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This Vietnam War era photograph of Portland police officers Frank Tercek, left, and Dayne Tune arresting draft protester Clayton Axelrod was published in the Oct. 17, 1967 Oregon Journal. The photograph was taken by Dave Thompson. The protest was part of a nation-wide “Stop the Draft” week organized by anti-war activists in numerous American cities.
Axelrod, an 18-year-old Reed College student, was arrested while protesting with about 200 demonstrators at the Oregon selective service headquarters in northeast Portland. The police charged Axelrod and two other young men with disorderly conduct after they allegedly went inside the office and argued with workers. A year earlier, Portland police had arrested Axelrod at another anti-war protest during a visit by Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
Between 1948 and 1973, the United States government drafted men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six into the army during times of both peace and war. The draft became increasingly unpopular after 1965, when the U.S. Armed Forces began a ground war in Vietnam. In 1966, 382,010 men were inducted into the services nationwide.
Between 1962 and 1972, more than 50,000 Americans died in Vietnam including 751 Oregonians. Forty Oregonians were listed as missing in action.
Written by Kathy Tucker, © Oregon Historical Society, 2002.
