A Unique Perspective of the Peace Movement During the Vietnam War
The radical image of the college campus and national antiwar demonstrations during the Vietnam War overshadowed an important facet of the peace movement. A quiet but effective presence in rural communities, small towns and mid-size cities rippled throughout the country in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Because these quiet, but committed, loose-knit groups did not receive the media attention of the more rebellious and exciting campus demonstrations, it might appear they never existed.
During the later years of the war, even when a majority of Americans opposed their country’s role in Vietnam, much of that majority focused its anger and frustration on the peace movement itself. This was due in large part to the negative image of violence and radicalism among college anti-war activists that dominated the national media. The media ignored the peaceful protests and activities of millions of citizens in communities throughout the country.
Although those involved in the peace movement were called unpatriotic, they believed themselves to be exercising the highest form of patriotism. Patriotism, Peace and Vietnam: A Memoir chronicles the story of one mid-west city that struggled with its conscience during those volatile years.