War Radicals

Last week during class we watched a clip from a documentary on protesters of the Vietnam War. The campaign against the war started out small but really gained national momentum in 1965.


While most of the protestors were young and about the same as most of the men going to war, the documentary showed the young recruits ignoring the demonstrators and some even laughing in their faces. One guy remarked how it was funny that they were there objecting the war. He thought that at least by going to war the men were doing something and not just sitting around at home avoiding combat. 


As a war objector myself, I disagree with what that soldier said about the protestors not doing anything while at home. As the documentary showed, protesting took guts, as they were often up against armed policemen. A lot of the men going to war were only going because they were drafted, while demonstrators were radically defying societal norms and the majority of the population. War supporters sometimes went far enough to call them un-American. But isn't freedom of speech/expression something America stands for?


The most popular and acclaimed anti-Vietnam war protest was in 1967 at the Lincoln Memorial, which continued into the night at the Pentagon (with between 30,000-100,000 people showing up). There were viscous confrontations with soldiers and U.S marshals, resulting in over 100 arrests. This event was later named "The Armies of the Night" by author Norman Mailer. I think people should stop looking at these protesters in such a negative light and instead look at them as revolutionists. Rather than blindly going along with all the arbitrary drafting and recruitments at the time, they took a firm stand for what they believed in. Though what they were doing can be seen as disrespectful, everyone has a right to stand for what they believe in, no matter how radical and reformist. I think [peaceful] protesting will always be better than killing in a war, no matter what government officials say were doing it for.