[3] American poet and scholar W. D. Ehrhart described Barry as an integral figure to Vietnam veterans' poetry, "not only for his own pioneering poems, but especially for his tireless efforts to encourage and promote the work of others".
[4] Other literary figures who commended Barry's works include Eleanor Wilner, Herbert Mitgang, Peter S. Prescott, and John Felstiner.
[9] In May 1963, he had witnessed a Buddhist anti-war protest in Nha Trang, and found himself appalled that the Saigon government "would turn loose tanks and machine guns and barbed wire all over the country".
[7] He sent a two-page polite dissenting letter to the editor, in response to a New York Times war dispatch that he felt incited outrage.
During this demonstration, Barry met peace activist, stage director, and founder of Eccentric Circles Theatre, Paula Kay Pierce.
The April 15 demonstration had 400,000 attendees, marching from Central Park to the United Nations, with speakers including Martin Luther King Jr., Harry Belafonte, James Bevel, and Dr. Benjamin Spock.
[4] In September 5 and 6 (Labor Day Weekend) 1970, Barry and Pierce (his future wife) participated in Operation RAW (Rapid American Withdrawal), a three-day protest march from Morristown, New Jersey to Valley Forge National Park, after which a mass rally was held.
[11] In 2005, Jan Barry was a reporter at The Record when he investigated the Ford Motor Company's pollution of the Ringwood Mines landfill site.
This began the "battle of the Ramapough Indians in a bid to secure a healthier future for their children in the face of alleged atrocities committed by the Ford Corporation and the EPA".