A.J. Muste (1966, 1967)

An early Old Left antiwar figure, Muste (1885-1967) provided leadership in the interwar peace movement and prior to the Vietnam conflict. He also directed his own peace missions to Vietnam (north and south) 1966 and 1967, just before his death. For more detail on Muste's long service as an antiwar activist, consult the website for the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute.

Tom Hayden (1966, 1974)

Tom Hayden was first leader of SDS, Students for a Democratic Society (1960), founded at the University of Michigan. This group first protested within the civil rights movement, but in 1964 began to organize campus protests against the war (teach-ins, demonstrations, petitions). The first march on Washington, 17 April 1965, was an SDS effort. SDS chapters appeared on campuses across the country, but it failed to maintain a leadership role within the overall movement against the war. By 1969 it was divided within and had become more radical (Marxist), with some of its members within the Weathermen group.

Jane Fonda (July 1972, 1974)

Fonda (1937-) began her antiwar appearances at rallies in 1969. Even today she remains "Hanoi Jane" because of her 1972 trip to Hanoi and her broadcast on Hanoi radio in which she appealed to American pilots to end bombing of North Vietnam. At scholarly conferences on the war, such as the 1996 conference held at the Vietnam Archives in Lubbock, Texas, her name still causes emotional outbursts. She actually apologized on ABC's 20/20 program 17 June 1988, but many of her detractors today have forgotten that or do not accept her apology. Her statement was to GIs, whom she never intended to harm. It is interesting to note that as a sex symbol in 1962, the Pentagon hired Fonda as "Miss Army Recruiting." By 1972, she had become radicalized (by the war, by her marriage to Tom Hayden (1972-89), and by her association with other radicals). That year she made several antiwar skits on film, including "Free (Fuck) the Army." In 1974, she made a second trip to Vietnam with her husband Hayden. Two of Fonda's films deal with Vietnam: a documentary, "Introduction to the Enemy" (1974), and "Coming Home," a feature film for which she won an Oscar. The latter was inspired by Ron Kovic (1978). New links related to Jane Fonda continue to be posted on the Internet, especially since the recent inclusion of Jane Fonda as one of the 100 greatest American women of the twentieth century. Go to the Related Links section under Voices of Protest for some of these postings.

David Dellinger (September 1972)

Dellinger (1915-) headed the War Resisters League (WRL), a pacifist organization founded in 1923 which opposed World War II and the Korean War as well as the war in Vietnam. He was a conscientious objector in World War II, was a civil rights worker, and led the WRL in 1963 in its early antiwar efforts. WRL sponsored an early New York City demonstration mid-May 1964 when 12 men burned their draft cards. At the end of the year, this group led the nation's first major demonstration against the war.