Kairos of Dave Dudley's "What We're Fighting For"

This song was written by country star Dave Dudley, and released in 1966 on his album There's A Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere. As consistent with the times, the song focuses on the ongoing Vietnam War. 1966 was a year that saw early escalation in terms of American involvement in the Southeast Asian country. In January, President Lyndon Johnson declared that the United States would stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there was ended. Around 70,000 extra soldiers were deployed, and by June, American planes were bombing multiple Vietnamese cities. With this escalation, came large protests across the United States, with tens of thousands protesting in the Washington, D.C. Although the anti-war movement had already begun, the majority of the country still supported the war at this time, and that is the sentiment that Dudley's song reflects.

Agustin Aguerre

Audience of the Anti-War Child Picture

The famous flower child was photo taken on the day of October 21st 1967 at the anti-Vietnam war rally during a march on the Pentagon. The main audience for this image was American citizens. The flower child picture was taken to spur realization of this movement and enact change in stopping the horrors of the Vietnam war. The photo was taken as a seventeen year old teenager engaged in peaceful protest. The main message that this image was attempting to send to the citizens of America was that the anti-war protest would be demonstrated with peace. The tense and violent attitudes of the soldiers on the left is heavily juxtaposed with the peaceful yet confident attitude of the brave teenager. The juxtaposition of these two vastly differing attitudes sends a strong message to the citizens of America of what the anti-war protesters were fighting for. Thus the more drastic the scene for the anti-war efforts, the deeper the message of the anti-war efforts hit the people of America.

Jason Recht

Kairos: Anti-War Picture

The photo depicts Seventeen-year-old high school student Jan Rose Kasmir clasping a daisy and gazing at bayonet-wielding soldiers. The image was captured by French photojournalist Marc Riboud.  Riboud’s photograph was taken during the October 21, 1967 march on The Pentagon, where thousands came to protest against America’s involvement in Vietnam.  On the same day, the iconic photograph “Flower Power” was taken, by Bernie Boston, which portrayed a similar scene to that in this photograph.  October 21, 1967 began with a rally at the Lincoln Memorial. Fifty thousand protestors armed with flowers gathered to protest the war.  As the day went on, however, the protests turned to riots that took days to quell.  By the time order was restored, 683 people had been arrested.

Kyle Strouth

Stasis Theory: Anti War Picture

The anti-war protests that broke out during the 1960’s were started by the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. As a result, the United States was thrown into turmoil. The peaceful protests were often met with violent action from the government and resulted in more and more protests. Despite the resulting protests and social disrupt the protests caused; they did succeed by being a major factor of why the United States government ended their influence in Vietnam. Peaceful protests have generally been very effective in their influence. Activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. used them during the same time period to effectively get equal rights for all. It is shown through history the effectiveness of these protests. The more peaceful protests that successfully accomplish their goals, the more they will be seen as an efficient means of rhetoric.

Sam Jacobson