Announcement from William Joiner Center, UMASS Boston:
William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Its Social Consequences to
Host a Conference on the Vietnam War: “Vietnam: Looking Forward, Looking
Back.”
On March 10th and 11th this year the National Archives and the Presidential
Libraries will host a two-day symposium on "Vietnam and the Presidency" at
the John F. Kennedy Library at Columbia Point, Boston, MA. Well-known
decision-makers, commentators, historians, and public and elected officials
such as President Jimmy Carter, Henry Kissinger, Alexander Haig, Theodore
Sorenson, Jack Valente, Frances Fitzgerald, David Halberstam, Bob Herbert,
Dan Rather, George Herring, Marilyn Young, Senator Chuck Hagel, and
Ambassador Pete Peterson will all participate.
As access will be limited at the JFK Library conference and many voices will
unfortunately go unheard, the William Joiner Center will offer a venue where
both the events of the conference and the voices of those who have
experienced the consequences of Presidential decision-making may be heard.
On March 10th -12th, the William Joiner Center for the Study of War and
Social Consequences of the University of Massachusetts Boston will host a
series of panels, events and activities at its Harbor Campus across from the
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library to run in sequence with the Kennedy
Library conference. These events and discussions are meant to broaden and to
complement discussions at the library.
We invite all veterans and their families, veterans groups, members of the
Vietnamese community, students, teachers, clergy, POW-MIA groups, Gold Star
Mothers, peace and anti-war activists to attend. Opportunity will be given
for dialogue and discussion at a series of forums to be held on campus on
topics including:
The Legacy of Biological and Chemical Contaminants: Agent Orange - The
Legacy of Withdrawal: POW-MIA’s, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian
Refugees - Coming Home: The Experience of Veterans - Vietnamization-
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder- The Anti-War Movement - The War at Home- The
Churches and the War- Project 100,000: Strategies of Military Recruitment-
The Draft - Amnesty - The War and Minority Communities - The War, Class, and
the Economy - The Vietnam Veterans Movement - The War and Civil Liberties:
COINTELPRO, the Plumbers, and Covert Operations in the U.S. - The War and
the Media- The War and the New Military- Teaching the War - Post War
Embargos and Efforts at Reconciliation - Human Rights
In additions to discussions and presentations there will be:
- open mikes for those who wish to have their voices heard, archived, and
recorded for the record.
- round-the-clock public readings of the names of the war's casualties.
- a "Dear Henry" campaign to deliver messages to Mr. Kissinger at the
conference.
(These may be mailed directly to the center or emailed to
joinercenter@umb.edu <mailto:joinercenter@umb.edu>).
The Conference is free and open to the public.
Please let us know if you plan to attend by emailing us at:
joinercenter@umb.edu <mailto:joinercenter@umb.edu>
Attached as files you will find information on the Kennedy Library Program,
registration for the Library program is closed out.
For further information and to register please email joinercenter@umb.edu
<mailto:joinercenter@umb.edu> or call 617-287-5850.