Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive

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  • Family Visit From Hanoi

    On June 14, 2010 the Vietnam Archive had the pleasure of receiving two special guests from Hanoi, Vietnam: Mr. Nguyen Ho Nam and his wife, Mrs. Dang Hien Tram. After attending the graduation of their younger son from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, the Nguyens travelled to Lubbock, TX to visit their eldest son, Nguyen Ho Anh (Anh). Anh is a student assistant here at the Vietnam Archive, where he helps with the processing and digitizing of collection materials. Anh’s bilingual skills have proven invaluable in translating documents and communicating with Vietnamese speaking researchers.

    The Nguyen's view the Tram Diaries

    While visiting their son, Mr. and Mrs. Nguyen came to the archive to see where Anh works and to meet the people he works with. The Nguyens were given a tour of the archive by Ann Mallett, Vietnamese American Heritage Archivist, and Archival Specialists Sheon Montgomery and Kevin Sailsbury. The focal point of the tour for the Nguyen family was viewing the diaries of Dr. Dang Thuy Tram.

    Mrs. Nguyen is the sister of the late Dr. Dang Thuy Tram, and viewing the Tram Dairies—which are considered a national treasure in Vietnam— was a moving and emotional experience for her. We are honored that the family of Dr. Tram and Frederic Whitehurst have entrusted us with the care of her dairies.

    Mrs. Nguyen reads her sister's diary.

    This was Nguyen Ho Nam’s second time visiting the archive, and the third for Dang Hien Tram. We hope they can visit us again soon.

  • Virtual Archive Student Wins National Award

    Our congratulations to Jake Bitonel, who has been with the Virtual Vietnam Archive as a student scanner for over three years, on his graduation from Texas Tech University.  In May 2010, Jake received a B.S. with a Major in Exercise Sports Science and a Minor in Military Studies, as well as being commissioned  as a 2nd Lieutenant into the U.S. Army.  As part of his ROTC awards, in April he attended the prestigious, three-day General George C. Marshall Army ROTC Awards Seminar in Lexington, Virginia, which is awarded to the top first-class cadet in each ROTC program in the country based on scholarship, leadership, physical fitness and community involvement.  At the TTU ROTC Awards Ceremony in May he was awarded the United Daughters of the Confederacy Saber for outstanding leadership and contribution as a cadet.  In October, Second Lieutenant Bitonel will attend Helicopter Flight School at Fort Rucker, Alabama.  We thank Jake for his contributions to the Virtual Vietnam Archive, both in helping to make documents available for researchers, and for sharing his extensive knowledge to identify all things military. 

    Saber

  • Newest Issue of the Friends of the Vietnam Center Newsletter Now Online

    The Spring 2010 issue of the Friends of the Vietnam Center newsletter is now available for download here.  Articles include a recap of the 2010 Conference on Counterinsurgency from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan, an update from the Oral History Project, a call for papers for our upcoming symposium, and much more.  You can also view and download all previous issues of the newsletter at this link.

  • Conference Announcement and Call for Papers

    A Colloquium on United States National Security Policy and Military Strategy: Understanding the Environment for Contemporary Warfare

    Sponsored by the Vietnam Center and Archive and Department of Political Science at Texas Tech University and The Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College

    September 15-16, 2010

    The Overton Hotel and Convention Center, Lubbock, TX

    The goal of this academic colloquium is to discuss what is one of the most serious and difficult problems facing those responsible for US National Security Policy and Military Strategy, that is, how best to understand contemporary warfare and how best to combat global terrorism. The current struggle is not traditional in that the enemy is not a nation-state that has mobilized its military forces and civilian population against the US, demanding assessments of the appropriate levels and uses of force and the deployment and maneuver of military force. Rather, the war against terrorist networks can be viewed as a form of insurgency where policy makers and the military face well organized but loosely connected groups bent on inflicting property, human, and economic damage at any opportunity. The complexity of fighting such enemies requires policy makers and military strategists to address several essential questions so that US policy and strategy not only match but work together in a way that will allow for the ultimate defeat of those who use terror as their principal means of goal achievement.

    Call for Papers:

    We seek paper and panel proposals that will address such questions and will focus on such important issues as whether US national security policy is based on an accurate conceptualization of terrorism as a threat, whether policies and strategies need to be reassessed with respect to how we are addressing these threats, and what role will coalitions and alliances play in helping political and military leaders develop and implement effective policies and strategies. We welcome and look forward to a range of proposals that examine these issues using qualitative, quantitative, and historical methodologies and analysis.

    •Paper proposals: Half page proposal with short (two page) CV

    •Panel proposals: Full page proposal with short (two page) CVs for speakers

    Send submissions to steve.maxner@ttu.edu

    For more information, please call 806-742-3742

    DEADLINE for submissions: June 30, 2010

    To register for this conference and/or reserve a hotel room, please visit http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/counterterrorism/

  • Happy Birthday U.S. Army

    Today is the Army’s 235th birthday!  The Vietnam Center and Archive staff want to wish the Army and all its people a very happy day.  We have put together a small exhibit commemorating this occasion.  Please click here to view the display.

  • Happy Memorial Day!

    For those who served and those who sacrificed their lives for our country, thank you.  You have our sincerest gratitude and respect.  Happy Memorial Day from the Vietnam Center and Archive.

    25 May 1984. The Unknown Serviceman of the Vietnam Era. Ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol where the body will like in state until Memorial Day, May 28. Washington, D. C. David DeChant Collection
    25 May 1984. The Unknown Serviceman of the Vietnam Era. Ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol where the body will lie in state until Memorial Day, May 28. Washington, D. C. David DeChant Collection VA031523

  • Call for Papers – The Seventh Triennial Vietnam Symposium

    The Seventh Triennial Vietnam Symposium will take place on March 10-12, 2011, and will be held at the brand new Overton Hotel and Convention Center in Lubbock, Texas.

    Vietnam Center symposia are open to presentations that examine any and all aspects of the United States involvement in Southeast Asia. This includes activities before, during, and after the war in Vietnam. Papers can examine any aspect of the experience to include early interaction and diplomacy, events and activities during the war to include military operations, humanitarian relief efforts, civic action and pacification, thematic issues to include social, political, cultural, and economic, the international dimensions of the war for all sides involved, activities in the US and elsewhere in support of or in opposition to the war, postwar issues, etc.

    We encourage anyone interested in presenting a research paper to submit a one page proposal and a short CV for consideration. We also welcome panel proposals that include all speakers and a moderator. As always, graduate students are highly encouraged to submit proposals. Please format proposals to resemble an abstract to include the author’s name, title/affiliation, and contact information, along with proposed title, thesis/purpose, and main points. Please limit paper proposal length to a single page. For panel proposals, please limit each paper proposal within the panel to a single page. Submit all proposals electronically to VietnamCenterConference@ttu.edu. If you make an email submission but do not receive notification of receipt within seven days, please call 806-742-3742 and ask for Steve Maxner, Ph.D., Director, Vietnam Center and Archive.

    The deadline for submitting proposals is October 15, 2010.

    For updated information about the symposium, please visit http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/2011_Symposium/

    Thank you and we look forward to you joining us for this event.

  • Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Online Exhibit

    Photo of Released Political Prisoner with fellow ARVN (FVPPA Collection)

    May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM), a nationally recognized time to celebrate, acknowledge, and educate on the many achievements and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans to the United States’ history, culture, and society. May was chosen as APAHM due to two important historical dates and events relating to the contributions of Asian and Pacific Americans to the U.S. taking place in May. First, May 7, 1843 is the date the first Japanese immigrants to the U.S. arrived. Second, May 10, 1869 is when the transcontinental railroad was completed; many Chinese immigrants labored laying the tracks.

    The Vietnam Center and Archive celebrates APAHM with our online exhibit featuring materials from our Vietnamese-American Heritage Project Collection, including links to materials and oral history interviews.

    Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Online Exhibit

  • Fall of Saigon 35th Anniversary

    Today is the 35th anniversary of Saigon’s fall to the North Vietnamese army.  On April 30th, 1975, the last Americans involved in the Vietnam War left Saigon in a dramatic helicopter airlift; images from this evacuation are still recognizable around the world today.  To commemorate this anniversary, the Vietnam Archive has created an online exhibit detailing the events leading up to the final tumultuous days of South Vietnam. 

    South Vietnamese refugee comforted by red cross volunteers at a refugee camp set up at Elgin Air Force Base Florida, May 1975. Bryan Grigsby Collection

    “April 30th, 1975: The Fall of Saigon” Online Exhibit

  • 2010 Conference Videos Now Available Online

    Session videos from the 2010 Vietnam Center Conference “Lessons Learned, Lessons Lost: Counterinsurgency from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan” are now available online on the Conference Sessions Videos page and in the Virtual Vietnam Archive.

    TTU President Guy Bailey opens the VNCA 2010 Conference

    This conference was held on March 4th-5th at the SAIS Kenney Auditorium in Washington, DC, and was co-hosted by the Vietnam Center and Archive, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University, and the Center for a New America Security. Sessions included panels on Strategic Policy for Civil-Military Operations in Vietnam; Strategy and Tactics from CMO Operations in Vietnam; the Vietnam Experience; and Counterinsurgency Operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Still photographs of the conference are also available on the Vietnam Center and Archive’s Facebook page.