June 12, 1982
There were 45 kids in my entire graduating class, and 3000 people in my hometown of Hatfield. A week after my high school graduation a few of my classmates and I attended the largest political demonstration in American history (at the time). The Rally in Central Park was just so unbelievably huge, anywhere from 750,000 to 1,000,000 people. Crowds emerged from the subways shouting HEY HEY! HO HO! RONALD REAGAN HAS GOT TO GO! We heard survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Dr. Helen Caldicott, and musicians and more speakers and more musicians. It was too much for my small-town mind, but it wasn't enough. America kept on making bombs. I still have my nuclear war nightmares from time to time.
New York Times story the next day is here
WNYC story about the rally from 2015 is here
Jackson Browne said something mellow like, "I've brought along a friend of mine. Please welcome Bruce Springsteen." I tried to get my friend David to put me on his shoulders but unfortunately the laws of physics prevented that. So I just jumped up and down and screamed. As one does.