The VDC was formed by Jerry Rubin and Stephen Smale between May 21 and May 22, 1965 during a 35‑hour‑long anti-Vietnam war protest that took place inside and around the University of California, Berkeley and attracted over 35,000 people, including Paul Montauk and Stew Albert.
[1] Attending the event were several notable anti-war activists, including Dr. Benjamin Spock, however the State Department declined to send a representative, despite the burning of an effigy of president Lyndon Johnson.
In arranging and coordinating the protest movement, the VDC headquarters in Berkeley communicated with anti-war groups in New York City, Boston, New Haven, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Chicago, Madison, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Portland and Atlanta.
[1] The planned movement attracted attention from some newspapers like the National Guardian: Preparations are being made in about two dozen American cities for coordinated mass protests Oct. 15-16 in opposition to U.S. aggression in Vietnam.
In California, the International Days of Protest were to culminate with a peace march toward the Oakland Army Terminal, where men and materials were sent to Vietnam.