Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) is an American non-profit organization founded in 1967 to oppose the United States policy and participation in the Vietnam War. VVAW is a national veterans' organization that campaigns for peace, justice, and the rights of all United States military veterans. It publishes a twice-yearly newsletter, The Veteran; this was earlier published more frequently as 1st Casualty (1971–1972) and then as Winter Soldier (1973–1975).
VVAW identifies as anti-war and has roots in the 1960s civil rights movement, though its members are not necessarily pacifists or civil rights activists. Membership has varied greatly, from almost 25,000 veterans during the height of the war to fewer than 2,000 since the late 20th century. The VVAW is widely considered to be among the most influential anti-war organizations of the American Vietnam War era.
The group originated as a slogan carried by protestors during New York City's 1967 Spring Mobilization march.
On April 15, 1967, the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam staged an improvised anti-war demonstration in New York City titled Spring Mobilization to End the War. The march went from Central Park to the United Nations, with over 400,000 attendees. Speakers included Martin Luther King Jr., Harry Belafonte, James Bevel, and Dr. Benjamin Spock.
During this march, about 20 veterans of the Vietnam War gathered under an impromptu banner reading 'Vietnam Veterans Against the War.' This group included poet and author Jan Barry (a.k.a. Jan Barry Crumb), a West Point dropout who had served in the war as a radio specialist in an Army unit of a fixed-wing supply aircraft.
On June 1, 1967, six veterans met in Jan Barry's apartment to found a new anti-war organization, "at a time when the mainstream media was wholeheartedly ... promoting the war". This group likely comprised 24-year-old Jan Barry, Ron Kovic, Skip Delano, photographer Sheldon Ramsdell, and former Black Panther Al Hubbard. Other early members included David Braum, John Talbot, Art Blank, Steve Greene, Frank "Rocky" Rocks, and Stan Scholl.
The same year, 24-year-old veteran Carl Douglas Rogers held a press conference announcing his opposition to the war. Rogers had been a chaplain's assistant at the 1st Logistical Command at Cam Ranh Bay from 1966 to 1967. Barry telephoned Rogers immediately, after which the two became collaborators and lifelong friends. Barry convinced Rogers to join VVAW, after which Rogers would serve as its vice president. According to Andrew Hunt, Rogers "marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr., appeared on numerous radio and television programs, and became the subject of feature stories in the New York Post, The New York Times, Sunday Times Magazine, Redbook, and Eye".
By October 26 of that year, the VVAW had secured a desk and a telephone in the office of the Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee in New York City.
Also in 1967, the VVAW bought an advertisement in The New York Times, titled "Viet-Nam Veterans Speak Out". It featured the signatures of 65 veterans. According to Barry, it "shook up [Secretary of Defense] McNamara, who had the signers investigated by the FBI," it "was read into the Congressional Record," and it "spawned similar ads in newspapers across the country," as well as attracting new VVAW members. The 1967 advertisement declared:We believe that the conflict in which the United States is engaged in Vietnam is wrong, unjustifiable and contrary to the principles on which this country was founded. We join the dissent of the millions of Americans against this war. We support our buddies still in Vietnam. We want them home alive. We want them home now. We want to prevent any other young men from being sent to Vietnam. We want to end the war now. We believe this is the highest form of patriotism.Beginning in 1968, the VVAW protestors would specifically wear military uniforms while denouncing the war. In 1997, Barry stated, "You can imagine the effect this had upon cops and lots of other people. Holy shit! These people are for real—a whole bunch of medals".
Despite its rapid foundation and initial growth, the organization's trajectory was difficult to maintain. This was in part due to the November 1968 election of Richard Nixon, whose presidency "created a discouraging atmosphere for dissent that lasted through most of 1969".
According to VVAW, its founders organized discussions for veterans on readjustment issues in 1970. This was a predecessor to readjustment counselling at modern Vet Centers. The group helped draft legislation for education and job programs, and assisted veterans with post-war health care through the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital system, including assisting victims of Agent Orange and other chemical agents. The VVAW advocated amnesty for war resisters.
Its insignia was designed by Barry, the first president of the organization. Barry appropriated the military insignia of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, replacing its sword with a helmet and inverted gun. In so doing, Barry "transform[ed] war symbols into peace symbols" similarly to the Veterans for Peace and Donald Duncan.
Its creation coincided with the popularization of the G.I. Underground Press, wherein military personnel circulated publications satirizing and condemning the war.
The fluctuating membership size has had varied estimates. The organization remained small until late 1969 when it gained several hundred new members. With the Nixon administration's decision to invade Cambodia and the Kent State shootings in 1970, VVAW's visibility increased, and they attracted new members, increasing from 1,500 to almost 5,000.
Membership passed 8,500 by January 1971, and thousands more flocked to the organization after Playboy Magazine was compelled to run a full-page VVAW ad in its February edition as part of a legal settlement with Jane Fonda. The national televised coverage of VVAW's week-long April 1971 protest in Washington, D.C., and smaller protests in subsequent months brought attention.A Federal Bureau of Investigation informant within the organization noted in March 1971 that membership had grown from 1,500 to over 12,000 in the past four months. An article in Ramparts, that year said VVAW had at that time approximately 11,000 members and employed 26 regional coordinators.
Higher estimates exist, including a claim of 20,000 members for 1971. The organization has claimed a peak membership of over 30,000. Counting non-veteran supporters, VVAW had "roughly 50,000" members.
By 1972, negotiations at the Paris peace talks were in full swing, signaling the beginning of the end of the war, meaning the end of VVAW's primary mission. Membership in the organization declined, and the leadership began to consider broader purposes to support veterans. Membership requirements were relaxed, and political differences arose as new members fought with old about direction. By 1973 VVAW had several thousand members. With internal struggles still threatening the group, 2,000 members demonstrated in Washington, D.C., in July 1974, demanding universal amnesty for draft resisters and deserters, and universal discharge with benefits for all Vietnam veterans.
Historian Andrew E. Hunt concluded, "Detractors have always cited numbers when criticizing VVAW. At the pinnacle of VVAW's success in 1972, membership rolls listed almost 25,000 card carriers, or fewer than 1 percent of all eligible Vietnam era veterans. ... By emphasizing the low percentage of Vietnam veterans who paid dues to VVAW, opponents have sought to dismiss the significance and impact of the organization."