Arts of War on the Web

Tuan Tran, a middle school student at Diplomat Middle School in Cape Coral, Florida, is working on a history fair project called “The End of Vietnam War and its Impact on Immigrants and America.”

“I am searching for a Vietnam veteran who can provide me with some time for an interview,” the student told us in an email. “If you are a Vietnam veteran or know of someone who was involved in Operation Frequent Wind, Operation Baby Lift, or the Fall of Saigon please email tuan99@comcast.net

Lisa Lark, the author of All They Left Behind:  Legacies of the Men and Women on The Wall, a tribute to sixty-one American servicemen and women who died in the Vietnam War that she put together in conjunction with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, is at work on a second book. “This project, scheduled for release in late 2014, will be a photographic history of the Vietnam War as told through the words and photographs of the men and women who served there,” Lark says.

The project will require some 500 photographs, and Lark is looking for veterans who have photos from their time in the military, “whether in training, on leave, or in Vietnam,” and who would be willing to donate them for use in the book.

“I will consider every photograph sent in, and will use as many as I can in this project,” she says. “There are certain visual specifications that must be met, and certain guidelines that we have to follow.  Sending in a photo does not guarantee that it will be used in the project.”

For more info, email: lisaalark@googlemail.com

For a book entitled Of Hearts and Minds; Body and Soul: America’s Disabled Combat Veterans: Forgotten Heroes of Vietnam, co-authors (and Vietnam veterans) John Brittain and Rick Bell would like hear from former service members who fit the title and subtitle who are willing  to tell their life stories.

“The Vietnam veteran is getting older and has been, over the years, the recipient of indifference and sometimes disrespect for his involvement in the war,” Brittain says. “Most Americans today when they hear of disabled veterans do not think to include our disabled Vietnam veterans.  Society today has more respect for their current armed forces than during the Vietnam era and present day society probably better understands how important our armed forces are [today].”

For more info, contact  Brittain at jbritt99@wavecable.com or 360-387-0792, or Bell at bellvista@frontier.com or 360-653-7420

All military personnel, veterans, and their families are invited to submit their poetry, essays, short fiction, photography, and interviews to be considered for the second volume of Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors, an anthology that will be published by the Missouri Humanities Council, the Warrior Arts Alliance, and Southeast Missouri State University Press.

The deadline for submissions in those five categories is July 1. There are two types of entries, for the anthology alone and one for the anthology’s contest, plus the anthology. All work must be previously unpublished. Send the work for the anthology only in a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Warriors Anthology Southeast Missouri State University Press, MS 2650, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701

If you’d like your entry to be considered for the anthology’s contest (with a $250 first prize in each category), as well as the anthology itself, email it to upress@semo.edu

For contest submissions, the rules are:

• Entries must be sent electronically as Microsoft Word docs (or docx).
• Keep poems in one document (with 1^st poem as title).
• Put your name and contact info on 1^st page and nowhere else on the manuscript.

For both mailed and electronic submissions:

• Limit one submission in each category per person.
• Poetry: up to 3 poems (5 pages maximum).
• Fiction, essay, interview: 5,000-word limit. Interviews are with military or veterans.
• Photography: up to 3 good-quality photos (will be printed in the book as b&w).
• Submissions exceeding the limits will be disqualified.
• Include a bio of 75 words or less with your submission.
• Winners & contributors will be notified by Nov. 1, 2013
• Questions: contact the University Press at upress@semo.edu

Gian Verderame, a student at Richard Stockton College in Pomona, New Jersey, is working on a  thesis titled “The Vietnam Film:  How Hollywood Shapes Our Perception of the  Vietnam War. ”

“The films that I will be analyzing are Coming Home, The Deer  Hunter, Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, and Born on the Fourth of July,” he told us.  ”I’m trying to find primary sources on the subject and what is not a better way to go than to ask Vietnam vets.”

If you have any thoughts on these films and would like be share them for this academic paper, send an email to gianverderame@gmail.com

And please mention you read about it on The VVA Veteran’s Arts of War on the web page.

Gerald Goodwin, a doctoral student at Ohio University, is writing a PhD dissertation that looks at African Americans during the Vietnam War and race relations in the military during the Vietnam War era.

“Much of my research is based on oral interviews and I have interviewed around 50 veterans at this point,” Goodwin told us. “However, I am always looking for more veterans to interview. ”

To that end, Goodwin would like to hear from “African American Vietnam veterans or white veterans who had an interesting experience with racial issues in Vietnam,” he said. “I am looking for veterans who had either positive or negative experiences or some variation of each. The project is not limited to any specific period or any branch of the armed services. ”

If you’d like to help, send an email to gerald_goodwin@hotmail.com

And please mention that you read about his project on The VVA Veteran’s Arts of War on the web page.

Catherine Karnow, a National Geographic photographer who has been documenting Vietnam for twenty-one years for that august publication as well as for other magazines and books, is putting the final touches on a presentation about that country for the National Geographic Live Speakers Bureau.

“I have one gaping hole in my coverage of Vietnam, though,” Karnow told us, “and that is the story of American veterans returning to Vietnam for reasons of healing, reconciliation, and personal growth.”

She is planning to go to Vietnam on January 15 for two weeks, and is “very much hoping to find a group [of Vietnam veterans] going in this time period. Ideally, a really interesting situation of some kind would be a real plus.”

If you’re part of a Vietnam veterans’ group going to Vietnam then, Karnow would love to hear from you.

Email her ASAP at catherinekarnow@yahoo.com or call 415-928-3232 or 415-305-8181. If you do, tell her that you read about the project on The VVA Veteran‘s Arts of War on the web page.

Pranav Ravikumar, a student at the Singapore American School, is making a documentary on the Tet Offensive for the annual National History Day contest.

“Every year,” Pranav tells us, “there is a specific theme set for students and this year’s theme is Turning Points in History. Therefore, within the Vietnam War, my main points are going to be focused on the Tet Offensive and how it changed the course of the war and how it turned U.S. perspectives and defense strategies in recent wars.”

For his documentary, the young student is looking to interview Vietnam veterans who served in the war during Tet ’68, especially those who were in intelligence.  ”This would help enhance the documentary with many perspectives,” he says.

If you’re interested, send an email to ravikumar31893@sas.edu.sg and mention that you read about the project on The VVA Veteran magazine’s Arts of War on the web page.

VTV6, the Youth Channel of the official Vietnamese Television Network, is putting together a program to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the so-called Christmas Bombing campaign of  late December 1972, which was officially known as Operation Linebacker II. The program’s main purpose, its producers say,  will be, “to share the reflections, pains of war and especially in the sense of reconciliation and mutual understanding toward the need to build connections, friendship and cooperation between the people and veterans of our two countries, Vietnam and the U.S.”

The sh0w is set to go on the air on December 28. The producers are looking for American Vietnam veterans who served in Vietnam in 1972—ideally, former Linebacker pilots and crew members—willing to be interviewed.

If you’re interested, email Chuck Searcy, a Vietnam veteran who works for an NGO in Vietnam, at chucksearcy@yahoo.com If you do, please mention that you read about it on The VVA Veteran’s Arts of War on the web page.

Todor Ostojic, a photographer in London, is working on a photography project involving Vietnam veterans. “I would like to meet with veterans, do their portraits, interview them, and put together a blog entry with the interviews and portrait images, along with a couple of images of the veterans when they were serving in Vietnam, a then-and-now image,” Ostojic told us.

“The Vietnam War is something that I have read about, and watched numerous documentaries, and it would be an honour to do this project, not only for me but to educate anyone who reads the interviews I put together. ”

The photographer is looking for Vietnam veterans living in the U.K.—or visiting veterans from the U.S.—who would be willing to take part in the project.  Each participant will receive a digital image of the final product, along with a large print.

If you’re interested, send an email to todor@nw10photography.com or go to www.nw10photography.com  If you do, please mention that you read about the project on The VVA Veteran‘s Arts of War on the web page.