On this day, 23 April 1971, nearly 1,000 US Vietnam War veterans returned their combat medals to the government.
Vietnam Veterans Against the War had planned to return the medals in body bags, but authorities erected a fence around the Capitol building so the veterans threw their medals over it.
Some of the vets, before tossing their medals, dedicated them to comrades — both from the US and Vietnam — who had died in battle. Others explained who they were and why they were returning them:
“Robert Jones, New York, and I symbolically return all Vietnam medals and service medals given me by the power structure that has genocidal policies against non-white peoples of the world.”
“My name’s Peter Brannigan, and I’ve got a Purple Heart here, and I hope I get another one fighting these motherfuckers!“
More info about this in our podcast episodes 10-11 about GI resistance to the Vietnam war: https://workingclasshistory.com/2018/08/06/e10-the-gi-resistance-in-vietnam-part-1/ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=613727384133814&set=a.602588028581083&type=3