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Cadences: New Words To An Old Tune

By John Lindquist

I consider myself lucky to have been one of the 200,000 people who marched in the June 13th, 1986, "Welcome Home Vietnam Vets Parade" in Chicago.

VVAW marched, 120 strong, under the banner "Honor the Warrior, Not the War"; "VVAW: Serving Veterans, Peace and Justice since 1967." We were not the only group to use cadences, but ours were the best. Besides the usual ones (often reprinted in THE VETERAN) about no cuts at the VA, No more Vietnams, and Ronald Reagan is no good, we had created a special cadence for Harold Washington, Mayor of Chicago, at the reviewing stand. It went:

Harold Washington's the man,
Set Chicago on its can.
Since we're here we'd like to say,
Thanks for giving us this day.
Sound off, 1, 2 ......

At the reviewing stand there was the Mayor and Westmoreland standing together; well, I called the cadence and looked him and Westmoreland right in the eye. Old Harold puffed up his chest and looked so proud. Old Westmoreland looked like an old lifer. The crowd cheered so loud that Old West never got to hear the cadence written for him:

Westmoreland he was so lame,
Treated intelligence like a game,
During Tet of '68,
Thousands died for his mistake,
Sound off, 1, 2 ......

Well, it didn't matter—he caught heat all weekend.

The overwhelming attitude was not pro-war but, "Let's not repeat it!" It was a once-in-a-lifetime happening and I'm glad VVAW was alive and well to be there. But, our work's not over yet.

John Lindquist
VVAW Chant Leader