The Vietnam Center and Archive website and the Virtual Vietnam Archive may be unavailable for periods of time between 6pm-11:59pm (UTC/GMT -6) on Wednesday, December 19th. During this time Texas Tech University will be performing network upgrades, and our websites will be inaccessible while upgrades are performed on our building. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

The Vietnam Center and Archive employs five student assistants to scan the Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association/Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation Collection’s Orderly Departure Program Application files. Two new students joined us in September: Corey and Emily.

Corey

A marketing major, with a Global Supply Chain Management Certificate in Energy, Corey is from Meridian, MS. He loves to travel and explore different cultures. Corey enjoys the energy, community, and traditions of Tech, and says Tech “…feels like family.”

Emily

An anthropology major from Laguna Beach, CA, where she worked with and studied Marine life, Emily enjoys video games and sci-fi films and shows, especially Star Trek. Emily came to TTU partly due to a family connection: her grandparents are Tech graduates who met here.

Frances

A history major with a women’s studies minor, Frances is from Bulverde, TX and will graduate in May 2013. She studied abroad in France and enjoys traveling. She is a talented writer and fencer, and a huge Avengers fan. Frances plans future graduate work on Khuc Minh Tho and U.S. Diplomacy.

Quynh

Quynh is from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and will graduate with an MBA in May 2013. She enjoys traveling, movies, surfing the the internet, and going out with friends. Quynh has traveled to Oregon and California, visiting friends and family and historic and beautiful parks like Yosemite.

Trang

Double majoring in finance and accounting, Trang is from Hue, Vietnam’s old imperial city. She is a fantastic cook and enjoys music, movies, and traveling. In 2005 Trang studied English in Singapore. Trang has traveled to several major cities throughout Texas and she spent Winter Break 2011 in Florida.

The staff of the Vietnam Center and Archive would like to take a moment to say Thank You to all veterans, their families, friends, and loved ones for their service.

Today the U. S. Marine Corps turns 237, and the Vietnam Center and Archive wants to wish the Marine Corps and all U. S. Marines a very happy birthday!  To celebrate we have created a small exhibit of Marine related materials.  To view the exhibit, please click on the link below.

http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/exhibits/marines/marines12.htm

Vietnam War veteran and former Pittsburgh Steeler football player Rocky Bleier will speak this Friday at 7:00pm as part of our 2012 Guest Lecture Series. The lecture will be in the Lanier Auditorium of the Texas Tech School of Law.  Admission is free and open to the public.

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 2012 VNCA Guest Lecture Series or about Rocky Bleier see http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS.

Texas Tech University’s Vietnam Center and Archive will collaborate with Michigan State University’s Vietnam Group Archive on a recent grant  received to create an online repository.

The project received $265,000 in funding from the National  Endowment for the Humanities to digitize 100,000 pages of materials related to  the U.S. government’s early efforts to build a stable, non-communist regime in  South Vietnam. This will provide students and scholars across the world easy  digital access to materials significant to the study of Vietnam.

“What is very special about this particular project is that  Michigan State engaged in this very important project during the Vietnam War to  assist our government in developing a more efficient and effective  nation-building program for the Republic of Vietnam,” said Steve Maxner,  director of the Vietnam Center and Archive.

Texas Tech’s role in the project is to share insights and  the practices they used to develop the Virtual Vietnam Archive, which houses  over 3.2 million pages of scanned materials related to all aspects of American  involvement in Southeast Asia.

“Working with Michigan State to provide free international  access to this collection via the Virtual Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech will  help researchers and educators who wish to look more closely at this important  aspect of Vietnam War history,” Maxner said.

In return for Texas Tech’s support, Michigan State will  provide copies of the digitized “Vietnam Project” resources to add to the  Virtual Vietnam Archive. These documents, which cover a time period predating  the majority of Texas Tech’s collection, will fill a gap in the archive from  the 1960s to the 1970s.

“It will assist policy-makers who wish to gain valuable  knowledge from the nation-building experience in Vietnam and how those lessons  might apply to contemporary policies, and it will help create a better-informed  citizenry regarding these historical experiences and this very timely topic,”  Maxner said.

The Vietnam Center and Archive at Texas Tech, which was  founded in 1989, houses the largest and most comprehensive collection of  materials relating to the Vietnam conflict outside of the U.S. National  Archives.

-Written by Sydney O’Drobinak (TTU Communications and Marketing)

The Vietnam Center and Archive is proud to present Rocky Bleier on Friday, November 9th at 7:00pm in the Lanier Auditorium of the Texas Tech University School of Law.  The lecture is free and open to the public.

A star football player at Notre Dame, Bleier 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.

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 2012 VNCA Guest Lecture Series see http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS, or contact Mary Saffell at 806-742-9010 or mary.saffell@ttu.edu.

Today is the Navy’s 237th birthday, and the Vietnam Center and Archive wants to wish the Navy and all Navy personnel a very happy birthday.  We have prepared a small exhibit of Navy materials from our collection to commemorate the occasion.  Please click on the link below.

http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/exhibits/navy/navy12.htm

Children with Lanterns. Ogden Williams Collection.

Today 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.

Kathryn Campbell Collection. Drawing by eight year old Thi Thi Bich Nhi, titled Chi Hang, or “The Moon Goddess.” Depicts both the Vietnamese Man in the Moon, Chu Cuoi, and the Chinese Woman in the Moon associated with the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.

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.

Photo courtesy of wikicommons. Author:Viethavvh

USAF Vietnam War pilot Dick Rutan will speak this Thursday at 7:00pm as part of our 2012 Guest Lecture Series. The lecture will be in the Lanier Auditorium of the Texas Tech School of Law.  Admission is free and open to the public.

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 2012 VNCA Guest Lecture Series or about Dick Rutan see http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS.