; for DVD copies of re-release, contact film maker Glenn Silber <glenn@catalyst-media.com>

Don't Burn is the only available film that portrays the war from a Vietnamese perspective; made by Dang Nhat Minh about the journal of a young woman doctor killed while serving in the south that was found by an American soldier and returned to her familiy in Hanoi decades later; available in Vietnamese on youtube; English subtitled DVD available in appreciation of donations of at least $15, contact director@ffrd.org

3) Create a symposium or conference that learns from and links opposition to past, present and prospective wars as well as current movements against mass violence. (see "Thinking Big" below)

4) Organize a vigil to commemorate all those who died, were injured or were imprisoned in, or to protest against. past wars in Indochina and Iraq; or today in Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen; or tomorrow in Iran and Venezuela.

5) Find common cause with opponents of domestic violence by mass shootings or police injustices.

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    From David Cortright
  

Dear friends and colleagues:

The 50th anniversary of the Vietnam Moratorium is approaching, October 15, 2019. It's possible that the press will be looking for stories to mark the occasion, which was the largest outpouring of grassroots action of the antiwar movement. The period from October 15 through November 15, 1969, was a time of widespread protest and resistance to the war.

I asked a student to research what happened here at Notre Dame 50 years ago and received a trove of articles confirming that the campus was alive with protest that day, including a mass attended by 2,000 students and faculty and a sacrificial burning of draft cards.Â

I am making a request now for the Kroc Institute to convene a public forum at Notre Dame on October 15 to discuss what happened 50 years ago locally and across the country.

I'm writing to suggest that you might want to do something similar. If several of us start the wheel rolling on this, perhaps others will pick up the idea. The goal would be to encourage forums on the Vietnam antiwar movement and the challenges of peace today at multiple campuses, a locally organized series of events in the spirit of the Moratorium.

Would you be willing to join me in forming an informal sponsoring group to reach out to other academic colleagues to invite them to join us. Perhaps we can write to the relevant sections of the major academic associations asking them to announce the proposal to their lists. We might also try to place an announcement in the Chronicle of Higher Education.Â

I know we're all busy, especially at this time of the year, but I wanted to offer the idea before the end of the semester and ask for your feedback.

David Cortright
Director of Peace Accords Matrix; Director of Policy Studies
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies
Special Advisor for Policy Studies, Keough School of Global Affairs
University of Notre Dame


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Thinking big

The US war in Vietnam generated the largest most diverse peace movement in US history.  Its unprecedented activities were informed by labor and civil rights struggles.  It began with acts of conscience and dissent at the margins but grew to reshape the nation.  It led to the end of the draft; the fall of two Presidents; creation of community among a generation of activists, objectors, veterans and serving troops; the complete withdrawal of US forces; the end of bombing of civilians and of military assistance; and the achievement of peace in Indochina. 

Fifty years later many progressive movements are active:  to bar the sale of military style weapons to civilians and find other means of preventing mass shootings; to stop police violence against minorities; to challenge overt and covert foreign military intervention; to fight the causes of climate change; to foster equity of race, gender and gender preference; to protect Dreamers and other undocumented residents; to affirm organized representation of workers;  and to democratize US politics.

The eras and the challenges half a century apart are not the same, nor are the methods of organization and mobilization.  However, we believe the 50^th anniversary of the nationwide grass roots peace Moratorium on October 15, 1969 and the Mobilization one month later offer an opportunity to honor and learn from both past achievements and today’s struggles.      

The 1969 moratorium unleashed a resurgence of grassroots antiwar energy after a disastrous election and the tragic demoralizing assassinations of 1968.   Hopefully bringing together past and present in 2019 will strengthen grassroots determination to redeem our nation at the polls in 2020 and save us from the disgrace and disaster of Trumpism.

Below is a sample program, subject to partial modification or total replacement according to local situations and interests of organizers.

Past and Present:  Peace, Justice and Change in (your city, state or region)

All participants come for the whole day

Morning   

What took place here fifty years ago?

Local history:  recreated from news clippings, televised reports, individual, organizational and college archives, audio and video interviews with activists (who may now live elsewhere); can focus just on the Moratorium day or on the complete era; a project for a volunteer committee sharing research tasks, for students or for historians

·         Personal reflections by anti-war activists and veterans who lived in our community then or moved here later

·         Cooperation and conflicts between and within peace groups and with other social movements

·         Legacies of war in Indochina and for veterans

Midday

lunch with opportunity for reunions and sharing common experiences

Afternoon 

What is happening in our community today?

·         Representatives of local organizations and movements describe their issues and methods (preventing gun violence, police issues, opposing militarism, migrant rights, women's rights, environment, election campaigns, etc.)

·         Cooperation and conflicts among peace and social justice groups

·         Open discussion of cross generational sharing and support

Evening 

dinner for cross generational exchanges

·        Songs from past and present movements

Other ideas to consider 

·         Friday evening or Sunday Showing of films and videos about the anti-war movement and current issues

·       Following Saturday  A public vigil or demonstration on the date of the 50^th anniversary

·         Cooperation with PBS and NPR stations, especially if they organized local program related to the Burns/Novick Vietnam series

·         Cosponsorship with universities, community colleges, high schools, libraries, religious institutions and local history specialists

·         Making video and audio records of the whole day and insuring they are archived for future public and academic access

      A national conference in a three day residential format that brings together the experience of many communities and sectors.  One idea is to gather at Kent State University in May 2020 honoring the 50th anniversaries of the killings there and at Jackson State.

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From John Ketwig
(veteran, author of and a hard rain fell)

I think the best approach is to show the obvious parallels between the attitudes and strategies that governed the Vietnam War with the very similar ones that are governing today’s wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and the bombing we are conducting in four other countries. 

Is it patriotic to target and bomb innocent, helpless peasants and civilians?

Is it patriotic to use chemical warfare, especially when those substances are affecting civilian populations?   Agent Orange in Vietnam, and Depleted Uranium in the Middle East.  

I believe that a major cause of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress DAMAGE) and suicides is simply conscience.   Most of our soldiers joined up for all the best reasons, but when they get into the war zone and see what I call The American Way of Waging War, with incredibly cruel and destructive weapons and tactics, they are morally appalled.   We need to stress this, both to inhibit recruiting efforts, and to pressure the military to recognize its terribly destructive ways will never win hearts and minds, or win wars.   The damage done to our brave young soldiers is criminal.   The neglect of our wounded is appalling.   Cuts to veterans benefits while we have soldiers in a combat situation are unconscionable.   And somebody has to say so!  

The implementation has to start with letters to the editor, with participation on TV programs, with guest appearances at high schools and colleges, and with protests in front of recruiting stations all across the land.   Marches won’t get enough attention.   Telling the truth, and stirring controversy will encourage the younger generation to think.   The Vietnam War ended primarily because the soldiers became aware and disillusioned and refused to fight it any more.   We need to provide the facts to today’s soldiers and encourage them to resist the military’s worldwide campaign of death and destruction.

And we have to expose the general public to the costs of maintaining 800 bases around the world, and the amount we spend on militarism as opposed to education, health care, feeding the hungry, repairing our infrastructure, etc.   We cannot afford today’s military budgets.   Sadly, the Democrats have become just as influenced by the campaign contributions from the military-industrial complex as the Republicans.   We need to discredit them all, and push for the repeal of Citizens United.  

The important message is that the very same policies that created the disaster in Vietnam are still in place, and still not at all successful.   We can not afford to travel down this dead-end street any longer.

I look forward to stirring the pot more in 2019.

Peace, John Ketwig

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From Bruce Hartford

What about resurrecting the "teach-in" concept, though this time community-based rather than campus-based? Teach-ins linking the corrupt politics behind the Vietnam War to the politics of our current endless wars and neo-liberal world order?

As I recall, what made the teach-ins different from protests and rallies was:

1. They were oriented towards attracting people who were not yet committed anti-war activists as opposed to preaching to the choir.

2. Instead of short rhetorical orations from speakers from each and every organization who supported the event, the speakers were chosen for their in-depth knowledge and ability to teach.

3. Instead of too-many-panelists, each session was limited to 1 or 2 or at the most 3 speakers who were given enough time to actually teach something rather than only shout rousing slogans. And the event lasted all day so there was time to cover a multitude of sub-topics.

The supporting organizations did have recruitment tables for involving attendees in ongoing work.

Just a thought.

Bruce

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