Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam

The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam was a massive demonstration and teach-in across the United States against the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. It took place on October 15, 1969, followed a month later, on November 15, 1969, by a large Moratorium March in Washington, D.C.

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Second Moratorium

Developments

In early November 1969, two disclosures put the wind back into the sails of the antiwar movement. Colonel Robert Rheault of the U.S. Army Special Forces was charged with ordering the murder of a South Vietnamese official suspected of being a Viet Cong spy, which was described euphemistically in an Army report as "termination with extreme prejudice". More shockingly to the American people, it was revealed on November 12, 1969 by the journalist Seymour Hersh that on March 16, 1968 Lieutenant William Calley commanding the Charlie Company had ordered the My Lai Massacre, which led to Calley being charged with murder. The My Lai massacre become a symbol to the anti-war movement of the brutality of the Vietnam war, and much of the success of the second Moratorium march was due to the revelation of the My Lai massacre. Karnow described the United States by the fall of 1969 as being very much a polarized and divided nation with about roughly half of the nation supporting Nixon's policies in Vietnam and the other half opposed.

March

Second Moratorium March
November 15, 1969
Washington, D.C.


Badges & stickers


Near U.S. Capitol


Near Washington Monument

The first nationwide Moratorium was followed on Saturday, November 15, 1969, by a second massive Moratorium march in Washington, D.C., which attracted over 500,000 demonstrators against the war, including many performers and activists. This massive Saturday march and rally was preceded by the March against Death, which began on Thursday evening and continued throughout that night and all the next day. Over 40,000 people gathered to parade silently down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. Hour after hour, they walked in single file, each bearing a placard with the name of a dead American soldier or a destroyed Vietnamese village. The march was silent except for the playing of six drums, which played funereal tunes. The marchers finished in front of the Capitol building, where the placards were placed in coffins. Despite his public disdain, Nixon watched the march on television, staying up until 11 pm as he obsessively watched the demonstration outside of the White House and tried to count how people were participating, eventually reaching the figure of 325,000. Nixon joked that he should send helicopters to blow out the candles.

The vast majority of demonstrators during these days were peaceful; however, late on Friday, conflict broke out at DuPont Circle, and the police sprayed the crowd with tear gas. The people of Washington, D.C., generously opened schools, seminaries, and other places of shelter to the thousands of students and others who converged for this purpose. In addition, the Smithsonian Museum complex was opened to allow protesters a place to sleep. A daytime march before the White House was lined by parked tour buses and uniformed police officers, some flashing peace symbols on the inside of their jackets in a show of support for the crowd. The second Moratorium drew an even larger crowd than the first, and it is considered to have been the largest demonstration ever in Washington, D.C. The Woodstock Music Festival had drawn about 400,000 people in August 1969, and it was estimated by some that the second Moratorium had brought out a number equal to "two Woodstocks".

President Richard Nixon said about the march, "Now, I understand that there has been, and continues to be, opposition to the war in Vietnam on the campuses and also in the nation. As far as this kind of activity is concerned, we expect it; however, under no circumstances will I be affected whatever by it."

On Moratorium Day, half a million demonstrators gathered across from the White House for a rally where they were led by Pete Seeger in singing John Lennon's new song "Give Peace A Chance" for ten minutes or more. His voice above the crowd, Seeger interspersed phrases like, "Are you listening, Nixon?", "Are you listening, Agnew?", "Are you listening, Pentagon?" between the choruses of protesters singing, "All we are saying ... is give peace a chance". Others who joined the second Moratorium included the composer Leonard Bernstein, the folk music group Peter, Paul and Mary, the singer John Denver, the folk musician Arlo Guthrie and the Cleveland String Quartet who all played for the crowd. Four touring companies arrived to perform songs from the hippie musical Hair. After the main demonstration about 10,000 protesters headed to the Justice Department. When rocks and sticks were thrown at the building, police responded with a massive tear gas attack while other police units blocked Constitution Avenue. Two thousand people trying to get between the Museum of Natural History and a concrete underpass could move no faster than a very slow walk. Big clouds of tear gas covered the crowd. Police fired more cannisters of gas into the air so that they landed and exploded in the midst of the crowd on the feet and clothing of the retreating demonstrators.

In San Francisco, over a quarter million of people took part in the march against the war on November 15. The school boards in San Francisco refused permission for high school students to take part in the second moratorium, declaring that the moratorium was "unpatriotic". As a result, over 50% of the students in San Francisco high schools missed classes on November 14, as they instead went out to protest against the war the day before the march.

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