“1969: Vietnamization and the Year of Transition in the Vietnam War” Conference Agenda

April 25-27, 2019

Thursday, April 25

All day: Participants arrive in Lubbock

12:00 PM - Registration Desk opens at the MCM Elegante Hotel

6:00 PM Location: Conference Registration Area near Hotel Registration Desk

6:00 PM: Welcoming Reception

Cash Bar with Heavy Hors d'oeuvres

Special Program: Launch of the Peace & Conflict Series, Texas Tech University Press

Remarks provided by Michael Galyean, Ph.D., Provost, Texas Tech University and Ron Milam, Ph.D., Series Editor, Peace and Conflict Series, Texas Tech University Press; Executive Director, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University

Sponsored by the Center for Global Understanding and the Office of the Provost, Texas Tech University

Location: Atrium (near pool)

Friday, April 26

7:30 AM: Coffee Service in Conference Area

8 AM-5 PM: Registration Desk opens at MCM Elegante Hotel

Location: Conference Registration Area near the Hotel Registration Desk

8:00 AM: WELCOMING REMARKS

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

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

Administrative Remarks

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

Location: Petroleum Room

8:30 AM: Plenary Session

Writing the History of the Vietnam War: A Retrospective

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

A Discussion Featuring:

Lloyd Gardner, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University and

George Herring, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Kentucky Moderated by Pierre Asselin, Ph.D., San Diego State University

Location: Petroleum Room

10:00 AM: Coffee Break

(Beginning of breakout sessions) 10:30 AM: Session 2

Session 2A

The Strategy of Vietnamization

Commentator/Moderator: Paul L. Miles, Ph.D., Princeton University

President Thieu's Strategy for Vietnamization

George J. Veith, PHD Candidate, Monash University

Choosing “the Long Road”: Melvin Laird, Vietnamization, and the War over Nixon’s Vietnam Strategy

David Prentice, Ph.D., Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Oklahoma State University

Location: Petroleum Room

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Session 2B

US Military Operations

Commentator/Moderator: Gerald Waite, Vietnam Veteran, Research Fellow, Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, Ball State University

Operation Dewey Canyon: Search-and-Destroy in the Age of Abrams

Ross Phillips, Texas A&M University

DEWEY CANYON: Its Lessons and Legacy

Michael Morris, Ph.D. Candidate, Texas A&M University

Vietnamization at Work: A Story from the Mekong Delta

Ted Engelmann, Vietnam Veteran, Independent Researcher

Location: University Room

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Session 2C

Vietnamese War Correspondents

Commentator/Moderator: Hoang Duc Nha, former Presidential Advisor, Minister of Mass Mobilization and Open Arms, the RVN

“SURVIVING: The Vietnam War and Its Aftermath!”

Duong Phuc and Vu Thanh Thuy, Vietnam War Correspondents Location: Cotton Room

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Session 2D

Commentator/Moderator: TBD OPEN SESSION

Location: Heritage Room

12:00 Lunch

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

Lunch Presentation

RAND and the Vietnam War: Optimism and Pessimism

Duong Van Mai Elliott

Author of RAND in Southeast Asia, A History of the Vietnam War Era and The Sacred Willow: Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family

Sponsored by the Department of History, Texas Tech University

Location: Petroleum Room

1:30 PM: Sessions 3

Session 3A

Film Screening

Commentator/Moderator: Hoang Duc Nha, former Presidential Advisor, Minister of Mass Mobilization and Open Arms, the RVN

Film Screening: Vietnamerica

Produced by the Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation and Edwards Media Nancy Bui, Executive Producer

Location: Petroleum Room

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Session 3B

Journalists and War Reporting

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

A Reporter Remembers 1969

Donald Kirk, Vietnam War Correspondent

Normative Role of Journalism in the Republic of Vietnam: The Case of Vietnamization in 1969

Thanh Hoang, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Location: University Room

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Session 3C

Vietnam War Allies I

Commentator/Moderator: Allison Powers Useche, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

Field Marshals of Vientiane: the American Ambassador’s War in the Year of the Rooster, 1969

Jeff Schultz, Luzerne County Community College

Operation Menu - Prelude to the Cambodia Campaign

Mack Payne, Independent Researcher, Vietnam Veteran News Podcast

The Nixon Doctrine and Its Impact on U.S. Relations with Asian Allies (South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines)

Dieu Khue Do, Seoul National University

Location: Cotton Room

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Session 3D

The People’s Army of Vietnam and National Liberation Front

Commentator/Moderator: Laura Calkins, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

The National Liberation Front’s Tax and Land Reform Policies in 1969

Cody Billock , San Diego State University

Once More as Before: North Vietnamese Operational and Tactical Methods in the Battle of Ap Dong Bia, 10-20 May 1969

Erik Villard, Ph.D., US Army Center of Military History

Memory and Motivation: A New Past of the Vietnam War

Hai Nguyen, Ph.D., Harvard University Location: Heritage Room

3:00 PM: Coffee Break

3:30 PM: Sessions 4

Session 4A

Film Discussion

Commentator/Moderator: Hoang Duc Nha, former Presidential Advisor, Minister of Mass Mobilization and Open Arms, the RVN

Film Discussion: Vietnamerica

Discussion Panelists:

Nancy Bui, Executive Producer

John Hoa Nguyen, VAHF's Community Outreach Director

Dr. Vuong Duc Pham, President of The Assembly of the Republic of Vietnam Veterans Overseas

Location: Petroleum Room

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Session 4B

Tour of Duty: Canadians and the Vietnam War

Commentator/Moderator: Rebecca McGee, Texas Tech University

An Overview of the Project/Exhibit and Oral History Highlights

Rory Cory, Senior TMM Museum Curator

James Baldwin (MEd), TMM Oral History Project

The Military Museums (TMM)- Calgary, Alberta, Canada)

1969 Canadian Veteran Perspectives: Combat Engineer

Staff Sergeant Mike Male (1967-71), 39th Engineers (CBT)

1969 Canadian Veteran Perspectives: USMC

Dana Urban, JD QC; Corporal (1968-69), 26th Marines and 2nd CAP

Location: University Room

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Session 4C

Special Operations Forces in Vietnam

Commentator/Moderator: Donald Kirk, Vietnam War Correspondent

The Green Beret Murder Affair

Stephen Sherman, Vietnam Veteran, Independent Researcher

Colonel Kurtz Was Right: Thái Khắc Chuyên and “The Green Beret Affair”

Kyle Horst, Independent Researcher

A Shot in the Arm: The U.S. Army, Rangers, and Reorganization in 1969

James Sandy, Ph.D., University of Texas at Arlington

Location: Cotton Room

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Session 4D

An Overview of 1969 and US Presidential Policy

Commentator/Moderator: Lloyd Gardner, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University

1969: An Overview

Carolyn Eisenberg, Ph.D., Hofstra University

President Richard M. Nixon’s New National Security Architecture and the Vietnam War

Ashley Neale, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Kansas Location: Heritage Room

5:00 PM – End of first day presentations

6:00 PM: Bus Departs MCM Elegante for Banquet

Texas Tech University International Cultural Center Hall of Nations

Reception Cash bar Business Attire

6:20 PM: Bus returns to MCM Elegante 6:30 PM: Final Bus pickup for Banquet

6:45 PM: Special Vietnam Veteran Recognition Program

Hosted by The Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University

7:15 PM: CONFERENCE BANQUET

7:45 PM: Welcoming Remarks: Ron Milam, Ph.D., Executive Director, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University

Keynote Speaker:

What Were Nixon’s Options on Vietnam?

Fred Logevall, Ph.D., Harvard University

Recipient of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in History for

Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America’s Vietnam

8:45 PM: End of banquet

Bus departs ICC for MCM Elegante

Banquet sponsored by the Department of History and the Office of International Affairs, Texas Tech University

Saturday April 27

7:30 AM: Coffee Service in Conference Area

8 AM-5 PM: Registration Desk opens

Location: Conference Registration Area

8:30 AM: Sessions 5

Session 5A

US Air Operations Over Vietnam and Modern Recovery Efforts for Aircrews Listed as “Missing in Action” After More than 50 Years

Commentator/Moderator: Dave Lewis, Colonel, USAF (Retired), Director, Strategic Studies, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University

Overview of 8560 Aircraft Losses and the Unique Problem of Recovering, or Even Locating, Lost, Single Ship Reconnaissance Flights

Bruce W. Bean, Professor, Michigan State College of Law

Unfinished Business: Locating Semantic Flight - Contemporaneously Re-Flying the Flight Plan of a Missing Reconnaissance Mission in 1968 and (Barely) Surviving

Ron Bracy, Ph.D., Lt. Col. USAF Ret., Former RF-4C Navigator, 28 years active duty, 21 years Reserve and Guard Service as a Chaplain

“Alone, Unarmed, Unafraid” - Flying at Night in Harm’s Way Inside a Bottle of Ink – What May Have Happened to Semantic Flight and its Two-Man Crew

Robert R. S. Barnard, Lt. Col. USAFR, Ret., Aeronautical Engineer, Former Air Force Intelligence Officer with 5 Decades of Air Defense Experience

Location: Petroleum Room

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Session 5B

Vietnam War Allies II

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

Cautious Rapprochement amid the Gathering Storm: Norodom Sihanouk and the United States, 1969

Raymond Leos, J.D., Pannasastra University of Cambodia

The Implications of South Korea's Response and Conduct in the Vietnamization of the Vietnam War

Hosub Shim, Major, Republic of Korea Army, University of Kansas

Location: University Room

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Session 5C

The American Home Front during the Vietnam War

Commentator/Moderator: George Herring, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Kentucky

State of Siege Berkeley: A Veteran for Peace on a Martial Campus

Robert Andersen, Vietnam-Era Veteran, Independent Researcher

“I Gotta Be Me”: How 1969 Songs Indicate Divisions in Vietnam War-Era America

Erin McCoy, Ph.D., University of South Carolina, Beaufort

Location: Cotton Room

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Session 5D

Pacification, CORDS, and the Military Advisory Effort

Commentator/Moderator: Stephen Maxner, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

Good Times, Bad Times: Peace Talks, Pacification-Vietnamization, and the War in South Vietnam, 1969

Martin G. Clemis, Ph.D., Valley Forge Military College

Not Just 'Too Little, Too, Late': CORD'S Lost Horizon, 1969-1970

Marc Gilbert, Ph.D., Hawaii Pacific University

1969: The Central Year for Mobile Advisory Teams (MAT teams) and the U.S. Army’s Advisory Effort in the Vietnam War

Uyen Nguyen, Texas Tech University Location: Heritage Room

10:00 AM: Coffee break - Conference Registration Area

10:30 AM: Sessions 6

Session 6A

The South Vietnamese Economy During Vietnamization: Growing to Meet Challenges

Commentator/Moderator: Tuong Vu, Ph.D., University of Oregon

Reform or Collapse: Economic Challenges to the Republic of Vietnam, 1969-73

Pham Kim Ngoc, former Minister of the Economy, the RVN

Coping with Changes and War, Building Foundation for Growth

Nguyen Duc Cuong, former Minister of Trade and Industry, the RVN

1969: The Year the Land-to-the-Tiller Program Was Launched

Tran Quang Minh, former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the RVN

Location: Petroleum Room

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Session 6B

Vietnamization: Operational Causes and Early Tests for the ARVN

Commentator/Moderator: Uyen Nguyen, Ph.D. Candidate, Texas Tech University

Hamburger Hill 1969 from Vietnamese Perspectives

Hieu Nam Trung Le, Ph.D., Hue University of Sciences

The First Test of Vietnamization: The Cambodia Operation 1970

Phan Nhat Nam, ARVN Veteran, Independent Researcher

Location: University Room

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Session 6C

The Psychology of Killing and the My Lai Massacre

Commentator/Moderator: Erin McCoy, Ph.D., University of South Carolina, Beaufort

The Psychology of Killing and the Experiences of American Soldiers in the Vietnam War

Olli Siitonen, University of Helsinki

My Lai Massacre Revelation – The Catalyst for Vietnamization

Ngoc Anh Khoa Doan, PhD Candidate, Columbia University and Hung Nguyen, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam

Location: Cotton Room

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Session 6D

Armor Warfare during the Vietnam War

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

Ben Het: The Vietnam War’s Clash of Steel

Philip Webster, Texas Tech University

My Vietnam War: 1969 + 50

Philip Beidler, Ph.D., University of Alabama Location: Heritage Room

12:00 Lunch

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

Lunch Presentation

Understanding the Enemy: Keys to Hanoi’s Victory

Pierre Asselin, Ph.D., San Diego State University

Author of Vietnam's American War: A History and Hanoi's Road to the Vietnam War, 1954-1965

Sponsored by the Department of Political Science and the Office of Research and Innovation at Texas Tech University

Location: Petroleum Room

1:30 PM: Session 7

Session 7A

Vietnamization and South Vietnam’s Security

Commentator/Moderator: Tuong Vu, Ph.D., University of Oregon

The Impact of Vietnamization and the Strategy for Self-Reliance and Self-Sufficiency Hoang Duc Nha, former Presidential Advisor, Minister of Mass Mobilization and Open Arms, the RVN

The Army of the RVN during Vietnamization: Reflections of a Frontline Soldier Bui Quyen, former Lt. Colonel, Deputy Commander of 3rd Airborne Brigade, Airborne Division, ARVN

The RVN National Police during Vietnamization

Tran Minh Cong, former Colonel and Commandant of the National Police Academy, the RVN

Location: Petroleum Room

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Session 7B

Uncovering History: A Roundtable Discussion on Latino Men’s Experiences in the Vietnam War

Commentator/Moderator: Amber Batura, Ph.D., Texas Tech University Discussion Featuring:

Frank Gutierrez, Vietnam Veteran Josue Silva, Vietnam Veteran

Kayla Maples, Texas Tech University

Location: University Room

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Session 7C

The Newest Mission of the USS Midway: Vietnam War and Cold War Onboard Seminars for Teachers

Commentator/Moderator: Pierre Asselin, Ph.D., San Diego State University

The Midway Institute for Teachers: Program Origins and Overview

John F. Burns, M.A., Vietnam Veteran, Director, Midway Institute for Teachers

Using an Iconic Ship as a Principal Vehicle in Teacher Learning

Rudolph Shappee, M.A., Vietnam Veteran, Assistant Director, Midway Institute for Teachers

How Teachers Use What They Learn Aboard USS Midway to Improve and Expand their Teaching about the Vietnam War and its Era

Richard del Rio, M.A., Teacher Coordinator, Midway Institute for Teachers

Location: Cotton Room

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Session 7D

The Vietnamese Home Front during the Vietnam War

Commentator/Moderator: Kyle Longley, Ph.D.

South Vietnam Higher Education Developed in the Vietnamization Context: A Brief View from Public Universities' Operation

Thuy Dung Truong, University of Hamburg

The Impact of Buddhism’s Movement to the Failure of Vietnamization Strategy and the Saigon Government, 1969-1975

Trieu Huy Ha, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam

Location: Heritage Room

3:00 PM: Coffee break - Conference Registration Area

3:30 PM: Session 8

Session 8A

Commentator/Moderator: TBD OPEN SESSION

Location: Petroleum Room

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Session 8B

Vietnam War Allied Operations

Commentator/Moderator: Ted Engelmann, Vietnam Veteran, Independent Researcher

"True North Strong and Free:" Canadians in Vietnam

Rebecca McGee, Texas Tech University

Activities of Polish People’s Republic Military Intelligence During Vietnam War

Jarema Slowiak, Jagiellonian University

Location: University Room

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Session 8C

The Army of the Republic of Vietnam

Commentator/Moderator: Ron Milam, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

Experiences of a Vietnamese Infantryman in the First Year of the Vietnamization Michael Do, Chairman of the Board of Directors, The Vietnamese American Community of the U.S.A.

Vietnamization/Pacification and the ARVN 5th Infantry Division

Tin Nguyen, Independent Researcher

The Effectiveness of Vietnamization

Trong Q. Phan, Ph.D., Secretary General of the Executive Board of The Vietnamese American Community of the U.S.A.

Location: Cotton Room

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Session 8D

Prisoners of War and Refugees during the Vietnam War

Commentator/Moderator: Alan Barenberg, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

A Better War? The Treatment of Communist POWs before and after "Vietnamization"

Marcel Berni, Swiss Military Academy at ETH Zurich

Viet Nam 1969/70: Pacification as a path to No-where

Gerald Waite, Vietnam Veteran, Research Fellow, Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, Ball State University

Location: Heritage Room

5:00 PM: Closing Remarks

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

Location: Cotton Room

For more information regarding this conference, please visit: https://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/2019_Conference/

With Special Thanks to our Sponsors:

This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.