Spotlight on History
The Vietnam War: Louisiana Remembers
In support of documentary filmmaker Ken Burns’ new landmark series about the Vietnam War, LPB has launched an initiative called The Vietnam War: Louisiana Remembers. Here on the LDMA, you can view LPB’s growing collection of oral history interviews with Vietnam War veterans. You can also see archival videos from the collections of LPB and the Louisiana State Archives from both the Vietnam War-era and the aftermath of the war. Many of these stories highlight the struggles facing Vietnam War veterans and the Vietnamese refugees who created new lives in Louisiana. To see all of these stories and more, visit the complete Vietnam War topic.
Vietnam War Oral Histories
See LPB’s growing collection of oral history interviews with Vietnam War veterans. LPB collected veterans' stories at LPB's studios in Baton Rouge, as well as and at events in Alexandria, Breaux Bridge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, and New Orleans, La. Thanks to all those who made this possible -- especially the Veterans Administration, the Chennault Aviation and Military Museum, the Louisiana Forestry Association, and the Lake Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Vietnam: A WWL-TV Special Project (circa 1965)
See WWL-TV reporter Phil Johnson visit with Louisiana and south Mississippi natives stationed in Da Nang, Saigon, and aboard the USS Kitty Hawk in the South China Sea during the Vietnam War.
Gov. John McKeithen on Vietnam De-escalation (1968)
See Governor John McKeithen’s press conference following President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Address to the Nation on Vietnam De-escalation
Congressman Henson Moore Press Conference (1978)
See Congressman Henson Moore discuss his recent trip to North Vietnam as a part of a Congressional Delegation
Vietnamese Refugees (1979)
See a 1979 LPB story from Louisiana: The State We’re In on the Vietnamese refugees in Louisiana
General William Westmoreland Interview (1980)
See a 1980 LPB interview with General William Westmoreland, a commander of American forces during the Vietnam War
Vietnamese Refugees (1982)
See a 1982 LPB report from Folks on the struggles facing Vietnamese refugees in Louisiana in establishing new lives in the United States while keeping their history and culture alive
Vietnam Veterans (1982)
See a 1982 LPB report from Folks on the problems facing Vietnam veterans in Louisiana
The Last Days of the Vietnam War (2015)
See a 2015 interview with Anthony Tran, a Vietnamese refugee who now lives in New Orleans East, on the fall of Saigon, living under the Communist regime in Vietnam for four years, and starting a new life in New Orleans.
To see more stories about the Vietnam War and its aftermath, click here.
To learn more about the Ken Burns’ series and LPB’s The Vietnam War: Louisiana Remembers initiative, visit www.lpb.org/vietnam.