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  3. 2019 Conference

1969: Vietnamization and the Year of Transition in the Vietnam War

25 April - 27 April 2019
MCM Elegante - Lubbock, TX

The views and opinions expressed in these papers, presentations, and videos are strictly those of the presenters and authors and do not represent The Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University, or the State of Texas.

Thursday, April 25th

Video

[Atrium]
6:00 PM : Welcoming Reception

Moderator: Ron Milam, Ph.D., Series Editor, Peace and Conflict Series, Texas Tech University Press; Executive Director, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University

Special Program: Launch of the Peace & Conflict Series, Texas Tech University Press

Remarks provided by Michael Galyean, Ph.D., Provost, Texas Tech University and Ron Milam, Ph.D., Series Editor, Peace and Conflict Series, Texas Tech University Press; Executive Director, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University

    Friday, April 26th

    Video

    [Petroleum Room]
    8:00 AM : Welcoming Remarks

    Moderator: Ron Milam, Ph.D., Executive Director, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University

    Ron Milam, Ph.D., Executive Director, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University
    Brent Lindquist, Ph.D., Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Texas Tech University

    Administrative Remarks
    Stephen Maxner, Ph.D., Director, Vietnam Center and Archive, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University
      Video

      8:30 AM Session 1: Writing the History of the Vietnam War: A Retrospective

      Moderator: Pierre Asselin, Ph.D., San Diego State University

      Introduction: Justin Hart, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Academic Programs, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University

      • Lloyd Gardner, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University


      • George Herring, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Kentucky

      Video

      [Petroleum Room]
      10:30 AM 2A: The Strategy of Vietnamization

      Moderator: Paul L. Miles, Ph.D., Princeton University

      • President Thieu's Strategy for Vietnamization
        George J. Veith, PHD Candidate, Monash University

      • Choosing “the Long Road”: Melvin Laird, Vietnamization, and the War over Nixon’s Vietnam Strategy
        David Prentice, Ph.D., Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Oklahoma State University

      Video

      [University Room]
      10:30 AM 2B: US Military Operations

      Moderator: Gerald Waite, Vietnam Veteran, Research Fellow, Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, Ball State University

      • Operation Dewey Canyon: Search-and-Destroy in the Age of Abrams
        Ross Phillips, Texas A&M University

      • DEWEY CANYON: Its Lessons and Legacy
        Michael Morris, Ph.D. Candidate, Texas A&M University

      • Vietnamization at Work: A Story from the Mekong Delta
        Ted Engelmann, Vietnam Veteran, Independent Researcher

      Video

      [Cotton Room]
      10:30 AM 2C: Vietnamese War Correspondents

      Moderator: Hoang Duc Nha, former Presidential Advisor, Minister of Mass Mobilization and Open Arms, the RVN

      • “SURVIVING: The Vietnam War and Its Aftermath!”
        Duong Phuc and Vu Thanh Thuy, Vietnam War Correspondents

      Video

      [Petroleum Room]
      12:00 PM Lunch: Lunch Presentation

      Moderator: Laura Calkins, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

      • RAND and the Vietnam War: Optimism and Pessimism
        Duong Van Mai Elliott, Author of RAND in Southeast Asia, A History of the Vietnam War Era and The Sacred Willow: Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family

      Video

      [Petroleum Room]
      1:30 PM 3A: Film Screening

      Moderator: Hoang Duc Nha, former Presidential Advisor, Minister of Mass Mobilization and Open Arms, the RVN

      • Film Screening: Vietnamerica
        Produced by the Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation and Edwards Media Nancy Bui, Executive Produce

      Video

      [University Room]
      1:30 PM 3B: Journalists and War Reporting

      Moderator: Justin Simundson, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

      • A Reporter Remembers 1969
        Donald Kirk, Vietnam War Correspondent

      • Normative Role of Journalism in the Republic of Vietnam: The Case of Vietnamization in 1969
        Thanh Hoang, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

      Video

      [Cotton Room]
      1:30 PM 3C: Vietnam War Allies I

      Moderator: Allison Powers Useche, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

      • Field Marshals of Vientiane: the American Ambassador’s War in the Year of the Rooster, 1969
        Jeff Schultz, Luzerne County Community College

      • Operation Menu - Prelude to the Cambodia Campaign
        Mack Payne, Independent Researcher, Vietnam Veteran News Podcast

      • The Nixon Doctrine and Its Impact on U.S. Relations with Asian Allies (South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines)
        Dieu Khue Do, Seoul National University

      Video

      [Heritage Room]
      1:30 PM 3D: The People’s Army of Vietnam and National Liberation Front

      Moderator: Laura Calkins, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

      • The National Liberation Front’s Tax and Land Reform Policies in 1969
        Cody Billock, San Diego State University

      • Once More as Before: North Vietnamese Operational and Tactical Methods in the Battle of Ap Dong Bia, 10-20 May 1969
        Erik Villard, Ph.D., US Army Center of Military History

      • Memory and Motivation: A New Past of the Vietnam War
        Hai Nguyen, Ph.D., Harvard University

      Video

      [Petroleum Room]
      3:30 PM 4A: Film Discussion

      Moderator: Hoang Duc Nha, former Presidential Advisor, Minister of Mass Mobilization and Open Arms, the RVN

      Nancy Bui, Executive Producer
      John Hoa Nguyen, VAHF's Community Outreach Director
      Dr. Vuong Duc Pham, President of The Assembly of the Republic of Vietnam Veterans Overseas
        Video

        [University Room]
        3:30 PM 4B: Tour of Duty: Canadians and the Vietnam War

        Moderator: Rebecca McGee, Texas Tech University

        • An Overview of the Project/Exhibit and Oral History Highlights
          Rory Cory, Senior TMM Museum Curator

        • 1969 Canadian Veteran Perspectives: Combat Engineer
          Staff Sergeant Mike Male (1967-71), 39th Engineers (CBT)

        • 1969 Canadian Veteran Perspectives: USMC
          Dana Urban, JD QC; Corporal (1968-69), 26th Marines and 2nd CAP

        Video

        [Cotton Room]
        3:30 PM 4C: Special Operations Forces in Vietnam

        Moderator: Donald Kirk, Vietnam War Correspondent

        • The Green Beret Murder Affair
          Stephen Sherman, Vietnam Veteran, Independent Researcher

        • Colonel Kurtz Was Right: Thái Khắc Chuyên and “The Green Beret Affair”
          Kyle Horst, Independent Researcher

        • A Shot in the Arm: The U.S. Army, Rangers, and Reorganization in 1969
          James Sandy, Ph.D., University of Texas at Arlington

        Video

        [Heritage Room]
        3:30 PM 4D: An Overview of 1969 and US Presidential Policy

        Moderator: Lloyd Gardner, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University

        • 1969: An Overview
          Carolyn Eisenberg, Ph.D., Hofstra University

        • President Richard M. Nixon’s New National Security Architecture and the Vietnam War
          Ashley Neale, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Kansas

        Video

        [ICC Hall of Nations]
        7:45 PM : Banquet and Keynote: Fred Logevall, Ph.D.

        Moderator: Ron Milam, Ph.D., Executive Director, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University

        • What Were Nixon’s Options on Vietnam?
          Fred Logevall, Ph.D., Harvard University

        Saturday, April 27th

        Video

        [Petroleum Room]
        8:30 AM 5A: US Air Operations Over Vietnam and Modern Recovery Efforts for Aircrews Listed as “Missing in Action” After More than 50 Years

        Moderator: Dave Lewis, Colonel, USAF (Retired), Director, Strategic Studies, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University

        • Overview of 8560 Aircraft Losses and the Unique Problem of Recovering, or Even Locating, Lost, Single Ship Reconnaissance Flights
          Bruce W. Bean, Professor, Michigan State College of Law

        • Unfinished Business: Locating Semantic Flight - Contemporaneously Re-Flying the Flight Plan of a Missing Reconnaissance Mission in 1968 and (Barely) Surviving
          Ron Bracy, Ph.D., Lt. Col. USAF Ret., Former RF-4C Navigator, 28 years active duty, 21 years Reserve and Guard Service as a Chaplain

        • “Alone, Unarmed, Unafraid” - Flying at Night in Harm’s Way Inside a Bottle of Ink – What May Have Happened to Semantic Flight and its Two-Man Crew
          Robert R. S. Barnard, Lt. Col. USAFR, Ret., Aeronautical Engineer, Former Air Force Intelligence Officer with 5 Decades of Air Defense Experience

        Video

        [University Room]
        8:30 AM 5B: Vietnam War Allies II

        Moderator: Justin Hart, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Academic Programs, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University

        • Cautious Rapprochement amid the Gathering Storm: Norodom Sihanouk and the United States, 1969
          Raymond Leos, J.D., Pannasastra University of Cambodia

        • The Implications of South Korea's Response and Conduct in the Vietnamization of the Vietnam War
          Hosub Shim, Major, Republic of Korea Army, University of Kansas

        Video

        [Cotton Room]
        8:30 AM 5C: The American Home Front during the Vietnam War

        Moderator: George Herring, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Kentucky

        • State of Siege Berkeley: A Veteran for Peace on a Martial Campus
          Robert Andersen, Vietnam-Era Veteran, Independent Researcher

        • “I Gotta Be Me”: How 1969 Songs Indicate Divisions in Vietnam War-Era America
          Erin McCoy, Ph.D., University of South Carolina, Beaufort

        Video

        [Heritage Room]
        8:30 AM 5D: Pacification, CORDS, and the Military Advisory Effort

        Moderator: Stephen Maxner, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

        • Good Times, Bad Times: Peace Talks, Pacification-Vietnamization, and the War in South Vietnam, 1969
          Martin G. Clemis, Ph.D., Valley Forge Military College

        • Not Just 'Too Little, Too, Late': CORD'S Lost Horizon, 1969-1970
          Marc Gilbert, Ph.D., Hawaii Pacific University

        • 1969: The Central Year for Mobile Advisory Teams (MAT teams) and the U.S. Army’s Advisory Effort in the Vietnam War
          Uyen Nguyen, Texas Tech University

        Video

        [Petroleum Room]
        10:30 AM 6A: The South Vietnamese Economy During Vietnamization: Growing to Meet Challenges

        Moderator: Tuong Vu, Ph.D., University of Oregon

        • Reform or Collapse: Economic Challenges to the Republic of Vietnam, 1969-73
          Pham Kim Ngoc, former Minister of the Economy, the RVN

        • Coping with Changes and War, Building Foundation for Growth
          Nguyen Duc Cuong, former Minister of Trade and Industry, the RVN

        • 1969: The Year the Land-to-the-Tiller Program Was Launched
          Tran Quang Minh, former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the RVN

        Video

        [University Room]
        10:30 AM 6B: Vietnamization: Operational Causes and Early Tests for the ARVN

        Moderator: Uyen Nguyen, Ph.D. Candidate, Texas Tech University

        • Hamburger Hill 1969 from Vietnamese Perspectives
          Hieu Nam Trung Le, Ph.D., Hue University of Sciences

        • The First Test of Vietnamization: The Cambodia Operation 1970
          Phan Nhat Nam, ARVN Veteran, Independent Researcher

        Video

        [Cotton Room]
        10:30 AM 6C: The Psychology of Killing and the My Lai Massacre

        Moderator: Erin McCoy, Ph.D., University of South Carolina, Beaufort

        • The Psychology of Killing and the Experiences of American Soldiers in the Vietnam War
          Olli Siitonen, University of Helsinki

        • My Lai Massacre Revelation – The Catalyst for Vietnamization
          Ngoc Anh Khoa Doan, PhD Candidate, Columbia University and Hung Nguyen, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam

        Video

        [Heritage Room]
        10:30 AM 6D: Armor Warfare during the Vietnam War

        Moderator: Justin Hart, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Academic Programs, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University

        • Ben Het: The Vietnam War’s Clash of Steel
          Philip Webster, Texas Tech University

        • My Vietnam War: 1969 + 50
          Philip Beidler, Ph.D., University of Alabama

        Video

        [Petroleum Room]
        12:00 PM : Lunch Presentation

        Moderator: Justin Hart, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Academic Programs, Institute for Peace and Conflict, Texas Tech University

        • Understanding the Enemy: Keys to Hanoi’s Victory
          Pierre Asselin, Ph.D., San Diego State University

        Video

        [Petroleum Room]
        1:30 PM 7A: Vietnamization and South Vietnam’s Security

        Moderator: Tuong Vu, Ph.D., University of Oregon

        • The Impact of Vietnamization and the Strategy for Self-Reliance and Self-Sufficiency
          Hoang Duc Nha, former Presidential Advisor, Minister of Mass Mobilization and Open Arms, the RVN

        • The Army of the RVN during Vietnamization: Reflections of a Frontline Soldier
          Bui Quyen, former Lt. Colonel, Deputy Commander of 3rd Airborne Brigade, Airborne Division, ARVN

        • The RVN National Police during Vietnamization
          Tran Minh Cong, former Colonel and Commandant of the National Police Academy, the RVN

        Video

        [University Room]
        1:30 PM 7B: Uncovering History: A Roundtable Discussion on Latino Men’s Experiences in the Vietnam War

        Moderator: Amber Batura, Ph.D., Texas Tech University


        • Frank Gutierrez, Vietnam Veteran Josue Silva, Vietnam Veteran


        • Kayla Maples, Texas Tech University

        Video

        [Cotton Room]
        1:30 PM 7C: The Newest Mission of the USS Midway: Vietnam War and Cold War Onboard Seminars for Teachers

        Moderator: Pierre Asselin, Ph.D., San Diego State University

        • The Midway Institute for Teachers: Program Origins and Overview
          John F. Burns, M.A., Vietnam Veteran, Director, Midway Institute for Teachers

        • Using an Iconic Ship as a Principal Vehicle in Teacher Learning
          Rudolph Shappee, M.A., Vietnam Veteran, Assistant Director, Midway Institute for Teachers

        • How Teachers Use What They Learn Aboard USS Midway to Improve and Expand their Teaching about the Vietnam War and its Era
          Richard del Rio, M.A., Teacher Coordinator, Midway Institute for Teachers

        Video

        [Heritage Room]
        1:30 PM 7D: The Vietnamese Home Front during the Vietnam War

        Moderator: Kyle Longley, Ph.D.

        • South Vietnam Higher Education Developed in the Vietnamization Context: A Brief View from Public Universities' Operation
          Thuy Dung Truong, University of Hamburg

        • The Impact of Buddhism’s Movement to the Failure of Vietnamization Strategy and the Saigon Government, 1969-1975
          Trieu Huy Ha, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam

        Video

        [University Room]
        3:30 PM 8B: Vietnam War Allied Operations

        Moderator: Ted Engelmann, Vietnam Veteran, Independent Researcher

        • "True North Strong and Free:" Canadians in Vietnam
          Rebecca McGee, Texas Tech University

        • Activities of Polish People’s Republic Military Intelligence During Vietnam War
          Jarema Slowiak, Jagiellonian University

        Video

        [Cotton Room]
        3:30 PM 8C: The Army of the Republic of Vietnam

        Moderator: Ron Milam, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

        • Experiences of a Vietnamese Infantryman in the First Year of the Vietnamization
          Michael Do, Chairman of the Board of Directors, The Vietnamese American Community of the U.S.A.

        • Vietnamization/Pacification and the ARVN 5th Infantry Division
          Tin Nguyen, Independent Researcher

        • The Effectiveness of Vietnamization
          Trong Q. Phan, Ph.D., Secretary General of the Executive Board of The Vietnamese American Community of the U.S.A.

        Video

        [Heritage Room]
        3:30 PM 8D: Prisoners of War and Refugees during the Vietnam War

        Moderator: Alan Barenberg, Ph.D., Texas Tech University

        • A Better War? The Treatment of Communist POWs before and after "Vietnamization"
          Marcel Berni, Swiss Military Academy at ETH Zurich

        • Viet Nam 1969/70: Pacification as a path to No-where
          Gerald Waite, Vietnam Veteran, Research Fellow, Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, Ball State University

        Video

        [Petroleum Room]
        5:00 PM : Closing Remarks

        Moderator: Steve Maxner, Ph.D