Anti-War movement

MLK on anti war

Oct 1, 1967

In 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. expressed his objection to the war on moral grounds publicly, which caused the anti war movement to increase greatly. MLK put civil rights and the Vietnam war together. He compared the number of african american casualties in the war to the total number of soldiers who were killed and said that it was uneven. African americans were drafted and killed more than other soldiers.

Norman Mailer and Lincoln Memorial protestors

Oct 21, 1967

On October 21, 1967, 100,000 protestors gathered at the Lincoln Memorial. Around 30,000 protestors continued in a march on the Pentagon during the night and many were arrested due to a confrontation with the U.S. Marshals who protected the building. One of the protestors who was arrested was Norman Mailer. Norman Mailer wrote a popular book titled "The Armies of the Night", which explained the events that took place that night. This was one of the most prominent anti war protests.

Kent State Massacre

May 4, 1970

The Kent State massacre in May 1970 caused the anti war movements tensions to increase high than ever when National Guard troops killed 4 students and injured 9 others during the protest against the invasion of Cambodia.

Fall of Saigon

Apr 30, 1975

The Fall of Saigon marked the end of the Vietnam war. Saigon was the capital of South Vietnam and was liberated by North Vietnam forces on April 30, 1975. North Vietnam captured important points of South Vietnam and raised their flag over the presidential palace. South Vietnam's government was soon taken over and the city of Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh city. After these events, many South Vietnamese, Saigon military and U.S. soldiers evacuated on Operation Frequent Wind.