Oct. 13, 1968: 53 years ago, Oct 12 1968, the GI's & Vets March for Peace brought [...]

53 years ago, Oct 12 1968, the GI’s & Vets March for Peace brought over 15,000 people, including nearly 500 active duty GI’s, into the streets of San Francisco to march from the Panhandle to Civic Center where a massive rally was held

200 active GI’s led the march, followed by contingents from dozens of other groups, religious communities, and veterans from Reservists for Peace, Vietnam Vets for Peace, Veterans for Peace. The march entered Civic Center where another 200 GI’s were staged with a speaker’s truck

Several active duty airmen, sailors, and reservists spoke out during the rally against the war and the military itself. Pete Seeger performed for the crowd and between songs people passed collection hats to fundraise for legal defenses and future protests

One speaker at the rally, Susan Schnall, a nurse from Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, had flown a plane two days prior to the event, on Oct. 10, over five military installations in the Bay Area dropping thousands of leaflets from the sky to advertise the march and rally.