Pittsburgh Veterans for Peace at the March on the Pentagon
10/21/1967
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Before it was a group, "Vietnam Veterans Against the War" was a slogan on a sign carried at the April 15, 1967 Spring Mobilization to End the War in New York City. Those protesters were soon joined by others. Angered by their treatment and confused about the purpose of the war, many Vietnam veterans risked court-martial through acts of resistance.
On October 21, 1967, an estimated crowd of 70,000–100,000 demonstrators gathered by the Lincoln Memorial in Washington to protest the Vietnam War and march on the Pentagon in the first major national protest against the war. In addition to the signs, chants, and other hallmarks of an anti-war demonstration, activists distributed daisies, and additionally planned to levitate the Pentagon off its foundation in an act of political theater. By the end of the protest, over 600 protesters had been jailed, and dozens hospitalized.
The stereotype persists that members of the peace movement were hippies, college students, and liberal intellectual elites. In reality, there were antiwar sentiments across the political and economic spectrum.
On October 21, 1967, an estimated crowd of 70,000–100,000 demonstrators gathered by the Lincoln Memorial in Washington to protest the Vietnam War and march on the Pentagon in the first major national protest against the war. In addition to the signs, chants, and other hallmarks of an anti-war demonstration, activists distributed daisies, and additionally planned to levitate the Pentagon off its foundation in an act of political theater. By the end of the protest, over 600 protesters had been jailed, and dozens hospitalized.
The stereotype persists that members of the peace movement were hippies, college students, and liberal intellectual elites. In reality, there were antiwar sentiments across the political and economic spectrum.
This primary source comes from the Collection LBJ-WHPO: White House Photo Office Collection.
National Archives Identifier: 2803433
Full Citation: Photograph 7052-3; Photograph of Pittsburgh Veterans for Peace at the March on the Pentagon; 10/21/1967; Johnson White House Photographs, 11/22/1963 - 1/20/1969; Collection LBJ-WHPO: White House Photo Office Collection; Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, Austin, TX. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/photograph-pittsburgh-veterans-peace, December 6, 2024]Activities that use this document
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