SFC Turner calling the second element to see if a sniper can be pinpointed which is just below the second element. Nui Coto 17 March 1969 1245 hrs.

February is Black History Month, and the Vietnam Center and Archive celebrates with our online exhibit highlighting and honoring the contributions and achievements of African-American veterans from the Vietnam War Era.  The exhibit will be accessable from our homepage for the month of February, or through our online exhibits page year-round.  Please enjoy!

Go to the Vietnam Center and Archive Black History Month Online Exhibit.

November is Aviation Month!  To celebrate this occasion we have created a new exhibit that explores the duties and lives of the Dustoff crews.  This exhibit is available online and is accessable from this blog post or the home page.

Enjoy!

To all the Veterans and their families, friends and loved ones, the Vietnam Archive staff wishes to offer you a heartfelt thank you for your service. Happy Veterans Day!

Happy Birthday United States Marines!

On November 10th, 1775 the US Continental Congress created the Continental Marines to fight in the American Revolution and today the Marines celebrate their 234th birthday.  Congratulations!

The Vietnam Archive wishes to honor all Marines on their special day today.  Here are a few Marine related items from our collection.  Semper Fidelis.

First wave-- Leatherneck helicopter of Marine Medium helicopter of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 164 and infantryman of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, are the first elements into the zine, November 20 during Operation Mead River, about eight miles southwest of Danang. More than 75 helicopters of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing lifted some 3,500 leathernecks into pre-designed zones in approximately two hours.

 

 

Operation Prairie III-- Marines of "A" Company, 1st Battalion, Ninth Marines, move through a stream in search of North Vietnamese soldiers during Operation Prairie III approximately three miles west of Cam Lo.

 

Marine Attack Squadron 311, Marine Air Group 12, Chu Lai, I Corps, Vietnam

 

Mine Sweep-- A Marine mine sweep team of "A" Company, 3rd Engineer Battalion, checks a road west of Ca Lu for enemy Mines or dud rounds. This sweep, like many others in the Northern I Corps, is conducted each morning before traffic is permitted to use the road.

 

A US Marine carries a seriously wounded Vietnamese child from the ruins of a home in Hue. The provincial capital city was the target of violent VC attacks following the start of the Tet (Lunar new year).

 

  

1st Marine Division patch

 

2nd Marine Division patch

 

1st Marine Division shorts

 

Moving Images

 

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Film shot by R. J. Del Vecchio during his service as a Marine cameraman in Vietnam documents his own service and various aspects of the broader context of the war. Footage includes: Marine patrols, soldiers shaving and cleaning weapons, travel with sentry dogs, airlifted supplies.

 

 R. J. Del Vecchio Collection

 

Oral Histories

 

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John C. Arick, originally from Washington, D.C., served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1962 until 1992 and retired a Brigadier General. He is a 1962 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. John served two tours in Southeast Asia. During the first, from 1966 to 1967, he was stationed at the Ky Ha helicopter base north of Chu Lai with the Marine Observation Squadron (VMO) 6, Marine Air Group (MAG) 36, 1st Marine Air Wing (MAW) and was a UH-1E pilot flying fire support, escort, MedEvac, utility, and tactical air control missions. He took part in Operations HASTINGS, BEAVER CAGE, among others. During his second tour, from 1970 to 1971, John was first stationed near Marble Mountain Air Facility with the III Marine Amphibious Force (MAF) headquarters in the G-3 section, then with the 1st MAW at Danang in the G-3 section, and finally with the Marine Light/Attack Helicopter Squadron (HML) 367 at Marble Mountain Air Facility. During his entire second tour, he flew the AH-1G Cobra with HML 367. In total, John flew in excess of 1,540 hours in Southeast Asia.

 

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John Thomas “Tom” Esslinger, originally from Ephrata, Pennsylvannia served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1966 until 1970. Tom went to Vietnam in September 1967 and served with India Company and Mike Company, 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines, and operated out of Camp Evans. In December 1967, his unit was sent to Khe Sanh where it eventually occuppied Hill 881 South during the 77-day seige. After Khe Sanh, from April to July 1968, Tom, as CO of India Co., operated out of Quang Tri City and then west of Da Nang running various missions. In early August, he was made Assistant S-3 with the 3/26 Marines and served in that capacity until completing his 13-month tour in October 1968.

 

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Coporal Walter Rupp recounts his experiences in Vietnam, including being wounded in a helicopter crash and by Viet Cong fire. Rupp received two Purpple Hearts and the Bronze Star.

 

 Marine Corps Birthday Ball 2009 site

 

Seats for our 20th Anniversary Ball are now on sale! The event will be held on May 28, 2009 at 7:00 PM, at the Frazier Alumni Pavilion on the TTU campus. Seats are $75 each, and a reserved table for eight can be purchased for $800 (table purchases include recognition in our commemorative program, a sponsor gift, and a tax deductable donation). The evening will include dinner, music, silent auction, and a keynote address by our guest speaker H. Ross Perot, Sr.

Please call (806) 742-9010 or email amy.k.hooker@ttu.edu by May 18 to reserve your seats!

The Vietnam Center cordially invites you join us as we celebrate Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, on Monday, January 26, 2009. This event will take place from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the Formby Room of the Southwest Collections/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University. Please come sample Vietnamese cuisine and learn more about the rich heritage and culture that makes Vietnam so remarkable.

January 26th, 2009, ushers in the Lunar Year of the Ox. In Vietnam, one of 12 animals of the zodiac represents each year. The ox represents prosperity through fortitude and hard work. It is said people born in the year of the ox are patient and inspire confidence in others, but they can also have fierce tempers and tend to be eccentric.

The Vietnamese people regard Tet as their most important holiday and prepare for it by cooking special holiday foods like Banh Chung, which consists of sticky rice with meat or bean filling wrapped tightly in banana leaves. 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 26th, 2009, as we celebrate this special event! For more information, please see our website or contact the Vietnam Center at 742-9010.

The Vietnam Archive will be closed January 9th, from 2:30 to 5 PM so our staff and faculty may attend a retirement reception for founding director Dr. James Reckner at the Merket Alumni Center. Dr. Reckner has served Texas Tech for over 20 years as both a professor in the Department of History and as founding director of the Vietnam Center and Archive.

Documents tell story of U.S. allies and employees sent to Vietnamese reeducation camps.
Texas Tech University’s Vietnam Archive hosted the grand opening of its Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association Collection May 28 in the Marshall Formby Room of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library. At the conclusion of the Vietnam War, thousands of U.S. allies, employees and Vietnamese dissidents were imprisoned in communist reeducation camps. The collection provides more than 10,000 primary sources for studying the experiences of these prisoners and refugees and their families who immigrated to the U.S. once they were released. Donated in 2005 to Texas Tech by the Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation, the collection contains 156 linear feet of documents meaning the materials stretch approximately 52 yards when stacked end-to-end. “We hope this collection will help historians and others understand the experiences of this group of Vietnamese immigrants,” said Ann Mallett, project archivist for the collection. “These people were our allies; they were U.S. employees or they didn’t agree with communism and they were forced into reeducation camps. The collection contains photographs and handwritten letters, so it is very personal, and it gives another piece of the story of the Vietnam War – what happened after the war ended to these people who were our allies.”

Texas Tech University Press Release