Last Chance to See “Remembering Vietnam” Exhibit Before it Closes January 6, 2019
Press Release · Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Washington, DC

Come see Remembering Vietnam: Twelve Critical Episodes in the Vietnam War before it closes on January 6, 2019!

Remembering Vietnam allows guests to discover National Archives records pertaining to 12 crucial moments from the Vietnam War. The exhibit, located in the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery of the National Archives Museum, provides insight as to why the United States joined the controversial war, and also examines the effects it had on Americans back home. The exhibit is free and open to the public.The National Archives is located on the National Mall on Constitution Avenue at 9th Street, NW. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. Please note: the Museum will be closed December 25.

About Remembering Vietnam
The Vietnam War is remembered still as one of the most controversial wars in American history. Many Americans struggle to understand why we joined the war, why it carried out for so long, and exactly what came from it. The war cost a large loss of life, destroyed land, and had long-lasting effects on veterans and their families. Remembering Vietnam spans 3,000-square-feet and uses more than 80 original records from the National Archives to reexamine major turning points in the war and its legacy.

Following American involvement through six Presidential administrations, the exhibit traces the war’s trajectory through artifacts, film footage, and original documents. First-person testimony is provided through interviews with veterans, journalists, Vietnamese civilians, members of the peace movement, and leading Vietnam historians. Three small theatres within the exhibit screen the interview footage.

Visitors are able to interact and engage with the exhibit via an Oval Office Audio Experience, listening to Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon discuss the war. Other auditory experiences showcase President Eisenhower’s “Domino Theory” from his April 7,1954 press conference, and a meeting between President Kennedy and his National Security Council on supporting a South Vietnam coup. Special artifacts include a pair of baby shoes from one of the Saigon airlifts, the CIA’s model of the Hanoi Hilton, and an elephant tusk lamp (gifted to President Eisenhower from Ngo Dinh Diem).

If you can’t come to the exhibit in person, don’t worry. Go on a guided tour with exhibit curator Alice Kamps, examine Vietnam War-related records via archives.gov, and see original documents through the online gallery.  Remembering Vietnam is 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Ⓡ.

Related Online Resources

• Veteran Pilots Display Vietnam-Era Helicopters at National Archives, National Archives News
• Hear Archivist and Vietnam War veteran David S. Ferriero discuss the exhibit and his wartime service, C-SPAN interview.
• The War in Vietnam - A Story in Photographs, DocsTeach Lesson Plan
• Finding Aid for American POW Records
• State-Level Casualty Lists for Vietnam War
• Virtual Tour of the Vietnam exhibit, Johnson Presidential Library
• Vietnam Conflict Exhibit Resources from the LBJ Presidential Library
• The Pentagon Papers