Mar. 21, 1965 | MLK Leads March over Edmund Pettis Bridge

Mar. 21, 1965 - Blessed by the weather and protected by the U.S. Army, Dr. Martin Luther King led 5,000 followers out of Selma, Ala., today along an eight-mile strip of U.S. Highway 80 lined with carbine-carrying troops and jeering white Southerners.
“We have our marching shoes on,” Dr. King told the throng.
The route of the first of five days of marching to Montgomery was like a battle zone through which the placard-carrying demonstrators trekked.
Two Army helicopters hovered overhead, while jeeps shuttled up and down the line. At times, National Guardsmen in olive battle fatigues cleared paths through spectators.
Many troops had bayonets fixed — but sheathed.
There was widespread heckling but no violence as the marchers reached their first-day destination, a grassy field where huge tents were already set up.

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