Monday, November 18, 1968
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
3
Lawrence reaction to march
Photo by Halina Pawl
Citizens in Lawrence were not exactly tolerant of the protest marsh staged last Monday following the V.F.W. Veterans Day parade. Most townsfolk stayed inside during the protest, but many kept a close lookout nonetheless.
Citizens criticize peace marchers
By MIKE SHEARER Kansan Staff Writer
While geography binds KU's student activists to the citizens of Lawrence, ideologically they remain continents apart.
Although Lawrence's citizens have grown accustomed to student demonstrations, they react negatively when students protest as they did in the peace marche which followed the annual Veterans' Day parade last Monday, six prominent Lawrence citizens said.
Frank Raley Jr. president of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, said he could not understand how anyone who is for a democratic society would want to "tear down the government of our country and the heritages of our country."
It is up to the "many, many good students" to suppress students who protest against our government, Raley said.
Raley said he believed most students would disagree with the activists but are too complacent to react to them.
He said he thinks students who "oppose SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) should be in or adjacent to the group trying to put down the participating group."
Police Chief Robert E. Richardson said he thought the students marching on Veterans' Day represented a "small minority."
"I don't think that they (Lawrence citizens) think this very small minority represents the student body as a group," the chief said.
Richardson said that while the student marchers "didn't attract very much attention," the people lining the streets "were not cheering."
He said he was glad the student demonstrators had the right "to speak their piece like everyone else."
Likewise, Jim Owens, president of the Lawrence School Board, said, "This is a free country and I'm glad they can do it."
Owens said he felt, however, that the Veterans' Day countermarch was "ill-advised and unappropriate" and "pretty deplorable."
Owens said he could "hardly move anymore" without students protesting his actions on the school board. The school board was flooded with protestors twice this year after approximately 50 black students
"A lot of people feel the same way I do." Owens said.
Richard Gibson, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars post No. 852, said, "It's ridiculous when a bunch of these hippies lay down and chew gum during playing of the taps."
"Veterans of foreign wars don't like war either," Gibson said, "but they picked the wrong time to protest."
Letters and telephone calls he has received have brought only praise for the V.F.W. and scorn for the protestors, Gibson said.
He said he planned to continue the annual Veterans' Day festivities next year even though demonstrators hurt "ticket sales tremendously" this year.
James R. Haney, vice president of the Lawrence Outlook and VFW parade chairman for the Veterans Day parade, said he was disappointed in the student protestors because, "We were not glorifying the military or endorsing the war in Vietnam." Haney said the Veterans' Day activities had been to honor the post's 30 Vietnam veterans.
"I think the only way they are going to accomplish anything is to get a shave and a haircut," Haney said, "and meet others on their own ground."
Haney described the Veterans'
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QUAN TRI, South Vietnam (UPI)-The U.S. Army has always stressed the "buddy system" in which one soldier helps the other in time of need. A 38-man platoon of the U.S. 5th
Day parade and activities surrounding Lt. Gen. Lewis Walt, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, as "strictly a patriotic effort on our part."
When shaving time came the next morning, all 38 men got rid of their whiskers--using the same razor blade.
Infantry Division may have stretched the point recently.