The March on the Pentagon was a massive demonstration against the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

on October 21, 1967. The protest involved more than 100,000 attendees at a rally by the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in ...

. Later about 50,000 people marched across the city to

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

and sparked a confrontation with paratroopers on guard. The demonstrations were highly polarizing, and also produced the famous photograph of a protester placing flowers in a paratroopers' rifle. Following a concert by

Phil Ochs Philip David Ochs (; December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American songwriter and protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer). Ochs was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, political activism, often alliterative lyrics, and ...

, as well as speeches from

David Dellinger David T. Dellinger (August 22, 1915 – May 25, 2004) was an American pacifist and an activist for nonviolent social change. He achieved peak prominence as one of the Chicago Seven, who were put on trial in 1969. Early life and schooling Delli ...

and

Dr. Benjamin Spock Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 – March 15, 1998) was an American pediatrician and left-wing political activist whose book '' Baby and Child Care'' (1946) is one of the best-selling books of the twentieth century, selling 500,000 copies ...

,The Day The Pentagon Was Supposed To Lift Off Into Space
around 50,000 of those attending were then led by social activist

Abbie Hoffman Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman (November 30, 1936 – April 12, 1989) was an American political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ("Yippies") and was a member of the Chicago Seven. He was also a leading proponen ...

and marched from the Lincoln Memorial to

in nearby

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

to participate in a second rally.

Background

In the evening of January 14, 1967 various countercultural figures celebrating the

Human Be-In The Human Be-In was an event held in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park Polo Fields on January 14, 1967. It was a prelude to San Francisco's Summer of Love, which made the Haight-Ashbury district a symbol of American counterculture a ...

converged in artist Michael Bowen’s San Francisco painting studio. Bowen's guests in the room included

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

Gary Snyder Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate of ...

Timothy Leary Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from bold oracle to publicity hound. He was "a her ...

, and

Jerry Rubin Jerry Clyde Rubin (July 14, 1938 – November 28, 1994) was an American social activist, anti-war leader, and counterculture icon during the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1980s, he became a successful businessman. He is known for being one of the ...

. The small group would eventually conceive of a plan to make a protest march to the Pentagon,

would suggest the need for an exorcism of the Pentagon and Michael Bowen would suggest the purpose of the march be to actually levitate the building. Hoping to attract young, educated college students,

Mobe The Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, which became the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, was a coalition of American antiwar activists formed in November 1966 to organize large demonstrations in o ...

coordinator David Dellinger appointed

, who led the large

Vietnam Day Committee The Vietnam Day Committee (VDC) was a coalition of left-wing political groups, student groups, labour organizations, and pacifist religions in the United States of America that opposed the Vietnam War during the counterculture era. It was formed in ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

,Levitate the Pentagon
/ref> to organize a march.

had recently joined Mobe after previous experience in the civil rights movement. After a spiritual retreat to Mexico Michael Bowen would join in on a meeting in New York City to plan the march. Out of all the activists in the room he was the only one who argued that the Pentagon would be literally levitated, while the others only claimed it would be "levitated" for shock value.

Protest

On October 21, 1967 the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam started the protest with a rally at the

. The attendees were socially diverse ranging from middle class professionals, clergymen, hippies, and black activists. The initial rally, which was galvanized by a concert performance from counterculture folk singer

, and featured serious as well as antic-laced speeches. Notable people such as

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Maile ...

Robert Lowell Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV (; March 1, 1917 – September 12, 1977) was an American poet. He was born into a Boston Brahmin family that could trace its origins back to the '' Mayflower''. His family, past and present, were important subjects ...

Dwight MacDonald Dwight Macdonald (March 24, 1906 – December 19, 1982) was an American writer, editor, film critic, social critic, literary critic, philosopher, and activist. Macdonald was a member of the New York Intellectuals and editor of their leftist mag ...

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky i ...

, and

Paul Goodman Paul Goodman (1911–1972) was an American writer and public intellectual best known for his 1960s works of social criticism. Goodman was prolific across numerous literary genres and non-fiction topics, including the arts, civil rights, decen ...

were in attendance. From the Lincoln Memorial protesters then marched towards the Pentagon. As the protesters neared the Pentagon, they were met by soldiers of the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops Magazine'', 25 November 2012. Archived from tho ...

who formed a human barricade blocking the Pentagon steps. Not to be dissuaded, Abbie Hoffman vowed to levitate

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

claiming he would attempt to use

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws ...

energy to levitate the Pentagon until it would turn orange and begin to vibrate, at which time the war in Vietnam would end.

led Tibetan chants to assist Hoffman. Some protesters tried to rush inside the Pentagon but were prevented. Tear gas and rifle butts were then used to beat back the crowd. Protesters faced down troops with bayonets for hours, around midnight troops chased most protesters away.

Gallery

File:Vietnam War protestors at the March on the Pentagon.jpg, Protesters at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. File:Public Reactions, The March on the Pentagon - NARA - 192605.tif, Protesters marching in the street. File:Abraham Lincoln Brigade Vietnam War Protesters.gif,

Abraham Lincoln Battalion The Lincoln Battalion ( es, Batallón Abraham Lincoln) was the 17th (later the 58th) battalion of the XV International Brigade, a mixed brigade of the International Brigades also known as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. It was organized by the Commu ...

veterans marching from the

. File:Vietnam-protest-flower-mp.jpg, A protester hands a trooper a flower. File:Washington D.C. Anti-Vietnam Demonstration. U.S. Marshals bodily remove one of the protesters during the outbreak of... - NARA - 530620.jpg, US Marshals carrying off a protester. File:Washington, D.C. Anti-Vietnam Demonstration. Protesters sit on the wall around their bonfire after spending the night... - NARA - 530619.tif, Protesters around a fire at the Capitol Mall.

References

{{Anti-Vietnam 1967 in the United States 1967 protests Protests against the Vietnam War United States in the Vietnam War

Background

Protest

Gallery

See also

References