Posted on Jun 13, 2016
Dr. Spock convicted for aiding draft resisters - Jun 14, 1968 - HISTORY.com
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A Federal District Court jury in Boston convicts Dr. Benjamin Spock and three others, including Yale University Chaplain William Sloane Coffin, Jr., of conspiring to aid, abet, and counsel draft registrants to violate the Selective Service Act.
During the Johnson administration, Spock, a physician and the famous author of The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, was an ubiquitous figure at antiwar demonstrations. In April 1967, Spock, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and entertainer Harry Belafonte led an estimated 300,000 people on a march to the United Nations headquarters in New York City, the largest antiwar demonstration to date. Spock was one of the original signers of A Call to Resist Illegitimate Authority, published in September 1967, which supported draft resistance and the right of servicemen to refuse to obey “illegal and immoral orders.”
The 1968 convictions were overturned in 1969. In November of that year, Spock joined a Washington, D.C., antiwar demonstration of more than 250,000 people, sponsored by the New Mobilization Committee, a group organized by Spock and others on July 4. In 1969, Spock was arrested several times, but he continued his antiwar activities. On November 27, a new left-wing antiwar movement, the People’s Party, nominated Spock as its candidate for president in the 1972 presidential election. Though he did not win the election, Spock remained a prominent antiwar activist until the U.S. withdrew from Southeast Asia.
@SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas , Capt Christopher Mueller , CPT (Join to see) , COL Mikel J. Burroughs , Sgt Joe LaBranche , SSgt (Join to see), TSgt Hunter Logan Capt Seid Waddell SrA Christopher Wright LTC Stephen F. PO2 Ed C. PO2 Mark Saffell MSG Tom Earley PVT James Strait Alan K. @po1 william "chip" PO1 William "Chip" Nagel @SGT John McConnell SGT John " Mac " McConnell Maj Kim Patterson
During the Johnson administration, Spock, a physician and the famous author of The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, was an ubiquitous figure at antiwar demonstrations. In April 1967, Spock, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and entertainer Harry Belafonte led an estimated 300,000 people on a march to the United Nations headquarters in New York City, the largest antiwar demonstration to date. Spock was one of the original signers of A Call to Resist Illegitimate Authority, published in September 1967, which supported draft resistance and the right of servicemen to refuse to obey “illegal and immoral orders.”
The 1968 convictions were overturned in 1969. In November of that year, Spock joined a Washington, D.C., antiwar demonstration of more than 250,000 people, sponsored by the New Mobilization Committee, a group organized by Spock and others on July 4. In 1969, Spock was arrested several times, but he continued his antiwar activities. On November 27, a new left-wing antiwar movement, the People’s Party, nominated Spock as its candidate for president in the 1972 presidential election. Though he did not win the election, Spock remained a prominent antiwar activist until the U.S. withdrew from Southeast Asia.
@SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas , Capt Christopher Mueller , CPT (Join to see) , COL Mikel J. Burroughs , Sgt Joe LaBranche , SSgt (Join to see), TSgt Hunter Logan Capt Seid Waddell SrA Christopher Wright LTC Stephen F. PO2 Ed C. PO2 Mark Saffell MSG Tom Earley PVT James Strait Alan K. @po1 william "chip" PO1 William "Chip" Nagel @SGT John McConnell SGT John " Mac " McConnell Maj Kim Patterson
Dr. Spock convicted for aiding draft resisters - Jun 14, 1968 - HISTORY.com
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Vietnam War
American History
Vietnam War American History
Posted >1 y ago
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At the time I sometimes confused Dr. Spock for Mr. Spock from Star Trek when I heard what Spock was doing SP5 Mark Kuzinski
I am glad that Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and entertainer Harry Belafonte were not implicated in this scandal. It was a travesty that the author of "Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care" and Yale University Chaplain William Sloane Coffin, Jr were engaged in a "conspiring to aid, abet, and counsel draft registrants to violate the Selective Service Act.' I am glad they were convicted.
I am glad that Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and entertainer Harry Belafonte were not implicated in this scandal. It was a travesty that the author of "Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care" and Yale University Chaplain William Sloane Coffin, Jr were engaged in a "conspiring to aid, abet, and counsel draft registrants to violate the Selective Service Act.' I am glad they were convicted.
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