The Vietnam Center and Archive is proud to present the third speaker in our 2011 Guest Lecture Series, Dr. Kara Dixon Vuic, on October 13th in the Lanier Auditorium of the Texas Tech Law School.  The lecture is free and open to the public.

Dr. Vuic teaches history at Bridgewater College in Virginia.  She has published articles in Signs and Nursing History Reviewon the army’s changing marriage and motherhood regulations and on the recruitment of nurses for the Vietnam War.  Dr. Vuic’s research led her to publish a book titled Officer, Nurse, Woman:  The Army Nurse Corps in the Vietnam War (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009).  Many of the oral history interviews Dr. Vuic conducted for her book are available online through the Virtual Vietnam Archive, and can be found using the link below.

An invitation-only reception with Dr. Vuic for the Friends of the Vietnam Center will be held from 6:00-6:45pm in the Formby Room of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library on the day of the lecture.

The mission of the Vietnam Center and Archive Guest Lecture Series is to enrich the intellectual and cultural life of students, faculty, and the community at large by bringing distinguished individuals to campus for presentations on specific aspects of the Vietnam War, its lasting impact on American politics, society and culture, and on contemporary issues in Southeast Asia.

This lecture series is funded in part by a generous grant from the Helen Jones Foundation.  For more information on the 2011 VNCA Guest Lecture Series see http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS.

Dick Rutan's Voyager Aircraft on display in the Air and Space Museum

The Vietnam Center and Archive is pleased to announce that thanks to a generous grant from the Helen Jones Foundation, our successful Guest Lecture Series will continue in 2012 with four speakers (dates are tentative):

March 2012 – Brig. General Tom Draude, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Marine Corps University Foundation, Draude served for over 30 years in the US Marine Corps, including three tours in Vietnam.  He later commanded Marine Security Guards in Europe and the Fifth Marine Regiment, and served as the Assistant Division Commander of the First Marine Division during Desert Shield and Desert Storm.  He received two Distinguished Service Medals and ten personal awards for combat, including two Silver Stars and the Purple Heart.

April 2012 – Dr. Raymond Scurfield, professor of social work at the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast, is an expert in PTSD.  He served as an Army officer on a psychiatric team in Vietnam from 1968-69, and has spent three decades working with hundreds of combat veterans of the Vietnam War and other conflicts.  Scurfield is the author of numerous books and articles on the effects of PTSD.

October 2012 – Dick Rutan served in the Air Force in Vietnam, flying over 325 combat missions.  Following his time in the military, Rutan continued his aviation career, earning many honors, breaking many world records, and being inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.  In 1986, he was the first person to fly nonstop around the globe without refueling.  He received the Presidential Citizen’s Medal of Honor, and his plane “Voyager” now hangs in the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum.

November 2012 – Rocky Bleier, a star football player at Notre Dame, was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1968.  He also received a US Army draft notice that year.  Leaving the NFL, Bleier served in Vietnam with the 196th Light Infantry Brigade.  Wounded when his platoon was ambushed, doctors told Bleier he would never play football again.  With the support of Steelers owner Art Rooney, his coach and teammates, Bleier trained for two years and eventually became a star running back for the Steelers during their four Super Bowl wins in the 1970s.

 More information about dates and times will be posted as they become available.

 We would also like to remind you that our 2011 series continues on October 13th with Dr. Kara Dixon Vuic, followed by Dave Carey on November 10th.

 For more information about the Guest Lecture Series, visit www.vietnam.ttu.edu/gls

Part two of the local PBS channel’s “Keeping it Local” series on the Vietnam Center and Archive can now be viewed online at http://www.ktxt.org/productions.asp or by clicking the play icon below. This segment focuses on Kim Phuc, “the girl in the photo” and the second speaker in the Vietnam Center and Archive’s 2011 Guest Lecture Series.

KTXT’s complete interview with Kim Phuc can be viewed on their YouTube page – http://www.youtube.com/ktxtdt

This week the Texas Tech University PBS station, KTXT, broadcast the first of two shows on the Vietnam Center and Archive, part of their “Keeping it Local” series. This segment can be viewed online at http://www.ktxt.org/productions.asp, or by clicking the play icon below.

Part two will air on KTXT next Thursday evening and will feature the recent lecture by Kim Phuc, part of the Vietnam Center and Archive’s 2011 Guest Lecture Series.

LeAnn Thieman, nurse, author, and participant in “Operation Babylift,” will speak this week as part of our 2011 Guest Lecture Series.  LeAnn’s lecture will be held on Thursday, May 12th at 7:00pm in the Lanier Auditorium of the Texas Tech University School of Law.  Admission is free and open to the public.  The lecture will be followed by a book signing in the auditorium atrium.

The mission of the Vietnam Center and Archive Guest Lecture Series is to enrich the intellectual and cultural life of students, faculty, and the community at large by bringing distinguished individuals to campus for presentations on specific aspects of the Vietnam War, its lasting impact on American politics, society and culture, and on contemporary issues in Southeast Asia.

This lecture series is funded in part by a generous grant from the Helen Jones Foundation.  For more information on the 2011 VNCA Guest Lecture Series or about LeAnn Thieman see http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS.

May 6 – 12 is Nurses Week; a week dedicated to saying thank you to nurses for all that they do for their patients and communities.  In honor of this week, the Vietnam Center and Archive has developed an online exhibit titled National Nurses Week – Celebrating the Nurses of the Vietnam War.  To see the exhibit please click on the title above or use the link at the bottom of this post.

1st Lieutenant Cheri Hawes, US Army Nurse Corps, at desk for Emergency Room, 91st Evacuation Hospital, Chu Lai, Vietnam

In addition to the exhibit, the VNCA is hosting LeAnn Thieman, the third speaker in our Guest Lecture Series.  Thieman is a nurse with over 30 years of experience who volunteered to help with Operation Babylift in the final days of the Vietnam War.  She is also an author in the popular Chicken Soup series and will speaking at the Lanier Auditorium at the Texas Tech Law School on Thursday May 12th at 7:00.  The lecture is free and open to the public.  For more information about LeAnn or the guest lecture series, please visit the Guest Lecture Series site.

LeAnn Thieman

For all the nurses, thank you for all that you do.

National Nurses Week – Celebrating the Nurses of the Vietnam War

www.vietnam.ttu.edu/exhibits/nurses/

Guest Lecture Series

www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/LectureSeries/2011.htm

The Vietnam Center and Archive is proud to present the second speaker in our 2011 Guest Lecture Series, Mrs. Kim Phuc.  In 1972 Kim was photographed running down a road naked and on fire after a napalm strike on her village.  That Pulitzer Prize winning photo by AP photographer Nick Ut not only greatly influenced the American public’s opinion of the war, it became the North Vietnamese symbol of the war in much of their propaganda.  Kim became known as “the girl in the photo.”  Now Kim runs a non-profit organization dedicated to healing children in war-torn areas around the world.  She is also a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and travels the world telling her story of recovery, forgiveness and courage.

The lecture will be held on Thursday, April 14th at 7:00pm in the Allen Theatre of the Texas Tech Student Union Building. Admission is free and open to the public.  The lecture will be followed by an invitation-only reception with Mrs. Phuc for the Friends of the Vietnam Center in the Formby Room of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library.

The mission of the Vietnam Center and Archive Guest Lecture Series is to enrich the intellectual and cultural life of students, faculty, and the community at large by bringing distinguished individuals to campus for presentations on specific aspects of the Vietnam War, its lasting impact on American politics, society and culture, and on contemporary issues in Southeast Asia.

This lecture series is funded in part by a generous grant from the Helen Jones Foundation.  For more information on the 2011 VNCA Guest Lecture Series see http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS.

Adrian Cronauer will be the first speaker in the 2011 VNCA Guest Lecture Series on March 10th at 7:00pm

The Vietnam Center and Archive has a full schedule of events coming up over the next few months:

March 10-12, 8:00am-5:00pm: 7th Triennial Vietnam Symposium at the Overton Hotel and Conference Center [symposium information, agenda, and registration: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/symposium.htm]

March 10, 7:00pm: 2011 Guest Lecture Series presents Adrian Cronauer at the Lanier Auditorium of the TTU Law School [more information: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS].  The lecture will be preceded by a special invitation-only reception with Mr. Cronauer for Friends of the Vietnam Center.

April 6-13: 3rd Annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Film Festival (4 films: Green Dragon, Rashomon, The Toll of the Sea, and Kim’s Story).  All films at the Formby Room of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library [more information and film show times: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/2011filmfestival]

April 14, 7:00pm: 2011 Guest Lecture Series presents Kim Phuc at the Allen Theatre of the TTU Student Union Building [more information: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS]

May 12, 7:00pm: 2011 Guest Lecture Series presents LeAnn Thieman at the Allen Theatre of the TTU Student Union Building [more information: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS]

We will post more information about each of these events as the dates get closer.

Adrian Cronauer

Thanks to a generous grant from the Helen Jones Foundation, the Vietnam Center and Archive at Texas Tech University will present a guest lecture series throughout 2011.

The mission of the lecture series is to enrich the cultural life of attendants by bringing distinguished individuals to campus for presentations on specific aspects of the Vietnam War and its impact on American policies, society and culture.

Adrian Cronauer – Cronauer is the radio DJ portrayed by Robin Williams in the movie “Good Morning Vietnam!” (March 10, 7 p.m., Lanier Auditorium of the Texas Tech School of Law)

Kim Phuc – In 1972, Kim Phuc was photographed running down a road naked and on fire after a napalm strike on her village. Today, Kim Phuc runs a non-profit organization for children and is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace. (April 14, 7 p.m., Allen Theater of the Student Union Building)

LeAnn Thieman – Thieman was a nurse involved in Operation Babylift, a mission to evacuate more than 300 Vietnamese babies from South Vietnam before it fell to communist troops. (May 12, 7 p.m., Allen Theatre of the Student Union Building)

Kara Dixon Vuic – Historian and author of Officer, Nurse, Woman: The Army Nurse Corps in the Vietnam War. (October 13, 7 p.m., Lanier Auditorium of the Texas Tech School of Law)

Dave Carey – Carey spent more than five years as a POW in Hanoi during the Vietnam War. (Nov. 10, 7 p.m., Allen Theatre of the Student Union Building)

Admission is free and open to the public.

Visit www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS for more information.

Dates may be subject to change.