Today is the Army’s 237th birthday.  So happy birthday to the US Army and all the men and women who have served and are currently serving in the Army. 

We have created a small exhibit featuring Army materials from our collection to celebrate.  To view the exhibit click on the link below.

http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/exhibits/army/

The Museum of Texas Tech University Association has organized a summer-long series of collaborative exhibitions celebrating those who have protected our freedom titled “Celebrating our Heroes.” The Vietnam Center and Archive is proud to participate in this series with a number of events:

July 15th – “Helicopter Display at the Museum of Texas Tech University:” The Vietnam Center and Archive’s AH-1G Cobra Attack Helicopter and UH-1 Huey Utility Helicopter will be on display at the TTU Museum during the Museum’s family picnic for Veterans and Families celebrating the opening of the “‘Memories of WWII’ Photographs from the Archives of the Associated Press” exhibit.  Reservations are required – 806-742-2443.

July 15th-September 2nd – “The Helicopter from WWII to the Vietnam War” at the Silent Wings Museum.  The helicopter was first utilized by the US military during WWII at Burma in 1945 when the vaunted American glider forces were unable to reach downed American bombers.  By the beginning of the Vietnam War the uses for helicopters were being greatly expanded, and the UH-1 Huey became one of the most recognized icons of the war in Vietnam.  This exhibit will examine the history and uses of the helicopter over the course of the war, and will feature both a physical exhibit on display at the Silent Wings Museum as well as an online exhibit on our website.  Visitors to the physical exhibit will have the option to use smart phones or tablets to access enhanced content such as historical film footage, audio records, oral histories, and documents.

July 15th-September 2nd – “Experiences: US Soldiers in the Vietnam War” at the Science Spectrum.  This exhibit will examine a day-in-the-life of US soldiers and support personnel in Vietnam and will feature many historical images and artifacts from the collections of the Vietnam Center and Archive.

July 23rd – “Celebrating our Heroes at the Vietnam Center and Archive” reception at 6:00pm at the Science Spectrum.  More information about this reception will be posted soon.

We hope you will be able to join us and the other participating institutions for these events over the course of the summer.  For more information on all of the Celebrating our Heroes events visit www.celebratingourheroes.com.

We have added a new feature onto the Advanced Search Page of the Virtual Vietnam Archive: the ability to exclude the full text of documents from keyword searches.  A new checkbox labeled “Search Full Text?” has been added next to the “Keyword/Item #” search fields.  This field is selected by default, meaning that full text will be included in the search.  To exclude the full text, deselect the checkbox.  For many searches, this will result in significantly fewer hits.

If you have any questions or comments about this or any other feature of the Virtual Vietnam Archive, please feel free to contact us at vawebmaster@ttu.edu.

As part of their American History TV Oral Histories series, C-SPAN3 will be airing a number of interviews conducted and filmed at the Pleiku-Ia Drang Veterans 40th Anniversary Commemoration held in Washington, DC, in November 2005.  The first interview in the series to be aired will be Part One of the interview with Lt. General Hal Moore, commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment during the Battle of Ia Drang in 1965, and co-author of We Were Soldiers Once…And Young.

The interview will air on C-SPAN3 at 8am (ET) on Saturday, March 3rd, and again at 3pm (ET) on Sunday, March 4th, as well as at 4am (ET) on Monday, March 5th.  Part Two of the General Hal More interview will air the following weekend at 9am (ET) on Saturday, March 10th.  More interviews from the Commemoration will air over the next few months.  For a complete schedule see http://www.c-span.org/history/.  The interviews will also be available on the C-Span American History TV website after they air.

The Vietnam Center and Archive is proud to present Brigadier General Tom Draude on Thursday, March 1st at 7:00pm in the Lanier Auditorium of the Texas Tech University School of Law.  The lecture is free and open to the public.

Currently President and Chief Executive Office of the Marine Corps University Foundation, General Draude served for over 30 years in the US Marine Corps, including three tours in Vietnam. He later commanded Marine Security Guards in Europe, 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.

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 2012 VNCA Guest Lecture Series see http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS, or contact Mary Saffell at 806-742-9010 or mary.saffell@ttu.edu.

Due to snow and icy conditions, the Vietnam Center and Archive will not open until noon today, February 13th.

Tet, the Vietnamese New Year
Today – Thursday, January 19th
3:00-5:00pm
The International Cultural Center’s Hall of Nations, Texas Tech University

This is a free event and open to the public.

Traditional Vietnamese food will be served. A special presentation will be given by the Vietnamese Student Association at Texas Tech. Please join us and learn more about the rich heritage and culture that makes Vietnam so remarkable.

January 23rd, 2012 ushers in the Lunar Year of the Dragon. In Vietnam, one of 12 animals of the zodiac represents each year. In many Asian cultures, including Vietnam, the Year of the Dragon is considered to be the most desirable year to be born in, as the dragon brings luck, strength, independence, nobility, wisdom, and a promising future. It is believed that the Year of the Dragon brings good fortune to people, including wealth, health, good marriages, and new children.

The Vietnamese people regard Tet as their most important holiday. Food preparation for Tet is very time consuming and often requires days of cooking and, prior to the celebrations, people clean, paint, and decorate their homes. People avoid cleaning during Tet so that good luck will not be “swept away.”

We hope you will be able to join us today as we celebrate this special event!

For more information, please call 806-742-3742.

Event flyer: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/tet/tet2012.pdf

Tet, the Vietnamese New Year
Thursday, January 19th
3:00-5:00pm
The International Cultural Center’s Hall of Nations, Texas Tech University

This is a free event and open to the public.

Traditional Vietnamese food will be served. A special presentation will be given by the Vietnamese Student Association at Texas Tech. Please join us and learn more about the rich heritage and culture that makes Vietnam so remarkable.

January 23rd, 2012 ushers in the Lunar Year of the Dragon. In Vietnam, one of 12 animals of the zodiac represents each year. In many Asian cultures, including Vietnam, the Year of the Dragon is considered to be the most desirable year to be born in, as the dragon brings luck, strength, independence, nobility, wisdom, and a promising future. It is believed that the Year of the Dragon brings good fortune to people, including wealth, health, good marriages, and new children.

The Vietnamese people regard Tet as their most important holiday. Food preparation for Tet is very time consuming and often requires days of cooking and, prior to the celebrations, people clean, paint, and decorate their homes. People avoid cleaning during Tet so that good luck will not be “swept away.”

We hope you will be able to join us on January 19th, 2012 as we celebrate this special event!

For more information, please call 806-742-3742.

Event flyer: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/tet/tet2012.pdf

The Vietnam Center and Archive is proud to present the first speaker in our 2012 Guest Lecture Series, Dr. Bob Sorley, on Wednesday, January 25th 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 graduate of West Point, Sorley served as an executive officer in Vietnam from 1963-1966. He later served as Assistant Secretary of General Staff, Office of the Chief of Staff, and commanded a tank battalion in West Germany. This was followed by time on the faculty of the US Army War College and later work as Chief of the Policy and Plans Division of the CIA. Sorley is the author of numerous books, including A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America’s Last Years in Vietnam.

Dr. Sorley will be available to sign copies of his book following 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 2012 VNCA Guest Lecture Series see http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS, or contact Mary Saffell at 806-742-9010 or mary.saffell@ttu.edu.

As many of you have already heard, Associate Archivist Ty Lovelady will be leaving the Vietnam Center and Archive on January 6th. Ty has accepted a new position as University Archivist in the Special Collections Library of the University of Texas at Dallas, which he will begin in the next few weeks.

Ty started at the Archive over ten years ago while finishing up his Master’s thesis here at Texas Tech, working as an Archival Specialist digitizing materials for the Virtual Vietnam Archive. Promoted to Associate Archivist in 2007, Ty has been responsible for, among many other things, collection accessioning, processing, and donor relations. If you’ve had contact with the Archive recently, you’ve probably interacted with Ty.

Ty has been an invaluable member of the Center and Archive staff and will be greatly missed, and we wish him the best of luck in Dallas!