The Oral History Project at the Vietnam Archive is pleased to announce that Jason Stewart will be joining our faculty. Jason comes to us from the University of Southern Mississippi, where he is ABD in his doctoral studies. Jason is a specialist in the history of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and is working with Professor Andy Wiest at USM. Jason will be conducting interviews for the Project, and we are very pleased to have him aboard. Please join us in welcoming Jason to Lubbock.

Dr. Kelly Crager, head of the Oral History Project at the Vietnam Center and Archive, delivered the keynote address for the May 26th Memorial Day Program at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Frederickburg, Texas. The title of Dr. Crager’s address was “Honoring our Veterans and Their Families.” After his presentation, Dr. Crager held a book signing for his recently published book Hell under the Rising Sun: Texan POWs and the Building of the Burma-Thailand Death Railway.

National Museum of the Pacific War
Fredericksburg Standard Radio Post Online

The faculty and staff of the Vietnam Center and Archive extend our congratulations to Senior Editor Victoria Lovelady on her recent graduation from Texas Tech University. Mrs. Lovelady has earned a B.A. in Communication Studies. She was also awarded the Undergraduate Academic Achievement Award and the Undergraduate Service Award by her department. Congratulations, Victoria!

Dr. Kelly Crager’s article, “‘God Knows What’s Going to Happen to Us’: The ‘Lost Battery’ of Texas’s ‘Lost Battalion’ in World War II,” will appear in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly in the July 2008 edition. The article presents a history of the little-known E Battery of the Lost Battalion, whose members were captured by the Japanese on Java in March 1942 and who spent the remainder of the war laboring for their captors in the Japanese home islands. His account follows the men throughout their experiences and attempts to explain their high survival rate; one of the most important factors for their survival was the comradeship shared among these Texans POWs. Dr. Crager based this study on oral history interviews with survivors of the experience, as well as on governmental and U.S. Army documents gathered at war’s end. Dr. Crager is the current head of the Oral History Project at the Vietnam Center and Archive.

Texas State Historical Association

Amy Hooker, C.A., Reference Archivist for the Vietnam Center and Archive, has been invited to participate in a panel discussion at this year’s annual meeting of the Society of Southwest Archivists in Houston, TX, on May 24, 2008. The panel is titled “CA-Wannabes: aWeb 2.0 Lifeline” and will discuss how Internet tools such as blogs, wikis, listservs, and chatrooms aid archivists in preparing for the Academy of Certified Archivists Examination. Ms. Hooker earned her archival certification in 2007.

Academy of Certified Archivists

The Vietnam Archive is pleased to announce that Amy Hooker, C.A. has joined the Vietnam Archive as the new Assistant Archivist for Reference. Ms. Hooker’s primary duties will involve responding to reference inquiries by email and telephone, as well as assisting patrons and researchers in our reading room. She will also contribute to the development of reference policies and public service projects to include online reference tools, outreach activities, and exhibits.

A native of Midland, Texas, Ms. Hooker earned a B.A. in Anthropology with a minor in History from Texas Tech University. She completed a master’s degree in Museum Science at TTU in 2000. As part of her degree program, Ms. Hooker completed an internship at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum in Juneau, Alaska. She returns to Tech after seven years at the Petroleum Museum in Midland, where she served as Director of Collections and Archives. She became a certified archivist in 2007. We are happy to welcome her to the team!

Hell under the Rising Sun: Texan POWs and the Building of the Burma-Thailand Death Railway by Kelly E. Crager has been published this month by Texas A&M University, Military History Series. Dr. Crager is Assistant Archivist and head of the Oral History Project at TTU’s Vietnam Archive.

Texas A&M University Press

Officials from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on Wednesday awarded James Reckner an honorary medal for the cause of Vietnam Archives – making him the first American to receive such an honor from the United States’ former enemy.Reckner, executive director of the Institute for Modern Conflict, Diplomacy and Reconciliation, has played an instrumental role in growing the Vietnam Center into one of the world’s foremost Vietnam-related archival and diplomatic instruments. Reckner said the award is a reflection of the continuing process of reconciliation between former enemies, and reflects the importance of the work of the Vietnam Center. “Cooperation in archival matters as well as cooperation in developing joint education programs, such as the ones currently being discussed by the delegation now in Vietnam, are the sort of activities that help heal the wounds of a war that concluded 33 years ago,” Reckner said.

Link to Article

It is with regret that we announce Thomas Reynolds, Archival Specialist, has left the Vietnam Archive in pursuit of other opportunities. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors. If Reynolds served as your point of contact, please refer all future forms of correspondence to Associate Archivist Ty Lovelady at (806) 742-9010 or vietnamarchive@ttu.edu.

The Vietnam Archive regretfully announces that oral historians Richard Verrone, PhD, and Laura Calkins, PhD, have both left the Vietnam Archive for other opportunities. The Vietnam Center & Archive wish them the best of luck with their new endeavors.

The Oral History Project will continue as before. The Vietnam Archive is in the process of hiring new oral historians to fill the two vacancies. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the Oral History Project please don’t hesitate to contact the Vietnam Archive at 806-742-9010 or vietnamarchive@ttu.edu.