Vietnam War: The mood in 1971

Since we're likely to hear much more in this presidential campaign about John Kerry's experience in the anti-Vietnam War movement, I want to provide a few glimpses at that subject that came prior to the particular pressures of this campaign.

Since the Republicans insist on rehashing that particular period of history, we might as well take the opportunity to rescue some of the real experiences of that time from the Oxycontin fog that the Republicans have thrown up around it.  Way too successfully, I might add.

For starters, here's an excerpt from Stanley Karnow's Vietnam: A History (1983):

The U.S. commanders knew that the answer to the [massive morale] problems [in the armed services] was to end the war and repatriate [withdraw] the GIs [from Vietnam], for whom the conflicts had become as pointless as it had for the rest of the American people.  In March 1971, a poll reported that public confidence in [President Richard] Nixon had dropped to 50 percent, the lowest rating since he entered office.  Support for his conduct of the war slid to 34 percent, another survey stated, with 51 percent of Americans persuaded that the conflict was "morally wrong."

Street protests resumed in America, now spearheaded by Vietnam veterans, and two hundred thousand demonstrators marched on Washington to stage a huge rally in late April [1971].  One of the most eloquent speakers was John Kerry, a former naval officer later to be elected lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, who said that his fellow veterans were determined to "reach out and destroy the last vestige of this barbaric war."  The House of Representatives, usually prudent, began to stir as the Democratic whip, Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, prompted a group of colleagues to urge the repatriations of all GIs by the close of the year.  On June 22, Majority Leader Mike Mansfield prevailed on the Senate to pass a similar resolution that, while not legally binding on the president, reflected the climate on Capitol Hill. (my emphasis)

Say what?  The US Senate passed a non-binding resolution saying that all troops should be withdrawn from Vietnam by the end of 1971? 

That makes me think, the longer this particular flap over Kerry goes on, whoknows what ideas people might get?  I mean, if people start remembering that Congress once showed some backbone over war policy (imagine that!), if people remember that veterans were prominent in the antiwar protests and that other protesters welcomed them, who knows what might start happening?  Are the Republicans sure they want to have this debate?

And, yes, Virginia, when John Kerry was actively protesting against the war, a majority of Americans shared his general sentiment against the war.  A big majority disapproved of the Nixon administration's conduct of the war, which Kerry was protesting. 

It's important to recognize that, despite the hoo-hoo from war fans about how critics of the war were "dishonoring the troops," in fact there was very widespread disaffection with the war among active servicepeople.  Which is why veterans like Kerry had always played an important role in the antiwar protests, a role that increased as time went on.  There was quite an active antiwar movement among soldiers still serving, as well, including in Vietnam.

I'm betting we won't hear that stuff on Fox News or Oxycontin radio.