End the War in Viet Nam

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By 1969, over 500,000 United States military troops were stationed in Vietnam to fight the communist influence of North Vietnam. The war was incredibly destructive and violent against the Vietnamese people, and the United States’ involvement blurred the country’s moral standing. Demonstrations of opposition to U.S. involvement in Vietnam quickly grew into a countercultural social movement. Among those to join the “peace movement” were students, mothers, anti-establishment youth, civil rights activists, feminists, Chicano movement activists, educators, clergy, journalists, lawyers, veterans, and physicians. Tensions were already high due to an increase in student activism during the civil rights and free speech movements, only to be ramped up even higher once the military draft was enforced. The graphic war footage brought into the homes of Americans through televisions also played an active part in the growing opposition to U.S. involvement. Civil rights activist Malcolm X recalled how the U.S. was fighting to free Vietnam from communism yet refused full rights and equality to African Americans “at home.” In March 1973, the U.S. withdrew the last of its military troops from Vietnam, and the war ended two years later in April 1975.