On this day 16 October Vietnam

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1968 Bombing halt discussed

In a series of meetings with U.S. Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu insists that North Vietnam assent to three conditions prior to a bombing halt. He said the North Vietnamese had to (1) agree to respect the neutrality of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), (2) stop shelling South Vietnamese cities and towns, and (3) agree to South Vietnamese participation in the Paris talks. He also demanded that the National Liberation Front, the Communist political organization in South Vietnam, be excluded from the negotiations. Thieu seemed to soften during his discussions with Bunker: on October 22, he announced that he would not oppose a bombing halt.

1973 Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho awarded Nobel Peace Prize

Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese diplomat Le Duc Tho are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the Paris peace accords. Kissinger accepted, but Tho declined the award until such time as "peace is truly established."

 

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1967: Joan Baez arrested in Vietnam protest

Rallies across America have taken place in 30 US cities, from Boston to Atlanta, to protest against the continuing war in Vietnam.
In Oakland, California, at least 40 anti-war protesters, including the folk singer Joan Baez, were arrested for taking part in a sit-in at a military induction centre.

As many as 250 demonstrators had gathered to try and prevent conscripts from entering the building when the arrests were made.

The 'Stop the Draft Week' protests are forming part of a nationwide initiative organised by a group calling itself 'the Resistance'.

Accompanied by singing from Ms Baez and others, the sitting protesters forced draftees to climb over them in order to get inside the building.

As they entered they were handed leaflets asking them to change their minds, refuse induction and join the protests.

Human barricade

Police formed a human barricade to enable inductees to pass and then made their arrests.

In New York, around 500 demonstrators marched to protest against the draft. Young men placed draft cards into boxes marked 'Resisters'.

181 draft cards and several hundred protest cards were presented to a US Marshal but he refused to accept them.

The group then marched to a post office and posted them directly to the Attorney General in Washington.

The anti-war movement took on an added gravity yesterday when Florence Beaumont, mother of two, burned herself to death.

After soaking herself in petrol she set herself alight in front of the Federal Building, Los Angeles.

Counter-demonstrations have been planned by the National Committee for Responsible Patriotism, based in New York.

Parades have been scheduled for the weekend in support of "our boys in Vietnam".