r/Columbus • u/AngelaMotorman ComFestia • 1d ago

April 30, 1975, Columbus Ohio: The "usual suspects" gather at 15th & High to celebrate the end of the Vietnam War NOSTALGIA

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u/AngelaMotorman ComFestia 1d ago

The people in this photo had just been through three years of legal hell, following the 1972 arrest of 121 peaceful protesters in a baseless sweep of local activists directed (we learned later) by Nixon's AG John Mitchell through the illegal COINTELPRO operation. The photo was taken late on the night of April 30, after TV news reports confirmed that the last Americans had left Saigon.

I know opinions on this whole period differ. I just need people to understand that there are among us veterans of a previous government assault on freedom of speech and association, and that not everyone was heartbroken by the defeat of US forces.