Lee Roy Herron's mother receives a copy of a proclamation declaring Lee Roy Herron Day in Lubbock

On Thursday, September 30th, the Vietnam Center and Archive was proud to co-host, along with the Texas Tech System Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement, the book launch for “David and Lee Roy: A Vietnam Story,” published by the Texas Tech University Press.  Co-authored by Mr. David Nelson and Mr. Randolph B. Schiffer, this is a story of two childhood friends and graduates of Lubbock High School and Texas Tech University, David Nelson and Lee Roy Herron.  While at TTU, both joined the USMC and received commissions.  Nelson joined the JAG and was stationed in Okinawa, while Lee Roy joined the infantry and was sent to Vietnam.  Two months into his tour Lee Roy was killed on the front lines, but not before making an impact on General Wesley Fox.  A chance encounter with Col. Fox in the late 90’s led Nelson to decide to tell the story of his friendship with Lee Roy, and Lee Roy’s actions in Vietnam which earned him the Navy Cross.

The Vietnam Center and Archive has had a relationship with Mr. Nelson and with Lee Roy’s family for over fifteen years, and we are proud to be the home for many of Lee Roy’s personal items relating to his service, and we were honored to be able to participate in this greate event.

The authors will be conducting book signings on Friday, September 30th at 7:00pm at the Barnes and Noble in the Lubbock Mall, and from 10:00am-2:00pm at the United Market Street at 50th and Indiana in Lubbock on Saturday, October 1st.

More Information about the book signings and Lee Roy:

• David and Lee Roy Official Website
• TTU Communications and Marketing Story
• TTU Press
• Oral History Interview with Tony Remero about Lee Roy
• Oral History Interview with Andy Vaart about Lee Roy
• Lee Roy Herron Collection in the Vietnam Archive
• The Lee Roy Herron Scholarship
• Photographs from the Book Launch
• The Last Known Photograph of Lee Roy Herron at Fire Support Base Razor

The Vietnam Center and Archive is proud to present the third speaker in our 2011 Guest Lecture Series, Dr. Kara Dixon Vuic, on October 13th in the Lanier Auditorium of the Texas Tech Law School.  The lecture is free and open to the public.

Dr. Vuic teaches history at Bridgewater College in Virginia.  She has published articles in Signs and Nursing History Reviewon the army’s changing marriage and motherhood regulations and on the recruitment of nurses for the Vietnam War.  Dr. Vuic’s research led her to publish a book titled Officer, Nurse, Woman:  The Army Nurse Corps in the Vietnam War (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009).  Many of the oral history interviews Dr. Vuic conducted for her book are available online through the Virtual Vietnam Archive, and can be found using the link below.

An invitation-only reception with Dr. Vuic for the Friends of the Vietnam Center will be held from 6:00-6:45pm in the Formby Room of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library on the day of 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 2011 VNCA Guest Lecture Series see http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS.

Today is the Air Force’s 64th birthday, and the staff of the Vietnam Center & Archive want to wish the Air Force a very Happy Birthday!  We have created a small exhibit of Air Force related materials from our collection to celebrate.  You can click here to view the exhibit, or use the link at the bottom of this post.

http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/exhibits/airforce/airforce11.htm

The third Friday in September is National POW/MIA Recognition Day.  Please take a moment today to remember those who are still missing from the Vietnam War and all other wars.

Douglas Pike Collection. Mid Autumn Festival Celebration "Moon Men" Enterprising Merchant in Saigon uses Display of Lunar Astronauts to call Attention to "Moon Cakes"

Monday, September 12th, 2011 marks the Mid Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon or Full Moon Festival. Traditionally celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon appears larger than it does on any other night of the year, the Mid Autumn Moon Festival (Tet Trung Thu) is the second biggest holiday in Vietnam and is widely celebrated throughout Asia.

Vietnamese Mooncakes. Photo courtesy of morning_rumtea (Lê Hoàn Nhã) (the photographer) and http://www.flickr.com/photos/vietnamfriendly/ (morning_rumtea's Flickr page)

   It is a time for family and to celebrate life, prosperity, and the harvest. During the Mid Autumn festival, parents prepare their children’s favorite dishes and buy them new toys. Children hear the story of Chu Cuoi (the man in the moon) and other fairytales. Hanging and floating lanterns are set out to decorate and people dance the lion and dragon dances. Mooncakes (made from lotus seed, ground beans, and containing a bright salted egg yolk in the center) are given to family and friends. Pomelo fruit and watermelon seeds are a special treat. At night children parade through the streets to the beat of drums wearing Paper Mache masks and carrying lanterns in the shapes of stars, rabbit heads, fish (carpe), butterflies, or lanterns with a lit candle inside that makes shapes spin representing the seasonal spinning of the earth.

 

Pomelo. Photo courtesy of wikicommons.

Dick Rutan's Voyager Aircraft on display in the Air and Space Museum

The Vietnam Center and Archive is pleased to announce that thanks to a generous grant from the Helen Jones Foundation, our successful Guest Lecture Series will continue in 2012 with four speakers (dates are tentative):

March 2012 – Brig. General Tom Draude, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Marine Corps University Foundation, Draude served for over 30 years in the US Marine Corps, including three tours in Vietnam.  He later commanded Marine Security Guards in Europe and 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.

April 2012 – Dr. Raymond Scurfield, professor of social work at the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast, is an expert in PTSD.  He served as an Army officer on a psychiatric team in Vietnam from 1968-69, and has spent three decades working with hundreds of combat veterans of the Vietnam War and other conflicts.  Scurfield is the author of numerous books and articles on the effects of PTSD.

October 2012 – Dick Rutan served in the Air Force in Vietnam, flying over 325 combat missions.  Following his time in the military, Rutan continued his aviation career, earning many honors, breaking many world records, and being inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.  In 1986, he was the first person to fly nonstop around the globe without refueling.  He received the Presidential Citizen’s Medal of Honor, and his plane “Voyager” now hangs in the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum.

November 2012 – Rocky Bleier, a star football player at Notre Dame, was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1968.  He also received a US Army draft notice that year.  Leaving the NFL, Bleier served in Vietnam with the 196th Light Infantry Brigade.  Wounded when his platoon was ambushed, doctors told Bleier he would never play football again.  With the support of Steelers owner Art Rooney, his coach and teammates, Bleier trained for two years and eventually became a star running back for the Steelers during their four Super Bowl wins in the 1970s.

 More information about dates and times will be posted as they become available.

 We would also like to remind you that our 2011 series continues on October 13th with Dr. Kara Dixon Vuic, followed by Dave Carey on November 10th.

 For more information about the Guest Lecture Series, visit www.vietnam.ttu.edu/gls