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Dewey Canyon III: Vietnam Veteran History

By John Lindquist

Operation Dewy Canyon III, April 19-23, 1971, was a "limited incursion" into Washington DC by Vietnam and bring our brothers home. We hoped, among other things, to support legislation to end the funding of the war machine.

"Limited incursions" were part of U.S. policy in the war in Southeast Asia. Operation Dewey Canyon I was a 3rd Marine Division assault in the Ashau Valley area with elements of the 9th Marine Regiment going into Laos in February of 1969. Operation Dewey Canyon II ( or Long Son 716) was an ARVN invasion (with U.S. support ) of Loas in February 1971 to cut the Ho Chi Minh trail. The U.S. Government was, at the same time, vehemently denying any widening of the war outside the borders of South Vietnam.

Since as vets we had such extensive training in "limited incursions" by our government, we decided to put our skill to work at home. VVAW was a growing national organization at the time and recent free ads in Playboy swelled our ranks. A call went out nationwide for veterans to come to DC and put an end to the war.

I awoke on a cold, foggy morning on the banks of the Potomac, surrounded by 900 other veterans. Our first action was to march to Arlington where we were locked out. We marched down Pennsylvania Avenue past the White House to the steps of the Capitol for our first meeting. Learning some quick lessons in mass democracy, we voted to occupy a one-block area of the Mall on 3rd and Madison, two blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

For five days the veterans defied the President, the Supreme Court and slept on the ground at night, holding actions during the day. Beside lobbying Congress, we held demonstrations, sit-in's, did guerrilla theatre, testified in Congressional theatre, testified in Congressional hearings and ended with a dramatic rally where we returned our medals and decorations. Never in the history of the U.S. had veterans come home to protest a war, especially while it was still raging.

Early on in the action we learned some valuable lessons that we should look back on. Numbers one is that our president and country will deny we exist, even with a Purple Heart and no arms. President Nixon freaked out about anti-war veterans on his Mall. We were not really veterans, his press agents said, and our Purple Hearts were bought in stores. We were ordered off the Mall. We refused to move. If we were good enough to be drafted or to enlist, we were good enough to sleep on the Mall. Already we realized we faced many serious problems: bad discharges with secret spin codes, unemployment, drug addiction, post-Vietnam syndrome, and the VA bureaucracy—and we didn't even know , yet, about Agent Orange.

Another lesson we learned early was what to expect from lobbying Congress. We went in with a na?ve idea that we could stop the war by supporting a Bill to cut funds for the war. They had to believe us; we were Vietnams veterans with medals to prove it.

We soon found out that some Congressmen and women say one thing to your face and do another behind your back. After a day and a half of lobbying we stopped and took all our actions into the streets. A thousand vets in green swarmed all over Congress, maps in hand, pictures neatly laid out in albums; we even shed a few tears. But to no avail: Congress still voted to continue the war. We wanted them to bring our brothers home and they said no.

Our experiences in Washington taught us another valuable lesson, the same lesson we learned from Charley: you have to have patience, the patience of the Vietnamese. You have to build a strong vets movement from the ground up, working out levels of unity to unite the largest number of veterans and their families and supporters.

We have a long struggle ahead. For many, the fight has gone on since 1970. Many battles have been won over the years: recognition of delayed stress, eliminations of spin codes on discharges; we even helped to kick Nixon out. Our past and present struggles will have to sustain us. Just like in 'Nam we have to rely on ourselves, stick together, and dig in for the long haul.

The effects of Dewey Canyon III are still alive today. Maybe only a thousand vets came, but thousands more were effected. Dewey Canyon IV can and will be the same way. That same spirit of unity and excitement I felt 11 years ago I feel again today. Vets from all over the country have responded to the call for Dewey Canyon IV. The economic situation in May of 1982 will be worse, not better, and none of the problems faced by vets will have gone away. Now is your chance: if you didn't make Dewey Canyon III—or if you did—don't miss Dewey Canyon IV.

John Lindquist
VVAW National Office