I was one of the other 8 to 9 million people who joined the nationwide “No Kings” demonstrations, the original purpose of which was to protest against the dismantling of our democracy by the current administration and to seek justice for all. This demonstration, the third such nationwide call to arms, was conceived well before the war against Iran, the inclusion of which in the protest was coincidental, but certainly appropriate. 

The March on Washington in 1969 was strictly an anti-Vietnam War protest. This, along with other factors led to the eventual end, sadly without honor, of our participation in the war (I was directly involved in the war 1965 to 1969). While the expenditure of national treasure measured in lives, as well as dollars, came to an end, the trauma of the impact on many of those who served was beginning to manifest itself in the form of homelessness, hopelessness and rejection. Few, if any, received the hero’s welcome home that they had earned. 

While those marchers in 1969 were exercising their First Amendment right, the majority of the 2.7 million of their fellow countrymen were risking their lives to protect that right, only, upon their return home, to be disparaged by many of those same marchers. While their similarity exists — in that they were both on a bridge — I believe their principal motivators were different, and one hopes that the march on the Sagadahoc Bridge leads to a much more successful result than that over the Arlington Memorial Bridge.

Col. George Griggs, USMC Ret.
Kennebunk