The Vietnam War era was a volatile period of American history. As the war dragged on, protests grew in frequency and size.
The war has become a 'hot' issue here in our little corner of the world.
In March of 1966, a deadly weapon developed by Dow Chemical, known as Napalm, which is jellied gasoline, was scheduled to be locally produced.
Two acres of land owned by Standard Oil (today's Chevron) were subleased to UTC (United Technologies Center) to produce Napalm bombs. The two acres were in the Port of Redwood City.
Since public property was involved, the Redwood City Port Commission had to approve the arrangement.
The Port Commissioners met on the morning of March 21. The meeting room was packed. Once public comment began, things heated up quickly. There were so many protesters the Commissioners decided to stop the meeting and reconvene in a larger location later that day.
Several hundred protesters showed up for the afternoon meeting, including an engineer who had inspected concentration camp ovens used by the Nazis.
One protester asserted it would be a permanent stain on the reputation of Redwood City if such a gruesome weapon were produced there.
An effort to have a voter referendum commenced subsequent to the tense meeting. The following month, a petition signed by several thousand local citizens was submitted to the Port Commissioners.
Officials rejected the petition, claiming the issue was not subject to voter approval.
Production of the deadly bombs began amid continuing protests. National media took an interest and started covering the story.
In May, the issue ended up in Judge Melvin Cohen's courtroom, where he ultimately rejected the protestors' petitions on a technicality. The judge stated: "I have no intention of trying to decide whether the United States should be fighting a war in Vietnam. Nor do I intend to try to decide whether the armed forces should be dropping napalm bombs in that fighting." With those words, Judge Cohn helped launch a campaign against Napalm, which swept the country over the next three years.
Despite consistent protests around the country, Napalm was used extensively throughout the war. Estimates are approximately 400,00 tons were dropped.
Everything else is just history
The photos used in this blog are courtesy of the Local History Room, Redwood City's best-kept secret. The Local History Collection covers all aspects of Redwood City's development, from the 1850s to the present day, with particular emphases on businesses, public schools, civic organizations, city agencies, and early family histories. The Local History Room is not affiliated with the Redwood City Public Library, but it is inside it.
