Sons and Daughters (1967, contains graphic content)

[music] [music] [music] [music] >> The first thousand infantry men plotted ashore just after first light. Little fanfare, little glamour. Most of them were hustled off to a tent camp while small squads moved up into the hills to take up defensive positions around the Camranh perimeter. The remaining 3,000 men of the second brigade arrived tomorrow. There is something symbolic about today's landing. It's the first heavy commitment of American foot soldiers in the Vietnam war. The war is now an American war and not a senior officer in Vietnam today would disagree. We are clearly preparing for that ground war in Asia. Who's going out, Berkeley? I don't know. I don't know. Some of us aren't going home tonight. Time is running out. Tomorrow we will march again to stop this war. We know we can't stop death with marches and leaflets. But silence is another kind of death. The authorities have warned us they'll use their power to stop the march. But we've decided we must march against that power. People ask us, what do you know? How can you make this kind of choice? Years ago we heard talk of aid to Vietnam. Of military advisers. Like you, we also heard about corruption in Saigon, democracy, and dictators. Yes, we should send money and men to help if life improves for Vietnamese. But what was life for Vietnamese and the governments we fought so hard defending, one after the other? And when our advice became command, our aid became destruction. Homes demolished, peasants killed to kill communism. What happened to our good ideas? How could we still pretend to help the South searching for peace with bombs in the north? Why is America fighting a dirty war? We wanted someone, please, to tell us why. We were not content with silence. So we set aside [music] a day at universities, the first teach-in, to open dialogue and find the truth. For some, the truth was escalation. That meant no debate in Congress. It meant we were not consulted. We were told, "Send more money. Send more bombs. Send another son." "We must do something. Something." "Stop the troop trains," we shouted. "No more bodies for Vietnam." But our shouts alone can't stop machines. And you, you had work to do, bills to pay, sons to raise. You had no time to get involved. America's sons die in jungles. Losses light to moderate. Will your son be a light or a moderate loss? More headlines. Crop dusters spray jungles. Pentagon denies chemical warfare charge. New Johnson peace bid. Air attacks increase. Fire and pain and steel and death. But you have work to do, bills to pay, sons to raise. You have no time to get involved. This escalation cannot go on. We must do something. Something. So now we plan to march. First of all, this is intended at what the speaker what VDC speakers will say at the open army terminal. And also what will be the text of a leaflet that will be handed out hopefully to soldiers, definitely to everyone else. And uh The substance should be about the nature of the war in Vietnam and what are we going to do about it? What implications does it have for us in this country? What what I do think is that we should we should go down and and endorse the policy of telling soldiers not to fight for the specific reason that they're going to be asked to fight an immoral war, the specific reason that they're going to be asked to commit war crimes. And and we want to discuss is what's wrong with the Vietnam war and who is responsible for it politically. The main thing about this war is it violates the rights of the of the South Vietnamese people. We've been in these discussions in the kitchen steering committee for the past week. The first decision to be made is what it exactly said in the leaflet to soldiers. It seems to me that if we demand to get the truth to the soldiers, which is part of the demand to get the truth to the country. Okay. What's implied there is that they're being lied to. Similarly, we can use our government's participation in the Nuremberg to show up their own hypocrisy at this time. Then we want to make explicit the seriousness of this step by showing that it does uh violate very important legislation in America, namely the Espionage Act of 1917, and does carry the risk of jail. We don't consider it to be treason. We consider it to be in the best interest of the people in this country for them to end the war in Vietnam. No matter what we say, they're going to reduce it to its simplest and most extreme absurdity. The banner headlines are going to say, "Vietnam Day Committee tells soldiers not to fight." So, if the major tone of your of your argument is going to give the newspapers and the government apologists the chance to avoid the whole question of the of the Vietnam War and talk about, you know, what the Vietnam Day Committee is doing in terms of is it treasonous, is it I want to try and get to some sort of consensus, but I don't think we're that far apart. In protesting this war in Vietnam, we speak out to those who are presently in the armed forces. We must thrust upon them the knowledge that Americans are now committing the same acts for which our government tried, convicted, and hanged German war criminals. We have in the past attempted to stop troop trains to talk directly with the soldiers who will soon be acting under orders in Vietnam. For telling them of their individual responsibility, we have been called traitors. Many of us are subject to the draft. We too will be ordered to drop to burn villages, to torture captives. The sincerity of our appeal must be shown by our own refusal to participate in the atrocities without which the Vietnamese war could not be fought. We must urge them to demand of their superiors access to the truth about the Vietnamese war, to discuss with their fellow soldiers their individual responsibility for the acts they will be ordered to commit, and finally to take individual and joint action to refuse to fight in Vietnam. What about Unruh's statement that he called out the National Guard? Windy? Yeah, I was We had uh been down the Army terminal last week. They're holding a complete mock rehearsal. Next Saturday, a repel invasion rehearsal. With airplanes and uh there are helicopters and boats and there are troops. So, at this point they're preparing for a complete invasion of the base. The general would only make one statement, and that was that we are prepared. >> [music] [music] >> American Heritage West earnestly endeavors to present a balanced presentation of ideas and opinion on any [music] topic. If you hear listener opinion contrary to your own views on the subject, please accept this invitation to call and participate. The telephone number is 923-2111. Turn somebody on, Topsy. You want another coffee? I voted for Johnson. I was sure that he would not escalate the war. And I don't know exactly why he's doing it. He claims he's doing it to uh stop communism and he accuses the uh Vietnamese of being the aggressor and although he tries to uh buy off the uh poor people particularly the Negroes on his uh so-called uh war on poverty. It seems to me I've heard of that he's almost like a Hitler in trying to make people at home think that he's a great guy by giving them a few dollars here and there to quiet them down while he has the go-ahead on uh bombing Vietnam. I mean That defines precisely the problem. But you can't talk about Vietnam right now. If you talk about it, you're you're in a certain kind of category. Well, you're a protester. You're more than that, you know, you're a peacenik. You're [ __ ] You're you're a beatnik. There are a lot of things that you can't talk about. Kennedy death is a kind of political thing. That's still part of it. That's still part of what's what's going on. You're not you're not outside of it. The social talk about Vietnam, you're you're in a position where you're in an an entirely different category. That's one of the really most cynical things the government does, you know. They take these poor soldiers who have don't know about the background of American involvement Do you see Snail? I think he's back in the kitchen. Did you see Matilda? And make it a matter of Um just a minute. He was here a minute ago. He is here. And And and then of course, you know, then their anger and frustration of having to be in that ridiculous and dangerous situation has to be turned somewhere, so it gets turned on the people who oppose the war. It's all very ironic, but it's also very clever, you know. One of the best weapons the government has is to get these guys in there, so then they feel an investment in what they're doing even though they don't know why they're doing it. >> Hey, turn off the radio. It's time for the news. >> [music] >> Good morning, and is the 6:00 a.m. news. Those Berkeley protesters meet obstacles. They plan to march to Oakland Army Terminal to distribute anti-war leaflets to the soldiers. The Army Terminal is a major embarkation point for troops bound for Vietnam. Early this week, leaders of the planned march applied to the Oakland City Council for a parade permit. Indications are that the permit will be denied. Protesters say they will march even if the application is not granted. Oakland Police Chief Toothman says he will use his law enforcement authority to block the march and cancels all days off for his 650-man force. State Attorney General Lynch calls up two National Guard units to aid Oakland police. Lynch warns that civil disobedience could result in severe penalties for demonstrators. Alameda D.A. Coakley cites Espionage Act of 1917 and says protest march smacks of treason. Confrontation between police and anti-war demonstrators seems imminent this morning as the protesters go ahead with their plan for today's teach-in and march. And that's supposed to be the news? Come on, Fred. Everybody's got to pitch in and do some signs. Uh ladies don't carry signs. This is perfect background background music. Hey, Gibson, how about helping with the signs? I'm driving the truck already. What do you want me That's the girl that wipes the windows. >> Get your late edition. Late edition here. Oakland chief the block march Get your late edition. National Guard alerted. Oakland chief says no no on march. Thank you. Chief says no beats on my beat. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> The teach-in will begin at 11:00. The first speaker of the teach-in will be Stanley Scheinbaum. The teach-in will take place in the open soccer field to the west of the Student Union. There are workshops going on. We encourage you to attend the workshops. The teach-in will begin at 11:00. There are literature tables around the fountain in Sproul Hall. there are many organizations. We are now holding a press conference on the student union terrace. I'd like to start the press conference now by introducing Mr. Paul Goodman. It was a 20 million mandate not to do precisely what he Now I don't know whether he was lying or whether he was simply captive. But in any case the president received a 20 million vote mandate precisely not to go to Vietnam or to escalate that war in Vietnam. That's what that election was about. It was about the nuclear threat and about the Vietnam war. Under these conditions our problem is how to restore substantive democracy in the country rather than formal democracy. How to restore substantive rather than formal democracy. So I'd like to introduce two professors of the University of California. They are Reginald Zelnik, a professor of Russian history and Professor Franz Schurmann, director of the Center of Chinese Studies. Professor Schurmann would like to make a statement to begin with. Political circles have been urging precisely this, a further bombing of North Vietnam, a further intensification of the war in South Vietnam and possibly even even envisaging a bombing of the Chinese mainland. I feel my own personal position on this matter is that it's extremely important for those American citizens who feel concerned and have protest in regard to the war in Vietnam that they take advantage of this day of protest. Where did >> [music] >> it all begin? All I see is the final scene where I had a dream that I was flying high above the clouds with the >> [music] >> angels and I knew that I was ready. I ain't much >> [music] [music] [singing] [music] [music] >> Conor Cruise O'Brien the former of the United Nations Emergency Force in the Congo, ex-vice chancellor of the University of Ghana, and currently a visiting member of the faculty of New York University. I'm a stranger in this country at least as much of a stranger as an Irishman is likely to feel in America. I am here to express support and admiration for those Americans who are protesting against this war in Vietnam. I know the concern which people there feel about this war and the reassurance that they derive from the fact that there is a protest movement here against this and that that movement is on an important scale. Will you march? >> Yes, I will We'll march tonight. Yes, we will march tomorrow. We will We'll answer questions after everyone has spoken. Here is Professor Zelnik. We intend to join with the Vietnam Day Committee and any other group that wants to join in this protest against the war. We do not consider the march illegal even though the parade permit has not been granted. We feel that the reason the march permit has not been granted is probably very closely connected with the content of the march, that it is a controversial protest march against American foreign policy, probably the most sensitive sensitive area of politics that exists. And therefore it is a constitutional question and we do intend to march. I I remember Reggie Robinson who worked with SNCC saying, "Have any of you seen action in the South?" So I raised my hand. He said, "What was the action?" I said, "Freedom rides, 1961." He said, "That was off the bus and then to jail, right?" I said, "Right." >> [music] [music] [music] >> Let's sing 1 2 3. Any other questions? As I understand it, uh the route of the Vietnam Day Committee [music] march is going through an area where the Oakland authorities say it's uh uh a racially mixed area. >> Hey, Joe. That is a possible and perhaps can precipitate a riot as happened in Watts. Do you think there is a possibility for a riot to occur? Hurry up, you guys. Come on. Do you think there is a possibility for a riot to occur? Let's make quite clear what you mean. You mean we're going through the black ghetto of Oakland. In terms In terms of the of the possibility of a riot, I don't think there'll be a a riot. I have the feeling I have the feeling that uh in some sense uh that the uh American Negro community has been excluded from uh the great society and that they may feel to a certain extent in sympathy with our uh protest about the fighting a war against Asian peoples in Vietnam. The meeting has begun. Professor Lyman is speaking. The meeting has begun and Professor Lyman is minds of Washington how to weaken the Viet Cong base. In the period between 1961 and 1960 five, 10 weeks ago, the orientation was pacification. This failed. It was too late to win back the peasantry. The disruptions to normal life does not have to be repeated or described by me. If it is true as Mao Tse-tung has said that the guerrilla is like a fish in a sea of peasants, how do you undermine the guerrilla? We could not win the peasants away from the Viet Cong. The new strategy is not to win the peasant away. They had to be removed. About 10 weeks ago, the bombings by B-52s were accelerated to one raid a day from one every 10 days or one every 2 weeks or so. Talking now of the bombings in the South, the Air Force had won the fight within the administration circle. A refugee base so vast that the Viet Cong could not find a place to hide so that the Viet Cong would not find a peasant community who would support them. First move had failed. Their argument about bombing the North had failed. Pacification has failed. Even where we do take villagers from the Viet Cong, every evidence, every reporting back is that we do not we cannot hold those villages. Therefore, the arguments were to go into an all-out fight to pummel this ground into nothingness. We can no longer keep what we have. So, the present policy is not to force the Viet Cong out from the underground. And you wonder how they can be forced out from under some rice paddies. But, the present policy rather is that we remove the peasant support. Now, this is a vast significant change. When you're talking now of 600,000 refugees already in existence in a country of 13, 14 million people with the bombings continuing every day, it will be soon when there will be three or four million refugees. This is callous. This is deliberate. I asked you not to be shocked by this kind of thing. I asked you not to be shocked by napalm. Once we have decided on war, all the other things, the napalm, the bombing, the defoliation, the use of gas, all these things fall into place. The transition from having a foreign policy to the exercise of brute power. And this was summed up in a tremendous statement of uh Tacitus. He said, "They make a desert and they call it peace." They make a desert and they call it peace. Now, to put it in our terminology, uh we feel that it's better to be dead than red. And we're going to see therefore that all of the Vietnamese are dead rather than that any of them are red. Now, morally, that's on the highest plane because it's better to be dead than red and it's better for them to be dead than red. But, there's something that is the kind of decision which you let people make for themselves. It really isn't a kind of decision you make for your neighbor, you know, that kind of moral judgment. It is impossible to love your rocks and rills, to love your neighbors, and so forth, and go into the morality or immorality required by nationalism. Now, I'm going to refer to a strange document which was put out by those professors a couple of weeks ago attacking the Vietnam Day Committee. It doesn't seem at all clear from that document that these professors realize at all that the republic itself is in danger. But, you have the impression that the student group realizes it somehow in their bones. And I'd like to say in their American bones. See, now, would the professors deny, for instance, that the government has persistently lied to the people over the last 10 years? Would they deny that the military-industrial complex has grown monstrously? That it controls a vast share of the best brains, is continually conscripting thousands of people, and in fact pursues its course outside of the democratic process. See, would they deny that there is an invisible government? Would these professors deny that it withholds the truth? See, would they deny that this is an invisible government? Would they really seriously deny that? These are political scientists and famous, world-famous sociologists, who get all kinds of foundation grants. You know, would they deny these things which every journalist knows and says, and many books have been written about it? The most active stocks of 1965 were Sperry Rand, which at year's end was up 8 and 1/8, Chrysler up 7 and 5/8, American Telephone and Telegraph down 1 and 1/2, General Dynamics up 21 and 3/4, US Steel up 1 and 1/4, Westinghouse Electric up 19 and 3/4, Standard Oil of New Jersey up 9 and 3/4, Fairchild Hiller up 9, Radio Corporation of America up 13 and 3/8, Pan American World Airways up 22 and 5/8, and Magnavox up 50 and 3/4. Once more, booming profits and dividend payments, as well as record national production, accompanied the market movements. Escalation of hostilities in Vietnam resulted in bigger defense spending. This was bullish for defense stocks and all the industries that feed them. Big gains were also made by aerospace defense issues, which benefited directly from the build-up for the Vietnam escalation, as well as from the nation's continued efforts in space exploration. Would they really seriously deny that there is an invisible government? You know, really, if this is supposed to be the United States of America. Would they deny that there's been every kind of effort to curve a legislative debate and to create an insane kind of a consensus, absolutely unknown in American history. And they know how that's being done. These professors know that as well as the students know it. Why do they take that lightly? For God's sake, why don't they try to do something about it? And when you students, God bless you, I mean, try to do something about it in order to save my kids from being fried, whether what you're doing is right or wrong, it's something in a situation where the risk is fatal. Some people said we were extremists. You don't stop troop trains with shouts and signs. Others called us traitors. But last summer in Berkeley, we couldn't be silent. There was not one sign there. And there it is. There it is. Come on. Let's go. Let's go. >> I believe that you young people and those like you who are protesting the United States policy in Vietnam and other places are not opposing the military service people but are assisting them by bringing to an end an illegal, immoral and totally unnecessary war. I spent plenty four years in the armed services and I believe that I'm representing the people of the United States today better than I was ever able to do it on the battlefield. I don't believe there is any man or woman in this audience that wouldn't struggle to support the United States if the people of the United States were in danger of being invaded, but the United States is not being invaded. It's the other way around. General Hester says America is the invader. Vietnam is immoral, illegal. Last summer in San Francisco a very different military officer commanded our attention. We accuse this general of the Vietnamese crime. Do you think our language is too strong? Maxwell Taylor runs the trains we tried to stop [music] 6 weeks ago. Now we can confront him face to face. He's not a train. He's no machine. He's a man. A man we accuse of war crimes. He's gone inside to talk to the city's fathers. Why doesn't he answer her sons and daughters? Maxwell Taylor, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Maxwell Taylor, chairman of the board, Mexico Light and Power. Maxwell Taylor, United States ambassador to Saigon. Maxwell Taylor, will you answer us? This was his answer. You're trespassing on private property. Larry Lofton, trespasser. Steve Weisman, trespasser. Jerry Rubin, trespasser. Barbara Gullahorn, trespasser. Now, tonight we are going to fight for the right to march for open, but we are not going to put ourselves in jail. That's just what they want. So, we're going to march tonight for two reasons. One, because the chances are that if our numbers are great, we will succeed. And two, because we want Oakland directly to tell us, to tell the nation, and tell the world that you can't march anymore to oppose the war in Vietnam. Here is the 6:30 news. Doctors are wondering what to do with a gallbladder and kidney stone they removed from President Johnson last Friday. White House secretary Bill D. Moyers said that the doctors who performed the operation still have the stones. Moyers said he expected they might be mounted in plaster of Paris and presented to the president as a souvenir, as was done when Mr. Johnson had a kidney stone removed in 1955. We interrupt for a special news bulletin. Oakland police intend to block the peace march to the Oakland Army Terminal tonight. Oakland Mayor Houlihan said today, "We expect our police to preserve law and order and prevent this march. We have been assured of the necessary resources to do so by other government agencies." He told newsmen that the National Guard, United States Marshals, and the FBI have been alerted. A spokesman for the march said meanwhile that the fully monitored, fully controlled march will leave from the University of California campus at 7:30 tonight. He insisted, "We plan full cooperation with the police where it is possible, but we cannot allow our right of free speech and free assembly to be violated." Attention, please. The march will leave at 7:30. We must leave in an organized way. We'll be leaving from the south of the field and going down Telegraph Avenue. In a few moments, Kay Boyle will speak. I believe I very strongly believe that the greatest recompense life has to offer is the ability to put one's thoughts, one's beliefs into action. In our present tragic situation, every one of us must choose whether to speak or to remain silent, to act or not to act, for the conscience of America is on trial. If we are really different from the population of Germany during World War II, then to prove that difference we must leave no word unspoken, no gesture unmade. We must know beyond argument and beyond faltering that if the word and the act are at variance, then the words might as well be left unsaid. Thank you, Miss Boyle. And this poses an enormous personal, moral, and political problem for every one of us. And the problem that we face tonight is to decide in what manner you will act so that you can demonstrate to the world that there are indeed thousands of Americans who believe enough in morality and in decency and in honor and in truth so that they are willing TO DO MORE. YOU CAN LEAVE THIS field and you can march down the street and you can march until they stop you. And when they stop you, do not be deterred. Yeah. Do not stop. If tonight you do not succeed. There will be another day and [crying] another night. There is tomorrow and if it doesn't work tomorrow, YOU CAN TRY AGAIN and the next time you try, THERE WILL BE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS AS THERE WAS IN SELMA BECAUSE whatever the people of this country may feel about the law, the one thing they do believe in is that YOU AND I have a right to march to express our opinions. Please clear the street. Please clear the street for traffic. Okay, now listen here, please. Many of you have just arrived. It is important that we remember the instructions given at the teach-in. You must stay inside the line of monitors and behind the truck. If there is a police cordon set up to stop us, we will not engage in physical violence and we will not submit to arrest. We're at the border between Berkeley and Oakland, the city line border, where barricades have been set up completely cutting off the exit from Berkeley into Oakland. It appears that the Oakland police have decided this far and no farther. Fall in behind the leaders. Are the police really going to try to stop all these people? 9,000 What? people So far. I just heard the police estimate. Let's keep the front of the line tight. There's about 600 police up there. We want to keep the march tight. that there are barricades at the Oakland border, which is about a block and a block and a half from you. Stay still. Let the truck move forward. Move in. Keep a very tight line of monitors along this road. Let's You know, it's better we stop them than those barricades do. >> [singing] >> We are not afraid. Freedom! Some of the authorities have come forward now to confront the leaders of the March and of course the leaders are there stating themselves as to why they are here and the police of course are immobile. They will not let the March continue into the city of Oakland. It has now become clear that the open authorities are not going to let us march through Oakland. We have absolutely no intention of going through that barricade. I think the people here who share our about building the kind of peace movement that can bring an end to this damn war will realize that while you might be able to knock down a barricade you're certainly not going to be able to build a peace movement with all your activists in jail. We plan to turn back tonight to march to Civic Center in Berkeley and Civic Center to continue our teaching. We have speakers from all over the country. We will continue there till 12:00 p.m. tomorrow. Let's fight this on our ground not on the cops' ground. What do you think of this? I don't know. I think it's important. I don't know. I think they're all crazy. You mean all these people marching? >> Yeah. I don't think they're true Americans. They don't believe in the American heritage. What do you think of the March so far? Oh, it's great now. By great even though there's been nothing actually happened? Oh, what do you mean? You get 15,000 people marching against the war in Vietnam. You think that's nothing happening? People didn't come to come here to get arrested. Are all of you in agreement? Help me. Help me. >> What I have said to you is what I would think students of Saigon and the University of Hue would say to you if they could have been here tonight to see your wonderful demonstration. They would have thanked you very much for demonstrating on their behalf in a way that the government of Vietnam does not permit them to do. As you know, just last week two or three Vietnamese were executed by their own government for attempting to hold what appears to have been a very modest demonstration in Saigon asking for peace to be brought to their country. >> I was saying what the Buddhist think about all of this because they are the largest single organized settlement in Vietnam. Well, there's some difference of opinion among Buddhist side. In general, one can say that they are unanimous on one point and that is that the United States should get out of Vietnam as quickly as possible. But the reason, however, seems to be that they feel that the American policy violates everything that Vietnamese life as expressed in Buddhism stands for. This was very graphically explained to me by one of the top Buddhist monks in Vietnam who said uh he said, "You know, uh Viet Cong is being loosely translated which means Vietnamese Communist. That is to say, two elements, the man, the Viet, and the Cong, the idea. You uh Westerners are very funny because you don't like the idea. You think the way to get rid of the idea is to kill the man that has the idea. But this is this is not the way we Buddhist would look at it. If we saw a man with an idea that we didn't like, we would try to change the idea in order to save the man, not destroy the man in order to destroy the idea. One mentions this to the American Embassy in Vietnam, they go into hysterics and say, "Oh, you mean the Buddhist approach of conquering your enemy by love?" And it may seem strange to Western ears, but it's not so strange to an Easterner, particularly to a Buddhist. A big part of our problem, not only in Vietnam, but throughout Asia as far as I know, and I dare say in Africa also, is that we approach everything with a Western framework, a Western value system, and then are amazed when people don't react the way Americans would react. I think we have to unlearn a lot of things if we're going to be the world leader as we intend to be. I of course personally don't think we should try to be. Now in South Vietnam where 90% of the people they have one wish, and that is that they'd be permitted to have a Vietnamese solution to a Vietnamese problem. And I think that uh well, I believe in non-interference, basically. But if we insist on interfering in other people's affairs, rather than in Mississippi and Alabama where the interference really is appropriate, I would suggest that we interfere in South Africa, and Rhodesia, and Mozambique, and Angola. THE FRENCH WAR, AS PUNITIVE AS it was, caused 1 million Vietnamese to die. One out of 30 Vietnamese to die. United States war to date has caused 300,000 civilian Vietnamese to die. If the United States is to win its military victory, and as I said, I believe it can win its military victory, it's going to cause many more than that million Vietnamese to die. It's going to cause maybe two out of 14 Vietnamese to die. It's going to cause maybe five or six million other Vietnamese to join the 1 million refugees that we now have in South Vietnam. And I would submit to you that while this is probably the most monstrous war America has ever been involved in, it's probably also the most impersonal. And we're killing people we don't even care that they're dying. We aren't even liking them. We don't even get a sadistic satisfaction out of doing that. It's completely mindless. It's completely anonymous. It's completely impersonal. And people take pride in that quality, you know? Somehow they know the president They know he's not bad because they know he's a reasonable man. They know they like to have coffee with him. You know, they know he's quiet, civilized, as much as an American politician can be. They can't think of him as a murderer. You know, it's very easy to believe in the reasonableness of your rulers when you're part of the power structure. >> And I think it's time we set to the power structure. There's a line between you and us. And you don't represent Western civilization, and you don't represent America. And you don't represent democracy or any of these things. You would work for any government in any period of history that asked you to do anything. These people will work for any bureaucracy in any society. AND IT IS IMPORTANT AND IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE SHOW that at this period of history there was a group of people, no matter how small, that were different. They would not go along, and they would stand in opposition. Yes, the United States is now doing in Vietnam very much what Hitler did in Czechoslovakia and in Yugoslavia. No, and something far worse really than what the Russians did in Hungary. And I think we have to understand that. And I think if there are any people here that have ever put themselves in the position of criticizing the Germans for allowing that to be done in their name, criticizing the Russians for allowing that to be done in their name, they better look at themselves now. This is the time. This is the time for Americans to say, "Enough." And this is the time for Americans to say, "You cannot kill another single Vietnamese in my name without PUTTING ME AWAY." >> [music] >> PAUSE FOR A MINUTE AND ASK yourself why. The red glow of fire lights up the sky. >> [music] >> And the sound of the sirens scream and the streets re-echo with the rifle's crack. Oh, what are the thoughts that go [music] racing through your brain and mess your mind up at the sight of a city that's gone completely insane? COME ON WITH ME, LET ME TAKE YOU down there to the hate-haunted canyons of human despair. Over the dark, invisible [music] wall through the sick and instinctive of the tenement hall. >> [music] >> Oh, how can I tell you in terms of black and white about this [music] fire in the city tonight? >> [singing] [music] [music] >> Oh, what are the thoughts that go racing through your [music] brain and mess your mind up at the sight of a city that's gone completely insane? Where will it wind up? I know by your don't know the sound >> [music] >> of a clock that's beating a man TO THE GROUND WHERE YOUR HOME IS YOUR PRISON, YOUR SKIN A DISGRACE >> [music] >> AND THE GATES OF YOUR NATION SWING SHUT IN your face? Oh, how can I tell you in terms of black [music] and white about this fire in the city >> [singing] >> tonight. >> [music] [music] [music] >> Oh, what is going [music] to go racing through your brain and mess your mind up at the side of a city that's gone completely insane? Where will it wind up? Pause for a minute AND ASK YOURSELF WHY. >> The red glow of fire lights up the sky. It's fire in the city. And at the SOUND OF THE SIREN, YOU REALLY know >> It's fire in the city. >> [music] >> that you truly do reap what you sow. It's fire in the city. Oh, how can [music] I tell you in terms of black and white while there's fire [singing] in the city tonight? >> [music] >> Oh, how can I tell you in terms of black and white while there's fire in the city tonight? >> [singing and music] >> Oh, how can I tell you in terms of black and white >> [music] >> while there's a fire >> [music] >> in the city tonight? >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] >> Will you hold this for me just for a minute? Just hold it. >> [music] [singing] >> I have I have two announcements to make. The first is uh for there'll be an executive committee meeting at that tree over there and uh you know, for brainstorming session. And the the other announcement is for all those people who would like to serve as monitors on the march this afternoon. There's a briefing session that's going to be held back at the fountain. >> Hey, could somebody get my my paraphernalia right there? Straight in front of me, right there, right there. Discontinue with the Berkeley newspaper and get on to the real newspaper, the New York Times. Vietnam policy attacks and protests against across the United States. Demonstrations protesting the continuing United States involvement in the Vietnam war were concluded in cities across the country yesterday as part of a series of such rallies planned for the weekend. There were several scuffles with counter pickets in Chicago. In Columbus, Ohio, four leaders of a planned rally were arrested by the police. In Berkeley, California, some 2,000 students listened to speeches and a musical and music at a rally held on an athletic field. The gathering was a forerunner to a scheduled march and sleep-in at the Oakland Army Base, 7 and 1/2 miles from the University of California campus. Here in New York, several hundred persons have participated in a rally outside the Army Induction Center. One youth burned his draft card while federal agents looked on. The scores of demonstrators demonstrations yesterday were a prelude to large protests planned for 100 cities today and tomorrow. In Washington, the State Department said that the noisy demonstrations against US policies reflected only an What is this? Infinitesimal problem. I've heard that quote before. infinitesimal Infinitesimal fraction of the American public opinion. That's the new word of the day. What is this thing that makes a man want to die? If war is the answer, then tell me why. There's only one thing that uh worries my mind. There ain't enough people saying no to this crime. Too late. Too [music] late to make amends. Too late. Too late to be friends. My conscience voice, there ain't no choice but to live. Hey, hey. >> [music] >> Don't tell me you can't see it. Baby, don't lie. >> [singing] >> There's a storm blowing out on the sea. It's not like the storm is going to wreck the cities. Some politicians sit back and applaud. I guess they got more power than God to lead. Dr. [music] King is speaking on the campus. society in which racism is eliminated, in which economic discrimination is eliminated, then we here in America are going to have to do it. And there is enthusiasm growing among young people all over this country. And I'll tell you that there are physicians, there are teachers, there are social workers, there are ministers, there are people all over this country that are fed up with the power structure. They are fed up with bigotry and the phoniness that comes over whenever McGeorge Bundy or McNamara or LBJ or any of those people get on TV. They're fed up with that. They want some reality. THEY WANT HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS. THEY WANT TO MAKE LOVE INSTEAD of war. They want to let their children have a CHANCE TO GROW. MARIA MONTESSORI, THE first Italian physician, went before the League of Nations in 1926 and she said, "Western civilization is going to die from within unless you develop a better conception of your child, of what childhood is, and what the creative potential is of the human child." I like that real hot. These people have children and every one of those children is a potential genius. Every one of those children is a potential creative citizen of this country, but they aren't going to be. They are living under conditions of chaos, and they're going to grow up and become so-called juvenile delinquents. They're going to grow up to be forced into an army and go out and die for something they don't even know. No, but they will. You know it's true they are. What book did you read? You know, I I I I I read a lot of James Baldwin. You know what I mean? Yeah, really, yeah. What age do you think a girl should have kids by? You know, I want to have my kids by the time I'm about 20, 21. Because I really will be going to school, of course, you know that. And I'll be going to school. Damn, you got the future planned, huh? I mean I mean, I only have to I only have to go to college for 3 years, and then I'm going to do an internship for years I'm done. You know, I'm going to be a pediatric nurse, RN that is, I'm going to be the top. But um why you want to be a baby pediatrician? I don't like my own, but I like kids, you know. They're not dirty. What? They are not. If you raise them right. Raise them right? Yes, if you know what I'm talking about, of course you do. I mean, you know, no child wants to have an alcoholic for a father. No child wants to have an alcoholic >> an alcoholic? At least my kids won't. Like in America Speaking of America This is the Be quiet. It is the most opportunist You're supposed to be a patriotic. I am patriotic, but touch Forward. Halt. Left side. Hup, hup. Left side. Hup. right. Left, right. Left, right. Left, right. Left, right. Left. Left, right. Left. Left, right. Left. Left, right. Left. Left, right. Left. Turn. Halt. Left, right. Okay, swing those arms nine and six, nine and six. Okay, lift those feet off the ground. You're not at home now, pick them up. Now, you don't exaggerate. Don't exaggerate. Left, right. Left. Left, right. Left. Left, right. Left. Left, right. Left. Turn. Halt. Align yourself to the right. You hammerheads move up and align yourself. Left. Halt. Left, right. Halt. Left, right, left. Now, you like so much to play with your nose, play with it. Play with it. Left, right, left. More, more. I want you to play with it like this. Play with it. Now, do you think a grown man, I should have to tell him to do that? >> No, sergeant. Well, play with your nose a little more because you like it so much. Now, that's enough. Are you finished now? Yes, sergeant. From now on, I'll tell you what to do with your hands. Keep in mind now, when you go inside, these haircuts is your choice. Everybody understand that? You have approximately six choices that you can pick from. >> [laughter] >> What are we fighting for? Fighting women and cigars. What are we fighting for? Yeah, that's the [ __ ] [ __ ] What do you think about President Johnson? I even voted for him. Louie. Louie, Louie. Here's my friend and your friend. Awesome. I'll be right back. first one in Vietnam. Try to get some jungle bunnies. Want to hear about the draft? That's all about it. I once had long hair, slung a guitar. Say, Weasel, did you come through open? Did I come through open? As I could. Want to hear about the draft? 2 months now, you'll be in Vietnam. Yeah. Yeah, you will. Yeah, y'all going to get it. You men are getting ready to come in this building now to have your name tags sewn to your jackets. On the inside of this building, we have 30 white tiles. As you men come through the door, you will be assigned to a row to stand on. You have to be no closer to the man in front of you than what this tile will allow. As you men approach the sewing machine, the shirts that you were carrying in your arms are to be laid down first. Your field jacket will be laid on top of these shirts. As I call your names out, say here. West. Here. Weaver. Here. Rubin. Here. Riley. Here. Remus. Here. Riker. Here. Ryan. Here. Player. Here. Fucci. Here. Alpin. Here. McGuire. Here. Hale. Here. McKinney. Here. Matthews. Here. Lockridge. Here. Montoya. Here. Prosper, T97. Anyone out here that did not get a name tag, raise your hand. Check your names for spelling. Be sure the name on top agrees with the name on the bottom. Any misspelled names, raise your hand. How many men out here need one or more US Armies on their jackets? Raise your hand. We will call you back a little later to sew on the US Armies. When the young lady shows you your first shirt, pick up that shirt, put it on, button it up, but do not stuff it in your pants. When you pick up your last shirt, go back to the barracks, and then stuff your shirt back into your pants. Halt. Halt. One, two. Come here. Come here. Yes, sir. This is why because I jumped the gun. And And you want to play with yourself. You have time. You have a lot of time at night to do that. Now, men, don't be eyeballing you. Okay, I'll I'll bring you back. To the rear, FACE. ONE, TWO. HEY. OKAY, when we make this turn up here, let's look like a platoon and not like a mob that you see on the streets of San Francisco and Oakland. Right. Halt. Forward, halt. Left, right. Left, right. Column left, halt. Halt. Left, right. Left, right. Left, right. Left, right. Now, we're getting down to the basic part of basic training, whereby we have to teach you left and right. Now, the Army right, the one I taught you here, right, FACE. AT EASE. NOW, everybody raise their right hand up like this. Okay, let's wiggle the fingers. That is the right I'm speaking of. The one closest to that building away up there. That one that you came in at. Okay, put them down. Right face. One, two. Left face. One, two. About face. ONE, TWO. PARADE REST. ONE, TWO. OKAY, MEN. Now your hands should be above your buttocks and below the belt line. Pretty soon we'll have to teach you how to sneeze and cough and all those other little things that you do at night. Above the buttocks and below the belt line. Now your fingers are extended out. Now the thumbs are interlocked. You don't curl your fingers up. They're extended out. Above the buttocks and below the belt line. Not on the belt line there, young man. To attention, hut. Hut. Here's the man who wants to sleep. Are you tired? No, sergeant. Huh? No, sergeant. Were you tired upstairs? Yes, sergeant. You know, I just let you get by. You got away clean on me. One, two. You think you did? No, sergeant. I know you didn't. That's one time. You mess up one time. Any more and you've had it. Yes, sergeant. Do you understand me? Clearly understand me. Yes, sergeant. Well, get over there. To attention, hut. Hut. Halt. You ready to go eat? Yes, sergeant. Yes, sergeant. Do you think you've earned a meal here? No, sergeant. Okay. To attention, hut. Hut. Are you hungry now? YES, SERGEANT. DO YOU WANT TO GO EAT? YES, SERGEANT. DO YOU THINK YOU DESERVE A MEAL? YES, SERGEANT. YOU DON'T SOUND TOO ENTHUSED. You figure you earned A MEAL. YES, SERGEANT. ONE MAN UP HERE FIGURES HE'S EARNED A MEAL. What about you? You figure you earned a meal? Yes, sergeant. Okay. We'll go eat. Fill it in over there, move over. I thought I thought watch squad leader now. Don't get excited squad leader. Face me. As I call your names out, raise your hand and say here. Sanders. Guererra. >> Turn right. Halt. Forward. Halt. Forward. What we need in America today is an American Revolution that takes as its goal the non-military solution of the conflict with the communist nations, the total eradication of racism, which not only means the Negro, but it means the Puerto Rican, all all Spanish-speaking people. And we want to defend children. And we want to let children have a chance to grow. Our children don't have to die bombed and blasted in a thermonuclear war. We said, "We asked, is there any way that we can get to the Oakland Army Terminal?" And he made a suggestion that we should appeal to the governor of the state to walk over the Eastshore Freeway. And then someone else suggested Nimitz Freeway, but that would be too far. In other words, we said there is no way to march through Oakland to go to the Oakland Army Terminal. And they said that's right. So today we're going to go right up to where the Oakland police are, sit down, and continue the teach-in right in front OF THEM. FIRST MONITOR TEAM, PLEASE LEAVE NOW for the Oakland border. Everybody else, start lining up behind the truck now. The march is ready to leave. Let's go. Okay, come forward. How many people are there? 10,000 at least. It's just us, baby. Roll in and let me get some breakfast in this restaurant. [music] Join hands. And the report has just come through on the walkie-talkie system some 5 minutes after 2:00 that the Oakland police are now stopped at the Keep the traffic over to one side. At the line between Berkeley and Oakland, there are now some 600 policemen from Oakland forming their cordon to stop the march as they did last night. The marchers will be moving along shortly in attempt to reach the Army Terminal to hold another one of their attempts to converse with the soldiers and to convince them not to go to Vietnam. The atmosphere is rather strange here today. The Hell's Angels, for one thing, are present. The notorious motorcycle club have been standing around, some of them talking to police. They seem to be claiming that this is an unpatriotic march. There are hundreds of bystanders along the line of march. Many, many people indeed asking themselves what will happen today. I've got the light of freedom. I've got the light of freedom. I've got the light of freedom. I'm going to let shine. I'm going to let Go and tell the President, I'm going to let it shine. Go and tell the President, I'm going to let it Let it shine. Go and tell the President, I'm going to let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. The police have formed a cordon blocking our entrance into Oakland and blocking the Oakland line. A number of monitors are lined up directly in front of the police. When you reach the border, do not under any circumstances go beyond the line of monitors. Yeah, the street's all clear now. They're nowhere in sight. They'll be 10-8. The Hells Angels are still standing around here and they look a little bit restless, perhaps even a little bit surly. The Oakland police here at the city line are in something like battle dress waiting for the some 8,000 marchers who are coming along the line of march. There is a line of monitors across the way and the marchers have their instructions not to cross this line of monitors and to offer no violence under any circumstances. The monitors are waiting delineating the end of the line of march. I can see the marchers coming into sight now and moving down the way and I can hear the people singing. All All whole highway, world, going to let it Let it the whole wide world, I'm going to let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Go and tell the people, I'M GOING TO LET IT SHINE. GO and tell the people, I'm going to let it shine. Let it shine. Go and tell the people, I'm going to let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. All over Vietnam, I'm going to let it shine. >> [cheering] >> Oh, way behind the truck. The critical moment of the march, when he's not playing the disciplined way BEHIND THE TRUCK. PLEASE let us down here and wait. Why don't you SHOOT IT OUT WITH MACHINE GUNS? WHY DON'T YOU PEOPLE GO HOME? NOW, IT SEEMS THAT THE HELLS ANGELS ARE attacking the line of monitors at the Let them go. Let them go. Everybody stay cool. Don't run. Don't panic. Just keep your cool and sit down. Sit down, please. Sit down. Why don't you people GO HOME AND LIVE FOR A LITTLE WHILE? What do you think this is? This is America. And we're Americans. YOU GOT PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR SEATS. YOU'RE LINING THEM UP AGAINST THE WALL and shooting them. You're living in Vietnam. There you go. Oh, me. >> Police. The police. Call the cops. Just keep going. >> [music] >> Hey, he ain't done nothing. We're fighting these punks. Let him go. He ain't bothering He ain't fighting no cops. Let him go. Is your guy hurt? Yeah. They jumped on him instead of the other people, so Bunch of punks. Come on out of the truck. >> Come on out of the truck. >> Come on. Come on. You bunch of punks, you [ __ ] chicken [ __ ] punks. Why don't you people go on with your lives? >> Is the sound okay? Can you hear me? We're going to begin the teaching now. You know, one of the things we've been arguing about in opposition to the war is that it is impossible for the United States to wage a war of this brutality and inhumanity without it affecting the institutions of American society. You now have a very visible demonstration of what A WAR IN VIETNAM does to democracy in California. You now have a very visible demonstration that it is not only the Vietnamese and Vietnamese society that is a casualty of the war. It is our society here. Because if America's going to be Rome, if America's going to be Germany, if America's going to BE STALIN'S RUSSIA, THEN AMERICA WILL HAVE TO CHANGE its domestic institutions. And we who oppose the war ARE AS FRIGHTENED BY THAT prospect as I'm speaking out as much in defense of American institutions as we are in opposition to the war. It is because of this that we feel the need to protest as we do here today. I sympathize with the predicament of American servicemen in Vietnam. But we have to think back to the Nuremberg Tribunal which said that if a person is ordered to commit a war crime or a crime against humanity, he should refuse. Time magazine for August 6th, 1965, on page 29, says as I and I quote, "Marines in Vietnam have begun to kill prisoners." Now, we feel that that is a war crime as explicitly defined by the Nuremberg Tribunal. And that what said should apply to German soldiers then has got to apply to American soldiers now. Let me just repeat what I said about the draft. Which I know is for most of you the most personal way in which the war comes home to you. If you feel conscientiously convicted of the feeling that you cannot participate in this war, I urge you to apply for conscientious objector status and alternative service. And if your application is denied and if you still feel that you cannot conscientiously take part in the war, then on that day when you are scheduled to be inducted, I urge you to go to that place where you said you wanted to do constructive work for your country and begin to do it, whether it be teaching children or caring for the sick. So that if the government feels obliged to put you in jail, it will find you in the midst of the children you are teaching or the trees you are planting and it will know that you put down your sword and shield to pick up plow and shovel of service to humanity. Ah! LET ME HEAR YOU ALL THIS MORNING, COMPANY. AH! DON'T BE AFRAID YOU GROWL, COMPANY. AH! I WANT TO FLOOD CHARLIE OUT. AH! ALL RIGHT, COMPANY, THIS MORNING YOU ARE HERE TO RECEIVE YOUR second two hours of hand-to-hand combat instruction. Now, during this period you are going to learn how to kick your opponent TO DEATH. YOU ARE GOING TO LEARN HOW TO STOMP him in the ground and eliminate him. You're going to learn how to pound on bone structure of his body until it's doesn't matter a bloody fall. NOW, LET ME HEAR YOU GROWL, COMPANY. I THINK THE ONE YOU'RE GOING TO LEARN IS THE SIDEKICK, the pivot kick, the heel stomp. You're going to learn how to fall to the rear, jump to your feet, deliver a devastating blow on YOUR OPPONENT, AND KILL HIM DEAD. LET ME HEAR YOU GROWL, COMPANY. LET ME HEAR YOU GROWL, COMPANY. [screaming] ARE YOU ALERT THIS MORNING, COMPANY? ON THE COMMAND OF LEFT GUARD, YOU'RE GOING TO STEP back with that right foot. Thrust your left arm and shoulder forward. Now, here it comes. I should see everybody Everybody should have their back to the mat this time. Get ready for me, because here it comes. Keep the war out of your face. Tuck your firing leg before you go. MOVE [screaming] OUT! LEFT SHOULDER, RIGHT. GET BEHIND THE LOG. Heels together. Now, get back there. Get up there and do it right until you do it right. Now, get up there. The log has only so much protection for you. Look, you only got that much protection behind the log. Now, get with the program. What are you doing? I push on your Push with your feet. Walk on your shoulders. It is because of this that we feel the need to protest as we do here today. Let no one imagine that one demonstration or one march will fulfill their responsibility. This is going to be a long struggle. We must, each of us as individuals, begin to arrange our lives so that more and more we will be free to take those individual actions which, if enough of us take them, will become politically significant. So politically significant that perhaps someday that day will come when they'll have a war and no one will show up for it. >> [music] [music] >> What's that noise outside [music and singing] your window? Who's out there disturbing you? These are your >> [music and singing] >> sons and daughters. >> [music] >> Your sons >> [singing] [music] >> and daughters. Your sons >> [music] >> and daughters. >> [singing] >> And what about you? Yes, and what about you? >> [music] >> While your children march for freedom. >> [music] >> What are you going to do? These are your [music] sons >> [singing] >> and daughters. Your sons >> [singing and music] >> and daughters. >> [music] >> Your [singing] sons and daughters. >> [music] >> And what about you? Yes, and [music] what about you? They say it's a wise child that knows its own father. >> [music] >> Oh, but let me tell you something while >> [music] >> some much, much wiser man by far. >> [music] >> A father that knows his own child. They say a little child shall lead [singing] them. >> [music] >> And today today we know it's true. These are your [singing] sons >> [music] >> and daughters. >> [music] >> Your [singing] sons and daughters. Your sons >> [music] >> and daughters. Your >> [music and singing] >> Take one good look [music] and see what I'm talking about. Yes, I'm talking about us. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [singing] [music] [music] [music]