Category: Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the End of the Việt Nam War

One Good Man’s Mark on History

by Randy Fertel | Apr 29, 2025 | Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the End of the Việt Nam War

In 1969, a young Vietnam veteran named Ron Ridenhour wrote a letter to Congress and the Pentagon describing the horrific events at My Lai. The first to bring that infamous massacre of the Vietnam War to the attention of the American public and the world, Ron was clearly born to be a writer. At just […]

The Soul of Vietnam: Reflections on the Presentation of Soul Soldiers

by Samuel W. Black | Apr 29, 2025 | Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the End of the Việt Nam War

In April 2025, the world will mark 50 years since the fall of Saigon and the end of the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War had a great impact on the political, cultural, military, economic, social, and educational aspects of American life. It was a conflict of the Cold War era after […]

Life Framed by War

by Susan Schnall | Apr 29, 2025 | Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the End of the Việt Nam War

My life is framed by war. My Marine father was killed in action on the beachhead of Guam, on July 22, 1944, while he was attempting to get his platoon dug in for the defense of a hill. Visibility was poor, and the enemy launched a surprise attack. My dad suffered a grave chest wound; […]

Iowa’s Fields of Resistance and Refuge

by Jeff Biggers | Apr 29, 2025 | Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the End of the Việt Nam War

“Every night Walter Cronkite would give the body count. We would see these horrific stories of children running from their burning huts, and the world looked like it was on fire. The soldiers in their body bags, and they would give this body count, and it’s just horrible. I just felt awful.” —Mary Beth Tinker […]

One Positive Legacy: The Vietnam War Veterans Movement

by Marc Leepson | Apr 29, 2025 | Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the End of the Việt Nam War

In a split-second scene in the 1969 Robert Altman movie M*A*S*H, we get to see into the mind of an American Army doctor as he learns that his orders have come through and he will be going home from the war in Korea. The Army doc visualizes stepping off an airplane in his hometown and […]