2004.33.5

The pin was purchased on ebay, and was advertised as a 1970's YAF pin.Taken from the YAF website:The Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) is an organization dedicated to educating and empowering young people around the fundamental values and beliefs set forth by our Founding Fathers, and encouraging active participation in the political process in order to promote the principles of freedom and liberty as defined by the Sharon Statement.YAF is the Nation's oldest, largest, and most active conservative youth organization. Founded in 1960 at the Sharon, Connecticut estate of William F. Buckley, Jr., YAF has long fought for the values that made America great _ individual liberty and political, social, and economic freedom.In the 1970's:YAF begins and continues a number of projects to support Vietnam veterans and their causes. "Project Appreciation" gives YAFers the opportunity to write, visit, and provide needed supplies to hospitalized veterans. YAF works on various POW/MIA issues and treasonous "Hanoi" Jane Fonda becomes a target of YAF attacks. While U.S. soldiers are fighting in the fields of Vietnam, YAF is fighting on the college campuses and in communities across the country. YAF, though opposing the draft, supports the move to resist communism in Southeast Asia and in American classrooms. YAF goes on the offensive when President Nixon sells out the free Republic of China and opens relations with communist Red China. A number of YAF projects are started as ad hoc committees and affiliated groups to address specific issues. These groups include Youth for the Voluntary Prayer Amendment, Student's Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Young America's Foundation, Free Campus News Service, STOP-NSA Committee, and the National Student Committee for Victory in Vietnam. Today some of these organizations still exist, and continue "to fight the good fight." In 1974, YAF, along with the American Conservative Union, sponsors a modest but ambitious gathering called the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). CPAC has become the largest annual gathering of conservatives and is still growing 26 years later.

Used: political protest