The Weathermen grew out of the anti-Vietnam War movement in the late 1960s.  The first mention of the "Weathermen" occurred in the June 1969 issue of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) newsletter.  SDS was a student-run organization that was committed to protesting the Vietnam War.  The SDS, however, had not utilized violent means to protest the war.  In addition, SDS expressly identified themselves as non-communists.   In the June 1969 SDS newsletter, a group calling itself the "Action Faction" published an essay detailing their ideological beliefs.  The essay ended with a quote from Bob Dylan, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."  The quote would give rise to the term "Weathermen," which would be assigned to followers of the June 1969 ideological essay.  At the 1969 SDS National Convention (Chicago, June 18-22), the Action Front/Weathermen took control of SDS, effectively ending the SDS's existence as a student protest group. <P><br /><br />Within months of the Weathermen's formation, the group began planning its terrorist activities.  In October 1969, the Weathermen orchestrated the "Days of Rage" or "national Action."  During the Days of Rage, Weathermen rioted in the streets, destroying public property, and detonating an explosive at the Haymarket police statue.  In December 1969, Weathermen bombed police vehicles to protest the murders of two Black Panther leaders.  <P><br /><br />In late December 1969, the Weathermen hold a meeting in Flint, Michigan, where the group decides to go "underground" and thereafter commit clandestine terrorist attacks within the United States.  At this point, the group changes their name to the Weather Underground Organization (WUO).  While attempting to build explosives, a WUO cell blew up themselves and their Greenwich Village townhouse in March 1970.  Later that same month, a WUO cell is discovered in Chicago along with a cache of weapons.  The Chicago bust severely curtailed WUO's operational capabilities in Chicago. In another notable criminal act, WUOP members assisted in the prison break-out of Timothy Leary on September 12, 1970.  By this time, WUO had moved beyond amorphous "leftist" beliefs and was now supporting communist goals.  Several members of the group had traveled to Cuba, where they allegedly met with representatives of the communist governments of Cuba and North Vietnam.  In addition, WUO member Linda Sue Evans had traveled to North Vietnam in August 1969.  <P><br /><br />When the WUO went underground, a group called the Prairie Fire Organizing Committee (PFOC) operated in conjunction with WUO, but remained in the U.S. society.  Tensions between PFOC and WUO, as well as the inherent isolation associated with the "underground" status of WUO would eventually lead to the group's self-implosion in 1977.