Hanoi March

rdf:langString Hanoi March

rdf:langString The Hanoi March (known alternatively as the Hanoi Parade) was a propaganda event held on July 6, 1966, involving U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. During the march, members of the North Vietnamese Army paraded 52 American POWs through the streets of Hanoi before tens of thousands of North Vietnamese civilians. The march soon deteriorated into near riot conditions, with North Vietnamese civilians beating the POWs along the 2 miles (3.2 km) route and their guards largely unable to restrain the attacks. Occurring relatively early in the war, the event highlighted the mistreatment of American prisoners and brought international criticism down upon the Hanoi regime. Later, as the war became increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad, concern for the welfare of captured U.S. service members would become one of the few areas of common ground between opponents and supporters of the conflict.