In 1969 I was 23 years old. This year may have been the most eventful year in America’s history. If you were a young man or woman in these times you were aware of what was happening in your country. We were the generation of love and peace, but we were far more concerned with the people of our country than those are members of the same age group of today. 
This event, which occured 50 years ago in August was life-changing.
If you are under the age of 55, you have no memory of the 60’s. This decade saw the beginning and then the escalation of the unconscionable war in Vietnam which took the lives of more than 58,000 Americans and divided our nation. You did not experience Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon when he said: “One small step for man, one giant step for mankind.” You did not witness the beginning of the effort to give the LGBTQ community equal rights under the law. The foundation of the equal rights amendment began as women were expressing their refusal to remain second-class citizens. And then there was the Woodstock Festival at Yasgur’s Farm in upstate New York between August 15^th and 18^th.
It was billed as “three days of peace and love.” This was during the worst years of the war in Vietnam; a war without cause or reason.
Most of us remember the music which was the greatest in history. All other concerts today pale when compared to this celebration at the end of the most important year in America’s history.
Many documentaries have been created about this nation-changing event. The music was incomparable, and the fact that 500,000 people attended the event and not a single instance of violence was reported remains historical and will never happen again in our nation today.
When interviewed the participants had informed opinions about why this festival was important and how our government was opposed to its basic concept. Although there were no protests against the war, everyone in attendance was opposed to the conflict which was costing lives for no apparent reason. These were informed men and women who cared about their country.
As I watch the late night television broadcasts, and they send members of their staff out on the street to ask questions about America; subjects everyone should know, I am ashamed that our young people are so uninformed and poorly educated that they would have been laughable when I was their age.
As it was in 1969 the government is your enemy and your future is in jeopardy. If millennials and generation “X” refuse to become involved they will suffer from the failures of the old men who have failed us in Washington for decades.
Millennials are the largest voting block in America today. In 1969 we could not vote until we were 21 years old, but we were forced to go to war at age 18. Maybe that’s why we cared more than young men and women today; the draft was still in force.
Finally: Woodstock was a phenomenon and could never be recreated. Today it would be commercialized and politicized. This was an event for the people; for young America and remains a reawakening of American values to this day.
I wish I could have been there.
Tell everyone: “The Truth Lives Here.”
Photo courtesy of Paille
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