This pin was made and sold circa 1980 to celebrate the life of John Lennon, which was tragically cut short on December 8, 1980 when he was assassinated in New York City. 

The pin reads:  I MISS JOHN LENNON

Peace Activism

Between 1968 and 1972, Lennon wrote and recorded the international top-10 singles "Give Peace a Chance", "Instant Karma!", "Imagine", "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and “Working Class Hero.”  Woking Class Hero is a biting critique of class inequality and the corrupting influence of power and wealth, and about the struggles of working people and the ways in which they are exploited and oppressed by the ruling elites.

Lennon and Ono used their honeymoon as a Bed-In for Peace at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel; the March 1969 event attracted worldwide media attention. During a second Bed-In three months later at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Lennon wrote and recorded "Give Peace a Chance".

The song was quickly adopted as an anti-war anthem and sung by a quarter of a million demonstrators against the Vietnam War in Washington, DC, on 15 November, the second Vietnam Moratorium Day.  In December, they paid for billboards in 10 cities around the world which declared, in the national language, "War Is Over! If You Want It." 

Moving to New York City in 1971, his criticism of the Vietnam War resulted in a three-year deportation attempt by the Nixon administration. In a 1972 memo, Republican Senator Strom Thurmond suggested deportation proceedings as “a strategic counter-measure” against Lennon. Thurmond advised Acting Attorney General John Mitchell, who was also chairman of Nixon’s 1968 presidential campaign that removing Lennon would be the appropriate political action. 

On 8 December 1980, Lennon autographed a copy of Double Fantasy for Mark David Chapman before leaving The Dakota with Ono. Lennon and Ono returned to the Dakota, and as they walked through the archway of the building, Chapman shot Lennon twice in the back and twice in the shoulder at close range. Lennon was rushed in a police cruiser to the emergency room of Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.