Battle Green Vietnam: The 1971 March on Concord, Lexington, and Boston

SUNY Purchase English professor Lemire (Black Walden) recounts in this evocative scholarly history a three-day antiwar protest march organized in 1971 by the New England chapter of Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Taking place over Memorial Day weekend, the march followed Paul Revere’s 1775 ride from Boston to Lexington and Concord in reverse, as protestors acted out war atrocities and terrorized “civilian” participants with toy rifles. Lemire effectively weaves in a concise history of the Revolutionary War events that took place along the route, and contrasts the pushback the protestors got from Lexington’s selectmen with the support they received from townspeople. She also relates the details of the 1968 My Lai Massacre and argues that war atrocities were “standard operating procedure” for American soldiers in Vietnam. Though the book is sprinkled with dry academic analysis centering on “memorialization practices,” Lemire’s profiles of individual participants add color. Readers who protested the war in Vietnam will appreciate the unearthing of a noteworthy yet little-known event, while younger activists will draw inspiration from the example of a “breathtakingly creative protest march.” This well-told deep dive packs in plenty of rewards. (June)