The National Archives Foundation today announced an honorary committee to support the National Archives’ new exhibition, Remembering Vietnam: Twelve Critical Episodes in the Vietnam War, opening November 10, 2017. The National Archives Foundation is a proud Commemorative Partner of the U.S. Vietnam War Commemoration.
“More than 50 years after the United States committed combat troops to the war in Vietnam, critical questions remain in the American public’s mind today about the war. Our national rollout of the Remembering Vietnam initiative is a chance to elevate this discussion, engage new audiences, and honor those who served. We are grateful to the distinguished leaders who have endorsed our efforts as members of our Honorary Committee,” said Patrick Madden, executive director for the National Archives Foundation.
U.S. Senator and Honorary Committee Member John McCain said, “The greatest honor of my life was to serve in the company of heroes during the Vietnam War. That’s why I’m so proud to join the National Archives Foundation’sRemembering Vietnam Honorary Committee to recognize the brave men and women who served during that conflict, and share their stories for future generations of Americans.”
U.S. Senator and Honorary Committee Member Tammy Duckworth said, “The National Archives Foundation’s Remembering Vietnam initiative will play a critical role in giving voice to the Vietnam experience for all Americans to understand an important period of our history. I work every day to honor the brave men and women who risked their lives to defend our nation, including those who served during the Vietnam War, and this initiative will help highlight the sacrifice of that generation’s Veterans and the debt we owe them.”
Honorary Committee Member Ken Burns added, “The Vietnam War changed and shaped my generation more than almost any other event. So much of who we are today as Americans comes from what we learned during that time – both in foreign and domestic policy. I’m proud to join the National Archives Foundation in helping to preserve and tell that story.”
An award-winning filmmaker, Burns – also a member of the National Archives Foundation board – will premiere a ten-part, PBS documentary film on the Vietnam War, also drawing on the holdings of the National Archives, just weeks before the exhibition opens.
In the first major exhibition on the war in the Archives’ history, Remembering Vietnam uses original National Archives documents, artifacts, and film footage to explore the policies and decisions that initiated and then escalated American economic and military aid to South Vietnam. Interviews with veterans, journalists, members of the peace movement, Vietnamese civilians, and leading Vietnam War historians provide first-person testimony and analysis of the events.
To support this historic exhibit, the Foundation assembled an honorary committee of government leaders, distinguished military, and renowned historians, including:
Government
Senator Bill Cassidy
Senator Max Cleland
Representative Paul Cook
Senator Tom Cotton
Senator Joe Donnelly
Senator Tammy Duckworth
Representative Tulsi Gabbard
Representative Kay Granger
The Honorable Chuck Hagel
Representative Sam Johnson
Senator Bob Kerrey
Senator John McCain
Senator Bill Nelson
The Honorable Colin L. Powell
Senator Larry Pressler
Senator Jack Reed
The Honorable Tom Ridge
Senator Charles S. Robb
The Honorable Eric K. Shinseki
Senator Dan Sullivan
Military
Maj Elizabeth Allen, PhD, RN, ANC, Ret
CDR Everett Alvarez, Jr., USN, Ret
Lt Gen Dana Atkins, USAF, Ret
Gen Charles G. Boyd, USAF, Ret
MG Patrick Henry Brady, USA, Ret
CPT David A. Christian, USA, Ret
1LT Diane Carlson Evans, RN, ANC, Ret
ADM Thomas B. Fargo, USN, Ret
Col Wesley L. Fox, USMC, Ret
COL Stuart A. Herrington, USA, Ret
MG James T. Jackson, USA, Ret
Gen James L. Jones, USMC, Ret
Gen William “Buck” Kernan, USA, Ret
LTG Claude M. Kicklighter, USA, Ret
SGT Maj Donna A. Lowery, USA, Ret
Gen Barry McCaffrey, USA, Ret
LTG Harold “Hal” Moore, Jr., USA (In Memoriam)
Gen Richard B. Myers, USAF, Ret
ADM Robert J. Natter, USN, Ret
Capt J. Charles Plumb, USN, Ret
LTC Jennifer N. Pritzker, USA, Ret
Gen Gordon R. Sullivan, USA, Ret
LTC James H. Willbanks, PhD, USA, Ret
Gen Tony Zinni, USMC, Ret
Historians/Journalists
Michael Beschloss
Ken Burns
Joseph L. Galloway
Dr. Ronald Spector
Mark Updegrove
Partner Organizations
Air Force Association
Association of the United States Army
Marine Corps Reserve Association
Military Officers Association of America
National Defense Industrial Association
National League of POW/MIA Families
Rolling Thunder® Inc. National
UDT-SEAL Association
Veterans of Foreign Wars
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund
Vietnam Veterans of America
Remembering Vietnam is free and open to the public, and will be on display in the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery of the National Archives Museum in Washington, DC, through January 6, 2019. Presented in part by the Lawrence F. O’Brien Family, Pritzker Military Museum & Library, AARP, FedEx Corporation, and the National Archives Foundation. Additional support provided by the Maris S. Cuneo Foundation, The Eliasberg Family Foundation, Inc., and HISTORYⓇ.
The Remembering Vietnam initiative developed by the National Archives is composed of not only the exhibition presented at its iconic home in Washington, D.C., but also a two-year traveling exhibition of Vietnam War photography, a virtual reality exhibition tour, public programs and document exhibits at Presidential Libraries around the country, honor flights for Vietnam Veterans to visit the Washington, DC exhibition, an online web presence for the initiative, education materials for teachers and students, and special events for veterans, military families and the public.