Anti-war demonstrators gather opposite the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 21, 1967, to protest the Vietnam War. Organized by the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, the march, which drew a crowd of over 100,000 people, met at the Lincoln Memorial with protest signs in hand to march to the Pentagon.
The 1967 anti-Vietnam war protest in Washington, D.C.
On Oct. 21, 1967, over 100,000 protesters marched from the Lincoln Memorial to the Pentagon in Washington D.C. to protest the Vietnam War. Hippies and veterans alike clashed with U.S. marshals in one the largest demonstrations against the war that day. The Vietnam War would go on to last until 1975.
Anti-war demonstrators gather opposite the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 21, 1967, to protest the Vietnam War. Organized by the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, the march, which drew a crowd of over 100,000 people, met at the Lincoln Memorial with protest signs in hand to march to the Pentagon.
The march was one of many that took place across the U.S. in the early 1960s because of the country’s presence in Vietnam. While the D.C. march drew many who held anti-establishment ideals, like hippies and counterculturalists, it also attracted marchers like those from Veterans for Peace (left).
Roughly 30,000 protesters marched to the Pentagon following the Lincoln Memorial gathering for further demonstration and a vigil. They were met by a swarm of police officers. While some protesters stuck to chanting and waving signs, others became violent, which erupted into more violence.
The general American public didn’t believe the war was necessary, according to Gallup polls taken in 1967. Public support for the war was below 50 percent, which wasn’t a positive reflection on then-President Lyndon Johnson.
U.S. marshals struggle with a demonstrator during an anti-Vietnam War protest at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. on Oct. 21, 1967.
Young men openly burn their draft cards during the anti-Vietnam War protest in Washington D.C.
A total of 647 protesters were arrested as a result of clashing with police.
Despite the violence, protesters continued to hold their signs high and even join hands to become a force to be reckoned with.
Baby Laura Henderson of Woodstock, N.Y., sports a ‘peace crawler’ sign on her cap as she makes her way around the Lincoln Memorial during the rally of anti-Vietnam War demonstrators in Washington D.C. on Oct. 21, 1967.
Anti-war protesters gather by the Reflecting Pool with the Washington Monument in the background.
