In this personal story, Joe Wessel tells about how, knowing he would be drafted in 1962, he joined the Army. Shortly after joining, he tried out for the Special Forces and was accepted. Successfully completing the training program, he was sent to Vietnam and worked with the Degar people to train them in counter insurgency. The Degar people, or more commonly known as Montagnards, are a Southeast Asian tribal people native to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. On September 22, 1965, the Army returned him to the United States and charged him with writing a history of the Special Forces. He refused as he preferred active duty and he was discharged on September 25, 1965. He returned to rural Alabama to teach. One year later he moved to Arizona and spent the next 15 years teaching in the Cartwright School District.
"The Vietnam Experience", September 19 through November 11, 2007, presented the history of the Vietnam War through a timeline of events, photos, music, news clippings and personal objects showing the memories and perspectives of the war through the eyes of local residents.
The display, housed in the Civic Center Library Community Room, included a Vietnam War timeline across the entire length of one side of the exhibit's wall. The top depicted the events on the battlefield of Vietnam, while the bottom recounted the events at home. Artifacts included original uniforms worn by soldiers on both sides, photos from the battle field, newspapers printed in Arizona and posters. On one side of the exhibit was a wall listing the names of the 623 Arizona vets that died during the Vietnam War giving their name, age, Arizona hometown, branch of service, and where their lives were claimed.
The event, a "Veteran's Day Town Hall" held in the Civic Center Library Auditorium, had CBS Channel 5's Kent Dana as emcee for an interactive discussion with four veterans of the Vietnam War and culminated the project on November 11, 2007.
The ReVentures volunteer program, which organized this event, was supported with funds granted by the Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records Agency under the Library Services and Technology Act, which is administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
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