What a Trip by Susen Edwards

Author:Susen Edwards
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: She Writes Press

Chapter 33

The local chapter of the SDS presided over the campus moratorium on Saturday, November fifteenth. Hundreds of students, along with several professors and townspeople, attended the event. Energy was high, voices loud, emotions heated. As promised, Eddie Mays on guitar, and Anna with her deep alto voice, led the crowd in singing “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “We Shall Overcome,” and “Fixin’ to Die Rag,” ending with John Lennon’s anthem “Give Peace a Chance.” Philosophy professor Dr. Armstrong and Art Department chair Dr. Hacking spoke of the atrocities of war and the rights of all citizens to stand up for peace.

Kevin Reilley, a Vietnam veteran student, spoke of women and children murdered by some of his squadmates, of others left maimed and crippled for life, of villages ruined, of American lives wasted. The crowd stood in silence until a jet flying to an unknown destination pierced the air. Shouts of “Peace Now!” followed him as he left the stage.

“Check out the reporters,” Reuben said, pointing to cameras from CBS, NBC, and ABC, the three major news networks filming the demonstration.

“I doubt they’ll show much from here. The big news will be in New York and Washington,” Fiona said. She worried that her parents would see her on the evening news but did not express her concern to Reuben.

“Next time we’ve gotta plan ahead so we can go to Washington,” Reuben said. “We have to be where we’ll make the biggest impact.”

After dinner, Fiona and Reuben headed to the Student Union to watch the evening news. They learned the moratorium in Washington had attracted over a half-million demonstrators, including performers and activists such as Pete Seeger; Peter, Paul, and Mary; John Denver; and Arlo Guthrie. Protests in New York and San Francisco had also attracted hundreds of thousands of marchers.

They watched a recording of President Nixon’s reaction to the demonstrations: “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.”

“Son of a bitch.” Reuben shook his head. “What’s it gonna take to get through to the bastard?”

“I don’t know if we can get through to him. He’s a monster,” Fiona replied.

“Don’t forget, it’s not just him we have to convince. It’s an entire generation. Until the silent majority pulls their support, nothing’s gonna change,” Reuben said, turning his attention back to the television.

The networks reviewed footage from the March Against Death, which began on Thursday evening and continued into Friday. The march ended at the Capitol building, where placards, each containing the name of a dead American soldier or a destroyed Vietnamese village, were placed in coffins.

The majority of the protests were peaceful, but the network aired footage of a conflict at DuPont Circle where the police sprayed the crowd with tear gas. Fiona looked for Peach in the crowd and hoped she had not become an unfortunate victim of police brutality.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.