2. Events
  3. 2008 Symposium

6th Triennial Vietnam Symposium

13 March - 15 March 2008
Holiday Inn Park Plaza - Lubbock, Texas

The views and opinions expressed in these papers, presentations, and videos are strictly those of the presenters and authors and do not represent The Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University, or the State of Texas.

Thursday, March 13th

Video

[Sycamore]
8:30 AM Plenary 1: The Media and the Tet Offensive

Moderator: Richard Pyle, Associated Press


  • Barry Zorthian , USIA, JUSPAO, Saigon


  • Don North , War Correspondent, ABC and NBC News


  • William Hammond , Historian, US Army Center of Military History

Video

[Sycamore]
10:30 AM Plenary 2: The Media and the Vietnam War

Moderator: William Hammond, US Army Center of Military History


  • Peter Arnett , War Correspondent, AP, Pulitzer Prize 1966


  • Richard Pyle , War Correspondent, Saigon Bureau Chief, AP


  • George Esper , War Correspondent, Saigon Bureau Chief, AP (during fall of Saigon in April 1975)

Video

[Atrium]
12:00 PM Lunch: Reception/Break/Other

  • Reporting the Vietnam War: 13 Years as a War Correspondent with the Associated Press
    Peter Arnett , Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, 1966

Video

[Sycamore]
1:30 PM 3a: Sects, Diem, and the Early Opposition Press in the US

Moderator: Edward Miller, Associate Professor, Dartmouth College

  • The French Connection, Part Deux: Sects and Drugs
    Carmen K. Steigman , M.D., M.P.H., Independent Researcher

      •    
  • Turning Points: Ngo Dinh Diem and the American Response to the November 1960 coup d'etat attempt
    Ronald B. Frankum Jr. , Associate Professor, Millersville University of Pennsylvania

  • Early Roots of an 'Opposition Press': An Examination of the New York Times' Editorials from the Spring of 1965
    Louis Campomenosi , PhD, Tulane University

      •    
Video

[Redwood]
1:30 PM 3b: Archival Collections and Preservation

Moderator: Cynthia Chambers, PhD, Analyst, Research and Analysis Directorate

  • Conservation and Preservation of Military Records of the Vietnam Era
    Sara J. Holmes , Supervisory Preservation Specialist, National Personnel Records Center, National Archives and Records Administration

      •    
  • Following Vietnam from Berkeley: A Guide to Library and Internet Resources on Contemporary Vietnam
    Stephen Denney , Library Assistant, University of California at Berkeley

  • The Fate of a Canon-less Army: The Imaginative Representations of the Vietnam War Collection at La Salle University
    John Baky , Director of Libraries, Connelly Library, La Salle University

Video

[Aspen]
1:30 PM 3c: Agent Orange and Herbicides in Vietnam and Thailand

Moderator: Arnold Schecter, MD, MPH, Professor of Environmental Sciences, University of Texas School of Public Health

  • Agent Orange and Dioxin
    Arnold Schecter , MD, MPH, Professor of Environmental Sciences, University of Texas School of Public Health

      •    
  • The Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences' Health and Scientific Research on Dioxins and Agent Orange: Past, Present, and Future
    David A. Butler , PhD, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences

      •    
  • Herbicide Use in Thailand - The Relationship to the Rules of Engagement (ROE) and Use in Vietnam and Laos
    Kurt Priessman , Master Sergeant, USAF (retired), Independent Researcher

      •    
Video

[Sycamore]
3:30 PM 4a: Pham Xuan An: Unraveling the Mystery of a Perfect Spy

Moderator: Richard Pyle, War Sorrespondent, Saigon Bureau Chief, Associated Press

  • Imagining Viet Nam: Misunderstanding Pham Xuan An
    Kyle Horst , Independent Researcher

  • Will We Ever Know the Real Pham Xuan An
    Larry Berman , PhD, Professor, University of California, Davis

      •    
Video

[Redwood]
3:30 PM 4b: The Battle for Tan Son Nhut - Tet '68

Moderator: James Willbanks, PhD, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth

  • Orientation Tour of Tan Son Nhut Air Base
    Bob Laymon , CMSgt, USAF (retired), Independent Researcher

      •    
  • The Vietcong and PAVN Historical Perspective on the Battle for Tan Son Nhut
    Merle Pribbenow , CIA (retired), Independent Researcher

      •    
  • Combined US/RVN Defense of Tan Son Nhut
    Bernie DeNisio , Col, USAF (retired), Independent Researcher

Video

[Aspen]
3:30 PM 4c: Panel Discussion: "Edward Lansdale's Vietnam War: Myth, History and the Career of America's Most Famous Vietnam Intelligence Operative

Moderator: Edward Miller, PhD, Associate Professor, Dartmouth College


  • Rufus Phillips , CIA and USAID (retired)


  • Jerome French , Department of Defense and USAID (retired)


  • Don North , War Correspondent, ABC and NBC News

Video

[Mahogany]
3:30 PM 4d: LBJ, Colby, and Nixon: The Impact of Tet and Presidential Leadership on the Course of the Vietnam War

Moderator: Justin Hart, PhD, Assistant Professor, Texas Tech University

  • Approaching the Big Muddy: President Lyndon Baines Johnson's Early Perceptions on the War in Indo-China
    Walter Jones , University of Utah

  • 1968 and its Aftermath: Why Did the Vietnam War Continue
    Carolyn Eisenberg , Professor of History, Hofstra University

  • Bill Colby, Tet and Revolutionary Development in Vietnam
    Jeffrey Woods , Associate Professor of History, Arkansas Tech University

Video

[American State Bank]
6:00 PM Reception: Reception/Break/Other

  • Opening Comments
    W. R. Collier , President, American State Bank

  • Comments, Proclamation
    Mayor David Miller

Video

[Sycamore]
8:00 AM Opening Ceremony: Reception/Break/Other


  • Chancellor Kent Hance , Texas Tech University

Friday, March 14th

Video
Part 1

Part 2

[Sycamore]
8:30 AM 5a: Major Battles of the Tet Offensive

Moderator: Ron Milam, PhD, Assistant Professor of History, Texas Tech University

  • The Ia Drang Valley Battle? Which One
    Tin Nguyen , Independent Researcher

      •    
  • Khe Sanh: The Vanishing Enemy
    Bryan G. Urquhart , Independent Researcher

  • A New interpretation of the Battle of Kham Duc, May 10-12, 1968
    Gregory Sanders , Independent Researcher

      •    
Video
Part 1

Part 2

[Redwood]
8:30 AM 5b: Personal Perspectives: The Army of the Republic of Vietnam

Moderator: James Reckner, PhD, Professor of History, Texas Tech University

  • The Tet Offensive Experience
    Nguyen Le Hieu , PhD, Independent Researcher

      •    
  • Roots of South Vietnamese Nationalism
    Nghia M. Vo , Independent Researcher

      •    
  • The 'Tet' Offensive 1968: Planning, Preparation and the Results
    Hieu Vu , Independent Researcher

      •    
Video
Part 1

Part 2

[Aspen]
8:30 AM 5c: Education and the Vietnam War

Moderator: Larry Berman, Professor of Political Science, University of California, Davis

  • Higher Education in Vietnam: USAID Contract in Eductaion, Wisconsin State University - Stevens Point and the Republic of Vietnam
    Thomas C. Reich , Assistant Professor University Library, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point

      •    
  • Surrounded by Politics: the American Friends of Vietnam and its Educational Endeavors, 1955-1960
    John Southard , Texas Tech University

  • Depictions of War: An Examination of the Vietnam War as Presented in High School Texts
    TiTi Mary Tran , California State University

      •    
Video

[Mahogany]
8:30 AM 5d: The Battle for Hue

Moderator: Andrew Wiest, PhD, Associate Professor of History, The University of Southern Mississippi

  • New Insights into the Battle of Hue, Tet 1968
    Erik B. Villard , PhD, Historian, U.S. Army Center of Military History

      •    
  • The Battle of Hue through the Eyes of its NVA Battlefield Commander
    Nguyen Ngoc Bich , Independent Researcher

Video

[Sycamore]
10:30 AM 6a: Legal Issues in the Vietnam War

Moderator: Cal Lewis, Associate Dean, Texas Tech School of Law

  • Article 39(a) Pretrial Sessions Conducted by a True Military Judge
    Daniel H. Benson , Paul Whitfield Horn Professor of Law (retired), Texas Tech University School of Law; former Major and Military Judge, Army JAGC

  • The Existence of a Nexus? The Military Justice Act of 1968 and the Vietnam War
    Mattei Radu , Independent Researcher, Villanova University

  • Challenges and Problems Related to the Military Law Act of 1969
    Joseph B. Conboy , Associate Dean Emeritus, Colonel US Army JAGC (retired)

Video

[Redwood]
10:30 AM 6b: Finding Thuy: What Happened after the Fifth Triennial Vietnam Symposium

Moderator: Sara J. Holmes, Supervisory Preservation Specialist, National Personnel Records Center, National Archives and Records Administration


  • Fred Whitehurst , Independent Researcher


  • Rob Whitehurst , Independent Researcher

      •    

  • Ted Engelmann , Independent Researcher

      •    
Video

[Aspen]
10:30 AM 6c: Telling Our Stories: African American Vietnam Veterans

Moderator: Ron E. Armstead, U.S. Navy Vietnam Theater Veteran

  • Commentator
    Garna Christian , PhD, Professor of History, University of Houston-Downtown


  • Robert Blackwell , USA, Tyler, TX


  • Ruben 'Sugar Bear' Johnson , USMC, Cleveland, TX


  • Charles Johnson , USA, San Antonio, TX


  • Bennie Nash III , U.S. Navy (retired) Vietnam Era Veteran, Lubbock, TX

Video

[Mahogany]
10:30 AM 6d: Tet, the DRV, and the RVN

Moderator: Kelly Crager, PhD, Texas Tech University

  • General Vo Nguyen Giap and the Evolution of the Plan for the 1968 Tet Offensive
    Merle Pribbenow , Independent Researcher

  • Victory Unfulfilled: The Failure of the US/ARVN Alliance in the Wake of Tet
    Andrew Wiest , PhD, Associate Professor of History, The University of Southern Mississippi

  • The 1968 Tet Offensive
    Vu Quy Ky , Independent Researcher

      •    
Video

[Atrium]
12:00 PM Lunch: Reception/Break/Other

  • Major Debates on the History of the Vietnam War
    Mark Moyar , PhD, Kim T. Adamson Chair of Insurgency and Terrorism U.S. Marine Corps University, Quantico, Virginia

Video

[Sycamore]
1:30 PM 7a: Naval Intelligence Liaison Officers in Vietnam

Moderator: Nick Carbone


  • John Vinson , NILO Tra Cu


  • Peter Decker , NILO Duc Hoa

      •    

  • Lawrence Serra , NILO Ha Tien

Video

[Redwood]
1:30 PM 7b: Vietnam and Iraq

Moderator: William Thomas Allison, PhD, Professor of History, Weber State University

  • Two Long Wars Compared: Vietnam and Iraq
    Martin K. Gordon , PhD, Faculty Associate in History, Johns Hopkins University

  • Vietnam v. Iraq: A Comparison of the Soliders' Experience
    Gary J. Heffner , MA, SGT (former) US Army National Guard

      •    
  • A Comparison of the Emotional and Psychological Adjustment of the Returning Veterans of Vietnam and Iraq
    Bob Worthington , PhD, Lt Col, US Army (retired)

      •    
Video

[Aspen]
1:30 PM 7c: Saving Lives in Vietnam: Nurses, Aidmen, and Dustoff Pilots

Moderator: Richard A. Ruth, Assistant Professor, United States Naval Academy

  • When I have Your Wounded: The Story of Dust-Off Warfare's Greatest Life Saver
    Pat Brady , MG, USA (retired), Independent Researcher

      •    
  • Nurses in Vietnam: Heroic Angels or Reluctant Volunteers
    Ron Milam , PhD, Assistant Professor, Texas Tech University

  • Who Goes First? Prioritizing Casualty Evacuation During the Vietnam War
    Jonathan Hood , PhD, Center for Military History

Video

[Sycamore]
3:30 PM 8a: The Hue Massacre of 1968

Moderator: James Reckner, PhD, Professor of History, Texas Tech University

  • The 1968 Massacre at Hue: in Commemoration of the Mau Than Victims on the 40th Anniversary 1968-2008
    Nguyen Ly Tuong , Independent Researcher

      •    
  • The Mau Than Massacre: An Intenitonally Forgotten Event of the Vietnam War
    Michael Peavey Do , Captain, Republic of Vietnam Air Force, Independent Researcher

      •    

  • Trinh Quoc Thien , Indepentent Researcher

      •    
Video

[Redwood]
3:30 PM 8b: Teaching the Tet Offensive and 1968: A Roundtable Discussion

Moderator: James Willbanks, PhD, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth


  • William Thomas Allison , PhD, Professor of History, Weber State University


  • Edwin E. Moise , PhD, Professor of History, Clemson University

      •    

  • Ron Milam , PhD, Assistant Professor of History, Texas Tech University

Video

[Aspen]
3:30 PM 8c: Political Warfare, American Protest, and Southern Vietnamese Intellectuals

Moderator: Thomas C. Reich, Assistant Professor University Library, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point

  • Southern Vietnamese Intellectuals and the Events of 1968
    Wynn Wilcox , PhD, Associate Professor, Western Connecticut State University

  • From Protests to the Media: SANE's Response to Nixon's Silent Majority in Philadelphia
    Matthew Johnson , Temple University

  • Political Warfare in Republican Vietnam
    Robert A. Silano , Independent Researcher

      •    
Video

[Atrium]
8:00 PM Banquet: Reception/Break/Other

  • Keynote Speaker
    Ambassador Raymond Burghardt , Former US Ambassador to Vietnam; Director, East-West Seminars, East-West Center, Hawaii

Saturday, March 15th

Video

[Sycamore]
8:30 AM 9a: Personal Narratives and the Impact of the War

Moderator: Lynne Fallwell, PhD, Assistant Professor of History, Texas Tech University

  • Tet-a-Tet: A Forty Year Journey
    Ted Engelmann , Veteran, Independent Researcher

      •    
  • Welcome Home
    Wendy Liles , Daughter of Robert L. Liles, Jr., MAJ, USAF, KIA 1972

Video

[Redwood]
8:30 AM 9b: Special Operations and missions During the Vietnam War

Moderator: Edwin E. Moise, PhD, Professor of History, Clemson University

  • Murphy was Even a Sapper: Urban Sappers in Saigon During the Tet Offensive
    James M. Cloninger , Texas Tech University

  • Taking the Night Away from Charlie: Quiet Thruster Aircraft in the Vietnam War
    Dale Ross Stith , Founder and President, Quiet Aircraft Association, Inc.

      •    
  • Osborne's Congressional Testimony and the Denouncing of the Phoenix Program
    Michael W. Cheek , American University

Video

[Aspen]
8:30 AM 9c: Multimedia Presentation

  • Drawing on Experience: A Study and Display of Vietnam Veteran Atrists
    Karl Michel , PhD, Assistant Professor of Art, Piedmont College

      •    
Video

[Mahogany]
8:30 AM 9d: Postwar Issues and Challenges

Moderator: Kelly Crager, PhD, Vietnam Center

  • Unxeploded Ordanance: Accident Survivors, International Organizations and Visions of the Vietnam War in Quang Tri Province, Central Vietnam
    Jason Perkins , Carleton College

      •    
  • Connecting the Dots - The Buy Out and Sell Out of Our POWs & MIAs
    H. G. "Don" Mercer , Independent Researcher

      •    
  • Creation of a Criminal Class: The Denigration of the Vietnam Veteran: 1968-1975
    Ralph Thomas , Independent Researcher

Video

[Sycamore]
10:30 AM 10a: The Vietnam War in Literature

Moderator: Rich Rice, PhD, Associate Professor of English, Texas Tech University

  • American Dream / American Nightmare
    Michael Lund , PhD, Professor, Longwood University, Virginia

  • Opposing Images of American Combatants and North Vietnamese Communist Soldiers in Lan Cao's Monkey Bridge
    Quan Manh Ha , PhD Candidate, Texas Tech University

Video

[Redwood]
10:30 AM 10b: US Navy Operations in Vietnam

Moderator: Bob Worthington, PhD, Lt Col, US Army (retired)

  • The Role of the Navy's Helicopters in Combat Search and Rescue
    Al Billings , CDR, USN (retired), Independent Researcher

      •    
  • Operation Silver Mace II: Deadly Day on the Duong Keo
    Wade R. Sanders , Capt, USN (retired), Independent Researcher

      •    
Video

[Aspen]
10:30 AM 10c: US Soldiers Experiences in Vietnam

Moderator: James Willbanks, PhD, US Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth

  • "We Was Just Us:" De-racialization on the Front Lines of the Vietnam War
    Gerald F. Goodwin , University of Kentucky

      •    
  • Combat Assault into Cambodia and Night Fighting Inside the Wire
    James T. Gillam , Associate Professor, Spelman College

  • Reminiscences of the First Neurologist Serving U.S. Forces in Vietnam (1965-66) and his 2005 Private Meeting with General Vo Nguyen Giap in Hanoi
    Robert B. Daroff , MD, Case Western Reserve University

      •    
Video

[Mahogany]
10:30 AM 10d: Bob Hope, The Post Exchange, and A Tale of Two Quagmires...

Moderator: Martin K. Gordon, PhD, Faculty Associate in History, Johns Hopkins University

  • Thanks for the Memories': The Bob Hope Christmas Shows in Vietnam
    Judith R. Johnson , PhD, Associate Professor, Wichita State University

  • PX-land: Thai Adventures in Consumerism and Americanism in South Vietnam, 1967-1972
    Richard A. Ruth , Assistant Professor, United States Naval Academy

      •    
  • A Review Essay of 'A Tale of Two Quagmires: Iraq, Vietnam, and the Hard Lessons of War'
    Samuel B. Hoff , PhD, Delaware State University

Video

[Atrium]
12:00 PM Lunch: Reception/Break/Other


  • Ambassador Charles Ray , Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Defense Prisoner/Missing Personnel Office; Former US Ambassador to Cambodia

Video

[Sycamore]
1:30 PM Plenary 11: Accounting for our MIAs: The Role of Archival Research

Moderator: Ronald Cima, Senior Analyst for Southeast Asia, Research and Analysis Directorate

  • MIA Archival Research in Vietnam: A Historical Perspective
    Guy Bentz , Analyst, Research and Analysis Directorate

  • MIA Archival Research in the U.S.: Possible Applications of the CDEC Collection to Accounting
    Cynthia Chambers , PhD, Analyst, Research and Analysis Directorate

  • Unlocking the Index to the CDEC Microfilm: Binary Computing, Information Storage, and Technological Obsolescence
    Mark C. Russell , PhD, Historian, Research and Analysis Directorate

      •    
Video

[Sycamore]
3:30 PM Plenary 12: Discussion, Recommendations, and Closing Remarks

Moderator: Steve Maxner, Director, Vietnam Center, Texas Tech University