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porters ‘arrived, ‘ an agreement in Washington, sek of May, the nst the war. In 2tnam Veterans series of demon- a Vietnam. On’ zainst the War” the PCPJ spon- ant.” the Communist n friends of all ‘s participating were contained withdrawal of the Liberation zion of ensuring - easing military : in Washington, ‘mited incursion ae ranks of the esman was John @ ex-servicemen where they de- withdrawal of ays the veterans ack “search and ion occurred on rmed forces dis- i. The veterans 2m remaining in vpril 24. At their trators received — the war had succeeded in gaining the ear of the public. He believed _ that these detractors were making the most of. the appearance ind: _ Washington of hundreds of crippled and wounded veterans of the war. The editorialist commented that-he did not think the President was" a going to be swayed by. the demonstrators and added: . Nothing that the veterans did here brought the end of” the war one - __ hour closer, but their encampment did serve as a political backdrop for various Democratic presidential candidates who are trying to make the ““-way out of the war as hard as possible for Nixon on the pretext that his .commitments can’t be relied Upon. UCongreesional Record, April 27, 19715 . a On April 24 the NPAC-PCPJ-sponsored parade | began its “March Against The War” down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. . The lead group carried an American and a Vietcong flag. Among the contingents present were representatives of the Abraham Lincoln Bri- - gade, one of the American Communist units that had fought in the. . Spanish Civil War, There was also a delegation from the Gay Libera- tion Front. ' The demonstrators marched to the Capitol, where a five-hour rally was held. Among the various speakers who addressed the mass meeting were: Coretta Scott King (widow of Martin Luther King); ' George Wiley, NWRO; Ralph Abernathy of the SCLC; Dave Dellin- ger, PCPJ; Joseph Duffy of the Americans for Democratic Action; and journalist LF. Stone, The Congress was represented by Senator Vance Hartke (D., Ind.) who urged immediate withdrawal from Vietnam, and Herman Ba- © ‘dillo (D., N.Y.), who said, “Friends, you’ve come to the right place, because I don’t have much hope that President Nixon will take much action.” Other congressional leaders who addressed the crowd were _ Abner Mikva (D., MN. ), John Conyers O., Mich. ), and Bella Abzug (D., NY,). The rally received maximal news coverage from television stations ‘WTOP, WMAL, WTTZ, and WETA. Entertainment was provided by singers Peter, Paul, and Mary. ‘Pete Seeger and Country doe McDon- ald led the demonstrators in their favorite antiwar songs. After the last speaker had made his presentation, the crowd moved in the direc- 91 - yallies the former servicemen had heard speeches by Senators George : no “8. McGovern (D., S.Dak.), Walter F. Mondale (D., “Minn.), Philip Hart * (D, Mich.), Edward M. Kennedy (D.;"Mass.),. and Representatives.” - Bella Abzug (D., N.Y.) and Charles A. Vanik (D., Ohio). : we . . Three days after the VVAW. had: officially. departed from ‘Wash. : ..* ington, Richard Wilson, editorial writer for the Evening Star, gave “his evaluation of the entire affair. In Wilson’s opinion, opponents of