2. Events
  3. 2018 Conference

1968 and the Tet Offensive

27 April - 28 April 2018
MCM Elegante - 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.

Friday, April 27th

Video

[Petroleum Room]
8:00 AM : Welcoming Remarks

Moderator: Stephen Maxner, Ph.D., Director, Vietnam Center and Archive, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University

Ron Milam, Ph.D., Executive Director, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University
    Video

    [Petroleum Room]
    8:15 AM Session 1: Plenary Session: The Tet Offensive in Historical Perspective

    Moderator: Ron Milam, Ph.D., Executive Director, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University

    Commentator: Erik Villard, Ph.D., Digital Historian, US Army Center for Military History

    • Bill Allison Ph.D. , Georgia Southern University Howard Jones, Ph.D., University of Alabama Edwin Moise, Ph.D., Clemson University

    Video

    [Cotton Room]
    10:15 AM 2A: The Search for Peace in the Midst of War

    Moderator: Toby Rider, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

    • Peace Worker Faces Tet and My Lai in Quang Ngai
      Earl Martin , Independent Researcher

    • Mennonite Missionary Family Experiences During the Tet Offensive
      Donald Sensenig , Independent Researcher

    • Pilots and Protestors: How Vietnam Protests and the Air War in Vietnam Influenced Each Other
      Joseph (Matt) Dietz LTC , US Air Force/University of North Texas

    Video

    [University Room]
    10:15 AM 2B: Media Coverage of the Vietnam War in 1968

    Moderator: Stephen Sherman, Independent Researcher, Vietnam Veteran

    • A Discussion with Robert Elegant, Dan Southerland, and Robert Turner
      Stephen Sherman

    Video

    [Petroleum Room]
    10:15 AM 2C: International Perspectives on 1968

    Moderator: Justin Hart, Ph.D., Department of History/Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University

    • Symmetry and Asymmetry in International Peace Efforts During the Vietnam War
      Paul Bjerk Ph.D. , Texas Tech University (Presented by Justin Hart)

    • 1968: The Turning Point of South Korea’s Conduct of the Vietnam War
      Hosub Shim MAJ , Army of the Republic of Korea/University of Kansas

    • Britain in Vietnam
      Philip Webster , Texas Tech University

    Video

    [Petroleum Room]
    12:00 PM : Lunch Presentation

    Sponsored by the Department of History, Texas Tech University


    Welcoming Remarks: Laura Calkins, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

    Introduction: Sean Cunningham, Ph.D., Chair, Department of History, Texas Tech University

    • Kyle Longley Ph.D. , Arizona State University

    Video

    [Cotton Room]
    1:30 PM 3A: Memory and Memorialization

    Moderator: Steven Trout, Ph.D., University of South Alabama

    • Danger in Romance: Bowden’s Hue 1968 & Ken Burns’ Vietnam War Narratives of the Tet Offensive
      Erin McCoy Ph.D. , University of South Carolina (Beaufort)

    • From Vietnam to Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center, and the Enduring Legacy of the Vietnam War
      Alfredo Aguilar , Ph.D. Candidate, Texas Tech University

    • “Our delegation found itself in a rather difficult situation...” Tet Offensive in Polish Literature, Memoirs and Secret Documents
      Jarema Slowiak , Ph.D. Candidate, Jagiellonian University, Poland

    Video

    [University Room]
    1:30 PM 3B: The Images and Geography of War

    Moderator: David Perlmutter, Ph.D., Dean of Mass Communications, Texas Tech University

    • One Soldier’s Heart: The Emotional Wounds of War
      Ted Engelmann, Independent Researcher, Vietnam Veteran

    • Why were the Soil Tunnels of Cu Chi and Iron Triangle in Vietnam so Resilient?
      Kenneth Olson, Ph.D., University of Illinois

    Video

    [Petroleum Room]
    1:30 PM 3C: Tet, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and Their Allies

    Moderator: Hai Nguyen, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

    • The Vietnam Workers Party’s Strategic Re-evaluation of Military Strategy in the Aftermath of the Tết Offensive of 1968
      Marc Gilbert, Ph.D., Hawaii Pacific University

    • “1968 and the Tet Offensive”
      Ha Dong, University of North Texas

    • Beyond Socialist Allies: How Democratic Republic of Vietnam Inspired Anti-war Movements in Western Countries
      Vu Thi Phung, Associate Professor, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

    Video

    [Cotton Room]
    3:30 PM 4A: Veteran Perspectives

    Moderator: Julie Willett, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

    • My Story Vietnam (Nurse)
      Joan Boyd, Independent Researcher, Vietnam Veteran

    • The Forgotten Soldiers
      Larry Cole, Independent Researcher, Vietnam Veteran

    • Shook Over Hell: The American Death-Trip Telethon of 1968
      Robert Anderson, Independent Researcher (Presented by Justin Hart)

    Video

    [University Room]
    3:30 PM 4B: Tet, Public Opinion, and the Election of 1968

    Moderator: Bill Allison, Ph.D., Georgia Southern University

    • Failures to Communicate
      Edwin Moise, Ph.D., Clemson University

    • “Recasting Expatriate Political Fortunes: Transatlantic Americans and the 1968 U.S. Presidential Election"
      Joshua Cochran, Ph.D., Michigan State University

    • There is No Substitute for Victory: Public Opinion, Limited War, and the Tet Offensive
      Glenn Robins, Ph.D., Georgia Southwestern State University

    Video

    [Petroleum Room]
    6:30 PM : CONFERENCE BANQUET

    Moderator: Stephen Maxner, Ph.D., Director, Vietnam Center and Archive, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University

    Welcoming Remarks: Brent Lindquist, Ph.D., Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Texas Tech University

    Introduction of Keynote Speaker: Ron Milam, Ph.D., Executive Director, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University

    • James Willbanks, Ph.D.

    Saturday, April 28th

    Video

    [Cotton Room]
    8:00 AM 5A: The Battle for Hue and the Hue Massacre

    Moderator: Martin Clemis, Ph.D., Valley Forge Military College

    • “Challenges of Urban Operations: U.S. Marines in Hue City.”
      William Taylor, Ph.D., Angelo State University

    • The Massacre at Hue City: Vietcong Coercion as an Insurgency Strategy
      Cody Billock, San Diego State University

    • Hue: A TV News Challenge
      Don North, Vietnam War News Correspondent, ABC News

    Video

    [University Room]
    8:00 AM 5B: Eyewitness Accounts

    Moderator: Joel Frary, Ph.D. Candidate, Texas Tech University

    • NLF/Biet Dong Narratives & Saigon Tet Attacks
      Mike Dedrick, Interrogator/Intelligence Analyst, Combined Military Interrogation Center (CMIC), Saigon, 1968

    • Tet Action in the Deep Delta: The View of an ARVN Infantry Battalion Advisor, July 1967-April 1968
      Kenneth Moorefield, Ambassador, Vietnam Veteran

    • Tết Mâu Thân in Ban Me Thuột: Eyewitness Accounts
      Neil Olsen, Ph.D., Fort Douglas Military Museum

    Video

    [Cotton Room]
    10:30 AM 6A: U.S. Military Operations

    Moderator: William Taylor, Ph.D., Angelo State University

    • Ambiguities of Control: Rural Pacification and Population Security in the Wake of Tet Mau Than
      Martin Clemis, Ph.D., Valley Forge Military College

    • A New Look at Zumwalt’s SEALORDS Campaign: Was it a Success or a Failure?
      Edward J. Marolda, Ph.D., U.S. Naval Institute

    • 1968 Prize Crew OPEVAL in Vietnam
      Dale Stith, Tet Participant, Independent Researcher

    Video

    [University Room]
    10:30 AM 6B: The Culture of War: Managing Military-Civilian Tensions

    Moderator: Amber Batura, Ph.D. Candidate, Texas Tech University

    • Songs for the Corpses: Music and Censorship in Vietnam 1968
      Chi Ha, Texas Tech University

    • “Jumping Halfway: Civil Military Tensions, Mid-War Decision-Making, and De- escalating for a Post-Tet Victory in Vietnam”
      Theo Milonopoulos, Columbia University

    Video

    [Petroleum Room]
    10:30 AM 6C: The Cauldron of 1968

    Moderator: Dave Lewis, Colonel, USAF (Retired), Texas Tech University

    • A Walk With the Martyrs: The Da Mai Ravine Massacre of 5-6 February 1968
      Kyle Horst, Independent Researcher

    • Understanding the Marine Corps’ Position on Khe Sanh Fifty Years Later
      LtCol Edward T. Nevgloski, USMC (ret), Edwin N. McClellan Research Fellow, Marine Corps History Division, Marine Corps University, and PhD Candidate at King's College, London

    • Out of the Wilderness: The CIA and Policy Formation After the Tet Offensive
      Thomas Reinstein, Temple University

    Video

    [Petroleum Room]
    11:45 AM : Lunch Presentation

    Moderator: Justin Hart, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Academic Programs, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University


    • Marc Gilbert, Ph.D., Hawaii Pacific University

    Video

    [Cotton Room]
    1:15 PM 7A: Questioning Established Narratives

    Moderator: Randy McBee, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

    • Television Coverage Ruined the Tet Offensive Outcome
      Mack Payne, Independent Researcher, Vietnam Veteran

    • Massacre in Hue
      Paul Schmehl, Independent Researcher, Vietnam Veteran

    • Mis-Remembering History – An Analysis of Burns/Novick/PBS Episode 6. Things Fall Apart (January 1968-July 1968)
      Stephen Sherman, Independent Researcher, Vietnam Veteran

    Video

    [University Room]
    1:15 AM 7B: The Psychological Impact of the Tet Offensive

    Moderator: Justin Simundson, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

    • “The Demise of Effective Propaganda Against North Vietnam”
      Mervyn Roberts Ph.D., Central Texas College

    • Tet 1968: The Making of a ‘Psychological’ Victory
      Keith Saliba Ph.D., Jacksonville University

    • “To Save the City: Peter Arnett, 1968, & America’s Failing in Vietnam”
      James Sandy Ph.D., University of Texas, Arlington

    Video

    [Cotton Room]
    3:15 PM 8A: Rethinking the Tet Offensive: Hanoi’s Long-Term Victory in South Vietnam’s Provinces

    Moderator: Erik Villard, Ph.D., Digital Historian, US Army Center for Military History Commentator: Edwin Moise, Ph.D., Clemson University

    • General Offensive-General Uprising: Tet 1968 in Binh Dinh
      Kevin M. Boylan, Ph.D., Emmanuel College, Boston MA

    • ‘On Paper, Success Would Seem To Be Assured’: the 1968 Tet Offensive in Phuoc Tuy Province
      Thomas Richardson, Ph.D., University of New South Wales, Canberra, Australia

    • Undoing Pacification: Tet 1968 in Phu Yen
      Robert J. Thompson, Ph.D., Independent Scholar

    Video

    [University Room]
    3:15 PM 8B: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Angel Fire, New Mexico Commentator/Moderator: Steven Trout, Ph.D., University of South Alabama A Conversation

    Featuring:

    Walter Westphall, Co-Founder, Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Angel Fire
    Ron Milam, Ph.D., Executive Director, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University
    Carie Nguyen, Ph.D. Candidate, Texas Tech University