VVAW 50th Anniversary

April 15, 1967 peace march in New York City

Half a century ago, I marched in a peace demonstration in New York City with a small group of Vietnam vets along with upwards of 400,000 protesters of the war the US was waging in Southeast Asia. The march from Central Park to the United Nations plaza was so big it jammed up streets in midtown Manhattan for much of the day. The vets group that emerged from that march is still around and commemorating its 50th anniversary on Saturday.

When:	September 16, 2017 from 2:00pm - 5:30PM
Where:	Connolly's Pub and Restaurant 121 West 45th Street New York, NY 10036
What:	50th Anniversary Event of VVAW in New York
Details:	Join VVAW as we gather to celebrate our 50th Anniversary. No elaborate events, just gathering with VVAW members and friends for talking, eating, and drinking.

As noted in the invitation from event organizers: "Veterans For Peace Executive Director Michael McPhearson will attend, and will present a plaque to VVAW. All VFP, VVAW, IVAW, About Face, MFSO, etc. members and friends are invited to attend." As noted in NYU Press' description of the best, concise history of VVAW:

The anti-Vietnam War movement in the United States is perhaps best remembered for its young, counterculture student protesters. However, the Vietnam War was the first conflict in American history in which a substantial number of military personnel actively protested the war while it was in progress.In The Turning, Andrew Hunt reclaims the history of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), an organization that transformed the antiwar movement by placing Vietnam veterans in the forefront of the nationwide struggle to end the war. Misunderstood by both authorities and radicals alike, VVAW members were mostly young men who had served in Vietnam and returned profoundly disillusioned with the rationale for the war and with American conduct in Southeast Asia.