OH+questions

=**Topic: vietnam antiwar Interview subject: Cindy Booth(aunt)**=

Can you describe what it was like being a teenager during the vietnam period? It was very confusing. Being a teenager and of a generation that had only enjoyed the post- WWII prosperity, I had no reference for geo-politics or war. Stopping the advance of communism in a little country in Asia didn't really make sense to me. "Peace and love" sounded very good.

I remember a lot of people with long hair clashing with police. Can't say that I was as big a media hound as I am today. TV was in it's infancy. There was no cable, and certainly no 24-hour cable news. TV just went off the air at night, unless you wanted to watch the bull fights which I didn't. The coverage that the war protesters received and the advances made globally in televison may have led the way for the feminist movement and the sexual revolution to be widely accepted.
 * What do you remember most about the anti-war movement? What was the media coverage like?**

The Democratic convention was held in Chicago and many people used it to air their grievances. A lot of kids from the suburbs went down to Grant Park to check it out. What they found was a "training camp". In the days that followed there were huge clashes with the Chicago police which were covered on the news. Dan Rather made a name for himself reporting about the police brutality in the streets. Only later did I learn from some kids that were arrested that the training camp involved teaching them to throw their own human excretement at the police. It was an eye-opener. None of it seemed like "peace and love"
 * So you were in Chicago at the time, were there a lot of protests there?**

Heck no.
 * Were you a protester?**

I was a suburban kid on the fringes. We sat around and talked about it, but I was not a "doer".
 * Why not?**

Woodstock was very cool. It was well covered as there were so many people there and the best bands in the world played. There were some memorable anti-war songs played by Arlo Guthrie and Country Joe and the Fish. If you haven't seen the original Mayles Bros. docmentary, you should. I was impressed with the peaceful protest nature and that they made it work. No one I knew at the time went but I ran into someone at college who had attended. It was every bit as dirty and uncomfortable as it looked. I was in awe that he had seen Roger Daltry of The Who at his best.
 * I know you didn't attend Woodstock, but do you remember anything about it? Was it well-covered by the media? Did any of your friends attend?**

Sadly, I don't remember much. By that time I had my own issues to attend to and my social concousnes had waned. I remember being glad it was over as no progress was ever made. I was embarassed that people had treated the veterans so badly. It was a "draft" war and those guys didn't have much say about that as a career path. I have heard from Veterans that the TV shows, "Tour of Duty" and "China Beach" had their moments of reality.
 * What do you remember about the end of the war?**


 * What impact did the anti-war movement have on you?**

I think I learned that nothing is as simple as it seems and that some people will seize the opportunity to make good people do bad things. Especially the easily impressionable, like kids. I respect the mothers of draft age sons who peacefully held candle light vigils or marches; the religious communities who preached "thou shalt not kill" and the real non-violent protesters. As a side light, I learned that the media had no rules or obligation to cover a story factually and it has only gotten worse. I learned that the best way to the truth was to not just listen to one opinion.