By Stephen Appezzato
HOLMDEL – Honoring our nation’s past and present veterans, the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation (NJVVMF) will host its annual Veterans Day Ceremony at the foundation’s Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in Holmdel. The ceremony will take place from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Nov. 11.
The foundation’s annual event is the official state ceremony to commemorate the holiday, featuring wreath laying and an anticipated speech from Gov. Phil Murphy.
“The focus is not just on Vietnam, but on all veterans and wars, and an acknowledgement of their service,” said Mike Thornton, interim director of the NJVVMF and its museum. “It’s a pilgrimage for many of the Vietnam veterans, of course. It’s very sacred because, you know, here it is, their memorial that is the focus of the day, and then extending the promise that no generation will ever turn his back on another generation of veterans,” he explained.
Founded in 1998, the Vietnam Era Museum and Educational Center has been at the forefront of the historical preservation of the Vietnam War era, featuring an array of programs and exhibits.
“It’s one of only a few places in the nation that attempts to interpret the Vietnam era at large and, at the time, it was very much ahead of its time. There are certainly universities that collect Vietnam artifacts and archival records,” Thornton noted, “but an interpretation place where students and families and veterans and just the general public can come and learn about that moment in kind of a museum setting – we are leading the pack.”
In the future, the museum hopes to engage in a capital expansion to enlarge its facilities, incorporating more programs and a larger collection.
A central theme at the museum is a look into the experiences endured during the war. This is especially evident in one of the newest exhibits on display, “There and Back: The Journey to Vietnam and Home.” The exhibit charts the military’s transition from the use of troop ships to the incorporation of civilian chartered airlines to move military personnel overseas, featuring a compartment from the U.S. naval troop ship the General Nelson M. Walker, as well as artifacts from soldiers in transport and civilian flight attendants who were aboard the chartered airlines. Of those belongings, the exhibit calls attention to graffiti messages left by soldiers; personal messages that capture the fear and uncertainty the young troops felt on their journey abroad.
“We have always wanted to bring to the general public a sense that Vietnam is not a stale topic. I know it’s something that might exist uncomfortably within the American memory,” said Thornton. But, he noted, it “is very much on the forefront of academic inquiry.”
Over the course of the year the museum engages in academic inquiry through its Vietnam Scholars Series, inviting the public to attend moderated discussions with historians that cover unique ways in which the Vietnam War has left lasting impacts on society. The final presentation of the series Oct. 27 featured Larry Berman, Ph.D., a professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis and a founding dean of Georgia State University Honors College who has written multiple books on facets of the war. In his talk, Berman discussed the lasting human and environmental impact of Agent Orange, a deadly herbicide used throughout the conflict. The Scholars Series was funded by the New Jersey Council For The Humanities.
“The most meaningful feedback that we’ve received has been from the veterans… themselves who have been surprised to learn that there is such interest in their experiences. People are very fascinated about it and there’s a lot still to be learned,” Thornton said. As a result of its positive reception, the museum is looking to secure future funding for the continuation of the series.
“I often say that the Vietnam War is a living legacy, meaning that the stories of this generation, the questions that were asked of them, still very much stand today in our public discourse – issues of patriotism, service, ethical government, and our place as citizens within that,” Thornton said.
The article originally appeared in the November 3 – 9, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
