Symposium Call for Papers and Panels

“A Medical History of the Vietnam War”

 Sponsored by:
The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage

March 10-12, 2016
Holiday Inn San Antonio Airport, San Antonio, Texas

Presentations on all facets of medicine and healthcare related to the Vietnam War are welcome to include historical understandings of military medicine as practiced by all participants and in all geographic regions, the repercussions of the war on the practice of medicine, medicine in various campaigns, medical care outside of Vietnam, effects on the home front, postwar medical issues, mental health issues, and related topics.

Symposium organizers welcome both individual presentation proposals as well as pre-organized panel proposals that include two to three presentations. Symposium sessions will follow the standard 90 minute format to include one hour for presentations and 30 minutes for questions and discussion. Presentations by veterans are especially encouraged as are presentations by graduate students. All of the symposium organizers are partners with the Department of Defense’s Vietnam War Commemoration. In keeping with that partnership, there will be a dignified event to thank veterans for their service.

Proposal submission deadline is October 31, 2015. Please send a 250 word abstract and separate two-page CV/resume to steve.maxner@ttu.edu. If submitting a panel proposal, please include separate abstracts for each proposed presentation and CVs/resumes for each speaker.

Thank you for your interest in participating in this symposium.

Jan K. Herman was the chief medical historian of the Navy from 1979 to 2012, the curator of the Old Naval Observatory, and editor-in-chief of Navy Medicine for 30 years. Since 2000, he has written and produced documentaries for the US Navy highlighting its medical service. In the documentary and its companion book, The Lucky Few, Herman tells the “relatively unknown heroic tale” of one small US Navy destroyer escort’s participation in the closing days of the Vietnam War. Herman has authored more than 50 articles and monographs plus five other books.

Captain Paul Jacobs (USN, retired) will also be in attendance. Jacobs served as commanding officer of the USS Kirk in April-May 1975 during Operation Frequent Wind (the evacuation of Saigon), during which the USS Kirk escorted the ships of the South Vietnamese Navy and 30,000 refugees to safety.

This lecture is sponsored by a generous grant from the Helen Jones Foundation and co-sponsored by the Museum of Texas Tech University.

The Vietnam Center and Archive staff will be heading to Austin, Texas this weekend for the dedication of the Capitol monument honoring Texas Vietnam veterans.

The monument, produced at the Deep in the Heart Art Foundry in Bastrop, was designed by Duke Sundt. Finishing touches were added by Client Howard and Jake Jokovich.

Attendees of this memorable dedication include veterans, family members of veterans, active-duty military, local school children, and elected officials. Additionally, Governor Rick Perry will be accepting the monument on behalf of the state. Guest speakers include an Air Force aviator and Vietnam prisoner of war, U.S. Representative Sam Johnson; director of the U.S. 50th Commemoration of the Vietnam War, Lieutenant General Mick Kicklighter; Texas Senator, Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, and Texas Representative Wayne Smith.

In 2005, the 79th Legislature approved The Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument to honor the Texans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces and to honor and never forget those who died serving our country.

The “Welcome Home Fair” will include an artifact exhibition of Vietnam War equipment and personalized dog tags honoring Texans that were lost at war. The monument is located near 14th and Brazos Street.

The Vietnam Center and Archive celebrates TET – The Vietnamese New Year this Friday!

   The Vietnam Center and Archive cordially invites you to join us as we celebrate the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, Tet, on Friday, January 31^st, 2014. Please come sample Vietnamese cuisine and learn more about the rich heritage and culture that makesVietnam remarkable.

   Friday, January 31^st, 2014 ushers the Luna Year of the Wooden Horse. InVietnam, one of the 12 animals of the zodiac represents each year. People born in the Year of the Horse are believed to be the most reasonable out of the five types of Horse signs. People born in the Year of the Wooden Horse are self-disciplined, organized, social and happy, but refused to be dominated.

   Tet is the Vietnamese peoples most important holiday. Preparation for the celebration is very time consuming. Preparation includes, cooking, cleaning and painting their homes.

   The Vietnam Center and Archive will start the celebration on Friday, January 31^st, 2014 at 4:00pm in the

International Cultural Center at Texas Tech University. The event is open for everyone. We hope to see you there!

 For more information, please visit www.vietnam.ttu.edu or

call (806) 742-9010.

The Vietnam Center & Archive will be closed Monday, January 20th, 2014 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Regular office hours will resume on Tuesday, January 21st, 2014.

REMINDER: The Vietnam Center and Archive will be closed for the holidays starting Saturday, December 21st 2013 through Tuesday, January 2nd 2014.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

The Vietnam Center and Archive (VNCA) continued its commitment to honoring our veterans by participating in the third annual Veterans Appreciation Day.

On November 15^th, 2013 several hundred students from Waters Elementary School in Lubbock, Texas attended the event. Students, grades Pre-K thru 5^th, had the opportunity to view a restored Huey helicopter from the Vietnam War among other exhibits that celebrated our veterans.

VNCA staff, Kevin Sailsbury, shared with students in attendance era artifacts donated byVietnamveterans in “A Day in the Life of a Soldier.” Sheon Montgomery, VNCA Reference Archivist, also shared with the students the different types and uses of helicopters during the war. The event, which featured an informative exhibit timeline highlighting WWI through modern wars, also welcomed Kelly Crager and Vietnam Veteran pilot Lynn Stephens.

The Vietnam Center and Archive is proud to present Astronaut and Vietnam War Veteran Mike Mullane on Thursday, November 21st at 7:00pm in the Lanier Auditorium of the Texas Tech University School of Law.  The lecture is free and open to the public.

A 1967 graduate of West Point, Mullane was commissioned in the USAF and served as a Weapon Systems Operator aboard an RF-4C Phantom, completing 150 combat missions in Vietnam. In 1978 he was selected as a Mission Specialist for the first group of Space Shuttle Astronauts. He completed three space missions and logged 356 hours in space before retiring in 1990. Mullane has been inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame and is the recipient of many awards, including the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion of Merit and the NASA Space Flight Medal.

This is the final lecture in the Vietnam Center and Archive 2013 Guest Lecture Series.  All lectures are free and open to the public.

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 2013 VNCA Guest Lecture Series see http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS, or contact Mary Saffell at 806-742-9010 or mary.saffell@ttu.edu.

U.S. Art Company load
Vietnam: The Helicopter exhibit

The Vietnam Center and Archive is proud to announce that the Vietnam: The Helicopter War exhibit is on its way to Australia.

The National VietnamVeterans Museumin Phillip Island, Australia, island just south of Melbourne, Victoria, will host the exhibit starting November 17^th 2013 and ending January 26^th 2014.

In the summer of 2013, the exhibit was on display in Lubbock’s Silent Wings Museum for the first time. Then, it was displayed in Midland,Texas. And now, a year from its creation, the exhibit will be available to the Australian public.

Vietnam Center Collection. Unicorn paper mache mask.

Thursday, September 19th marks the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon or Full Moon Festival. Traditionally celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon appears larger than it does on any other night of the year, the Mid Autumn Moon Festival (Tet Trung Thu) is the second biggest holiday in Vietnam and is widely celebrated throughout Asia.

Kathryn Campbell Collection. 8 year old Thi Thi Bich Nhi blends Vietnamese and Chinese legend in her drawing titled, Chi Hang (The Moon Goddess). She depicts both the Vietnamese man in the moon, Chu Cuoi, and the Chinese woman in the moon associated with the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.

It is a time for family and to celebrate life, prosperity, and the harvest. During the Mid-Autumn festival, parents prepare their children’s favorite dishes and buy them new toys. Children hear the story of Chu Cuoi (the man in the moon) and other fairytales.

Douglas Pike Photograph Collection
Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration – “Moon Men” – Enterprising merchant in Saigon uses display of Lunar Astronauts to call attention to “Moon Cakes,” a traditional delicacy sold during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Hanging and floating lanterns are set out to decorate and people dance the lion and dragon dances. Mooncakes (made from lotus seed, ground beans, and containing a bright salted egg yolk in the center) are given to family and friends.

Ogden Williams Collection USOM/Office of Rural Affairs

Pomelo fruit and watermelon seeds are a special treat. At night children parade through the streets to the beat of drums wearing Paper Mache masks and carrying lanterns in the shapes of stars, rabbit heads, fish (carpe), butterflies, or lanterns with a lit candle inside that makes shapes spin representing the seasonal spinning of the earth.

Vietnam Center Collection. Paper mache mask.