The Vietnam War is considered to be the war that cost the U.S. the most in terms of money and lives after World War II. In that war, in addition to regular U.S. military forces, troops from U.S. allies like Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, and South Korea were also sent to South Vietnamese battlefields.

After the 1968 Tet Offensive, the U.S. was forced to de-escalate the war under pressure from its people and Congress. In March 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson declined to run for a second term, and in October 1968, announced a halt to air, sea and artillery attacks on North Vietnam. The U.S. government entered into negotiations in Paris over ending the war in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Americans staged a flood of public protests. The antiwar movement gathered strength and flourished not only in America but around the globe.

In Australia too citizens protested vigorously in large and small cities, and South Australia’s Adelaide was not an exception. In 1970 and 1971, a young man named Michael Lawrence Vogt took part in several marches against the Vietnam War. Antiwar posters and badges were publicly sold. They often featured criticism of the Australian government’s involvement in the Vietnam War.

In 1972, as the U.S. government lurched from one catastrophe to catastrophe in the Vietnam War, Australian Prime Minister Edward Gough Whitlam ordered the gradual withdrawal of military personnel serving outside Australia. Vogt was 20 that year, and received a certificate of registration for his conscription for Vietnam War from the Australian government. The selection of conscripts in Australia was by sortition based on the dates of birth of the draftees. Those who were not selected would receive a government notice about the postponement of their conscription, and Vogt was among the ones who were not sent to Vietnam. He received another notice from the government on March 30, 1972, saying that he was granted indefinite deferment of liability to render national service.

During a visit to the War Remnants Museum on December 31, 2018, Vogt spoke to our staff about his participation in the antiwar protests in his hometown, and donated two antiwar badges he had used while demonstrating, the certificate of registration for his conscription and the notice postponing his military service. His stories continued about the selection of conscripts, and he considered himself lucky for not being chosen for the Vietnam War. The war is over and its wounds have healed. Visitors from afar come to the museum, and bring with them stories and artefacts which cause us to appreciate even more the peaceful moments in many parts of the world today and the need to join hands to preserve this peace.

A protest in Adelaide, Australia, against the U.S.’s war in Vietnam, October 1968.

 

 

 

 

Antiwar badges used by Michael Lawrence Vogt as he demonstrates in Adelaide, Australia