Strong lineup set for Vietnam event (Swift Vets @ Tx Tech Archive to discuss '04 pres. election)

Lubbock Avalanche Journal ^ | 3/17/05 | John Reynolds

[hispanarepublicana]

Some credit them with bringing down John Kerry's bid to become president.

On Saturday, members of Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, the group formerly known as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, will be in Lubbock to talk about how they influenced the 2004 presidential election.

They will be just one of the main attractions at the fifth triennial symposium on the Vietnam War held by Texas Tech's Vietnam Center. The symposium, which kicks off today and runs through Saturday, has grown tremendously over the past 12 years, according to Vietnam Center Director James Reckner.

For three days, Lubbock will be the center of the world for scholars who devote their lives to studying aspects of the most deadly U.S. war since World War II. That's a far cry from 1993 when fewer than 20 people participated and one of the featured guests, former CIA director William Colby, had to pay his own airfare to the Hub City, Reckner said.

"We had no money at all," he said.

This year's symposium marks multiple anniversaries from the war: the 40th anniversary of the introduction of U.S. ground troops, the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the 10th anniversary of the normalization of relations between the United States and Vietnam.

Aside from the swift boat vets and members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, the symposium will feature appearances by the current and most recent U.S. ambassadors to Vietnam.

Interspersed among the more academic panels, veterans and family of veterans will relate their experiences.

One presenter, Quang X. Pham, will talk about his father, a South Vietnamese Air Force officer who spent 12 years in a Communist re-education camp after Saigon fell in 1975.

Hoa Pham, coincidentally, trained at Reese Air Force Base outside Lubbock in 1958, part of an initial group of 15 South Vietnamese to receive special training from the U.S. Air Force.

Before he put his family on a U.S. transport plane a week before the fall of Saigon, Hoa Pham gave them a bag with all of his military records, including the yearbook from his time at Reese, Quang Pham said.

"For 15 years, I carried it around," he said, looking at the pictures of Lubbock and of his father.

Pham came to the United States and grew up in California. He attended college and later made the choice to serve in the Marines. He saw action in the first Gulf War.

Pham said he wanted to tell his father's story so people know the sacrifices made by the South Vietnamese who suffered casualties far in excess of U.S. forces. About 250,000 South Vietnamese died in the war, nearly five times the number of U.S. deaths.

Karen Spears Zacharias lost her father in Vietnam when she was only 9 years old.

The story of how her mother held the family together and how Zacharias learned to forgive the Vietnamese people forms the core of her recent book, "Hero Mama."

She, too, will take part in discussions at the symposium.

"For years, I didn't want anything to do with the Vietnamese because I held them responsible for my father's death," she said. "When I went to Vietnam, I understood for the first time that we share a landscape of loss."

She also said she was telling her story so that others can understand the culture of sacrifice that exists among military families.

She draws parallels between her story and Pham's, saying they're both "personal stories of loss and reconciliation."

"That's the value of bringing people together with different stories," she said. "Without a forum like this (symposium), where do you hear these stories? It's a terrific opportunity."

She credited Reckner with making Texas Tech a household name among Vietnam scholars.

"Everywhere you go, they talk about Jim Reckner," she said. "Jim's done a terrific job of getting the word out."

Vietnam Center Fifth Triennial Symposium

Over the next three days, Lubbock will become the center of the world for scholars who study the Vietnam War.

Sure to draw attention will be the Saturday panel discussion on how the Vietnam War affected the 2004 presidential election, featuring members of Swift Vets and POWs for Truth. Immediately following that panel will be a discussion on the Vietnam Veterans Against the War group.

All panel sessions will take place at the Holiday Inn Park Plaza, 3201 S. Loop 289.

Today:

• 8:45 a.m. - Searching for our MIAs: The Department of Defense's Accounting Efforts and the Evolution of U.S. Relations with Vietnam (Moderator: Gary Sydow, Defense POW/Missing Personal Office) • 11 a.m. - The Continuing Process of Normalization (Former U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Raymond Burghardt) • Noon - lunch speaker: Ambassador Michael Marine, current U.S. ambassador to Vietnam • 1:30 p.m. - Vietnam and Iraq: Dj Vu All Over Again, or Not? (Chair & Commentator: Earl H. Tilford, Grove City College); Precursors (Moderator: Ron Frankum, Millersville State University); Voices of the Vietnamese Diaspora (Moderator: Kiem Do, Independent Study Group of the Vietnamese Community) • 3:15 p.m. - Teaching about the Vietnam War (Moderator: John Clark Pratt, Colorado State University); Vietnamese Diaspora (Moderator: Ambassador Nguyen Xuan Phong, Texas Tech University); Entertaining the Troops (Moderator: Richard Verrone, Texas Tech University) • 5 p.m. - Reception at American State Bank, 1401 Ave. Q

Friday:

• 8:45 a.m. - After Paris (Moderator: Larry Berman, University of California DC Center); Ngo Dinh Diem Era (Moderator: Ed Miller, Dartmouth University); Vietnam: Religious & Cultural Perceptions (Moderator: Patricia Pelley, Texas Tech University); Literature and the War (Moderator: Ron Milam, Texas Tech University) • 10:30 a.m. - Diplomacy & Decision-Making (Moderator: Larry Berman, University of California, DC Center); Vernacular Voices and Surprising Bedfellows (Moderator: Marc Jason Gilbert, North Georgia College & State University); Vietnamese Trials & Achievements (Moderator: Former Amb. Nguyen Xuan Phong) • Noon - lunch speaker: Bao Ninh, "The Vietnam War in Fiction" (Moderator: John Clark Pratt, Colorado State University) • 1:30 p.m. - New Interpretations (Moderator: Larry Berman, University of California, Washington DC Center); Agent Orange - I (Chair & Commentator: John F. Guilmartin, Ohio State University); DASPO (Department of the Army Special Photographic Office) (Moderator: Steve Maxner, Texas Tech University); Vietnamese Communism (Moderator: Dr. Ron Frankum, Millersville State University) • 3:15 p.m. - Army of the Republic of Vietnam (Moderator: Earl H. Tilford, Grove City College); Agent Orange - II (Moderator: John H. Guilmartin, Ohio State University); River Forces in Vietnam (Moderator: James Reckner, Texas Tech University); Personal Experiences (Moderator: Richard Verrone, Texas Tech University)

Saturday:

• 8:45 a.m. - The Vietnam War and the Election Year (Moderator: Scott Swett, Webmaster for Wintersoldier.com & SwiftVets.com); China, the NLF . . . & Laos (Moderator: Keith Taylor, Cornell University); Strategy (Moderator: Donald Walker, Texas Tech University); Personal Accounts (Moderator: Ron Milam, Texas Tech University) • 10:30 a.m. - Vietnam Veterans Against the War (Moderator: Nancy Miller Saunders, VVAW filmmaker and documentarian, and supporter, 1970-1973); Pacification & Counterinsurgency (Moderator: Laura Calkins); Vietnam-Related Resources (Moderator: Steve Maxner, Texas Tech University); War Diaries (Moderator: Donald Walker, Texas Tech University) • Noon - lunch speaker: Larry Berman, "A Decade of Reconciliation: Vietnam-U.S. Relations Today and Tomorrow" • 1:30 p.m. - The Myths of the Vietnam War (Moderator: Steve Sherman); Medicine & Healing (Moderator: Dr. Ron Frankum, Millersville State University); A Potpourri of Vietnam Papers (Moderator: James R. Reckner, Texas Tech University); Music and Humor (Moderator: Olga Dror, Texas A&M University); "Winter Soldier." The film "Winter Soldier" will be shown. (120 minutes)

Source: The Vietnam Center, Texas Tech University

[hispanarepublicana]

The Swift Vets spent lots of time poring through documents archived at the TTU archive even up to the weekend before the election, I think. I think they ended up finding and using 2 or 3 of them. I wish I'd known they were in the area to do that, and I'd have put them up for the night for free and fed them a home cooked meal......

[SpinnerWebb]

Hit 'em, Wreck 'em Texas Tech!

[hispanarepublicana]

And the victory bells will ring out!

[hispanarepublicana]

ping

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"Some credit them with bringing down John Kerry's bid to become president.

On Saturday, members of Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, the group formerly known as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, will be in Lubbock to talk about how they influenced the 2004 presidential election."

History will bear this to be true.

If it wasn't for the determination of Viet Nam Vets
we all would be saying...President Kerry

BUT the traitor did not think the 58,000 +
names on the Wall would count when the election was over.

The media, both right and left didn't think they would count either.

For those who say the GOP can't acknowledge Swift Boat Vets,
they are wrong.

Karl Rove also exposed the false testimony by Hanoi Kerry in 1971

Rove Credits Swiftvets With 'Energizing' Bush Vote (Thank You Karl Rove!)

"...Rove recalled that his uncle had done several tours of duty in Vietnam.
I've never been able to think of Colonel Verhi as somebody who would have
'raped and pillaged in a manner reminiscent of Genghis Khan,'"
a reference to Kerry's 1971 Senate testimony where he accused Vietnam veterans
of committing widespread atrocities."

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1345603/posts

Think Viet Nam Vets didn't carry this election?

"Live" with TAE: John O'Neill (in-depth interview with a leader of Swift Boat Vets)
American Enterprise Online ^ | April 2005 issue

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1363400/posts

O'NEILL: ...None of us will ever forget the day Kerry testi-fied before Congress. It was like the Kennedy assassination.
And so we just couldn't live in the United States if we didn't make a statement about his testimony in 1971...."

[506trooper]

How come no national poll asked the questions I would have liked to have seen?

Are you a veteran? Y N

Are you a Viet Nam era veteran? Y N

Are you a veteran who served in the VN theater? Y N

Did you Vote for J F'n Kerry? Y N No F'n way...ever.

I think the liberal MSN would be shocked at how many veterans of all eras couldn't stomach this weasel as our National leader.

p.s. sKerry...go ahead and run in '08, it will be fun watching you get your a$$ kicked again.

p.p.s. By the way, sign the SF 180, you p****; real people, who have integrity, own up to what they did or didn't do.

No quibbling or lies by omission count!

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[anymouse]

A Texas-size ping is due our Texas Viet Nam Vets.

[MeekOneGOP]

Strong lineup set for Vietnam event
(Swift Vets @ Tx Tech Archive to discuss
'04 pres. election)

Excerpt:

Some credit them with bringing down John Kerry's bid to become president.

On Saturday, members of Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, the group formerly known as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, will be in Lubbock to talk about how they influenced the 2004 presidential election.

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Texas ping list!. . .don't be shy.
No, you don't HAVE to be a Texan to get on this list!

[SwinneySwitch]

Thanks! I remember staying at that Holiday Inn.

Go Raiders!

[stand watie]

!!!!!!!!!!!!

i'm NOT FONDA HANOI-John!

free dixie,sw

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Darn, my Red Raider is home for spring break right now............

[GW and Twins Pawpaw]

I wish I had been home 'cuz I would have liked to have heard what they had to say...

[Just A Nobody]

I've really grown fond of you Tonk, but please, DON'T EVER PUT THESE TWO WORDS TOGETHER AGAIN. president kerry

Thanking you in advance.

[Just A Nobody]

Great questions! Could you add one more? Maybe 2?

Are you a Vietnam era adult? Y N

Are you a Vietnam era adult that is or was married to a VN veteran? Y N

[Nick Danger]

Saturday: 8:45 a.m. - The Vietnam War and the Election Year (Moderator: Scott Swett, Webmaster for Wintersoldier.com & SwiftVets.com);

Go, Scott, go.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping.

[RebelTex]

"DON'T EVER PUT THESE TWO WORDS TOGETHER AGAIN."

LOL - Those 2 words should NEVER even be in the same sentence.

;^D