Military

When American soldiers returned home from Vietnam, most put their memories away. Decades later, North Carolina veterans contributed thousands of dusty and faded personal photographs to what started as a class project at the Sawtooth School for Visual Art in Winston-Salem. It evolved into a national traveling exhibition and then a permanent collection of the North Carolina Museum of History called "A Thousand Words: Photographs by Vietnam Veterans." For many of these men and women, this was their first opportunity to show what they couldn't say. Photographer and Vietnam-era vet Martin Tucker presents selected glimpses of those unforgettable experiences.

Originally a World War II infantry training center, followed by a brief stint as a US Air Force base, Camp Wolters was redesignated a US Army installation in July 1956, and its primary mission was to train helicopter pilots.

Mineral Wells offered an ideal climate and terrain for flight training with predominately clear skies, rolling open ranch land, high bluffs, and the Brazos River valley. An integral part of Mineral Wells’ economy, the flight school expanded in the 1960s due to escalation of the Vietnam War. During the war, with the exception of the US Navy, all helicopter pilots receiving primary flight training passed through Fort Wolters. During its 17 years of operation, over 40,000 pilots were trained, which included international students from 33 countries. The last Fort Wolters pilots graduated in 1973, and it was formally closed in 1975 and was converted into an industrial center.

Wes J. Sheffield is an aviation/aerospace professional and historian. He has taught history at Dallas Baptist University and is an active member of the West Texas Historical Association, serving as the organization’s social media editor. His interest in Fort Wolters began while employed with Bell Helicopter, where he met and later interviewed former Vietnam War helicopter pilots while writing a narrative history of Fort Wolters, US Army Helicopter School. 

On November 13, 1969, ten students at Texas State University were suspended for participating in a peaceful protest against the Vietnam War. They had kept vigil in front of the Huntington Mustangs, bearing signs that read, "Vietnam Is an Edsel" and "44,000 U.S. Dead, For What?" while an increasingly hostile anti-protest crowd chanted, "Love it or leave it!" and "Let's string 'em up!" It was a day after news of the My Lai massacre broke. Part of a coordinated, nationwide Vietnam Moratorium effort that confounded and infuriated the Nixon White House, the "San Marcos 10" challenged their suspension, taking their case all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Author E.R. Bills offers this fascinating glimpse into the 1960s antiwar movement in Texas, the extraordinary measures to quell it and the broader social activism in which it participated.

Ventura County's military history encompasses much more than the strategic naval bases that have occupied the shorelines and flatlands of the Pacific Coast from Point Mugu to La Conchita. Individuals from Oxnard, Ventura, Port Hueneme, Camarillo, Santa Paula, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Simi Valley, Fillmore, Ojai, Piru, and the other cities, towns, and neighborhoods in the county proudly served their country in times of war. The images in this book pay homage to some of those individuals--men and women who sacrificed so much to preserve freedom. From the European and Pacific fronts of World War II, to the snowy winters in Korea, through the tribulations of the Vietnam era, this book goes beyond the broad scope of war and into the personal experiences of Ventura County's heroes.

The Vietnam War era (1961-1975), one of our country's most turbulent periods, was also a time of change and social evolution. Seeded in the aftermath of World War II, the nation enjoyed a remarkable economic boom. Knoxville and East Tennessee stood witness to the transformation of American society and the problems that came with the new success. From the first recognized combat casualty of the Vietnam War to the evacuation of Saigon, Knoxvillians were there, and their stories of sacrifice and service earned little mention or were forgotten in historical texts. At home, urban decay gained a grip on Knoxville's once vibrant downtown, and protests were not an uncommon sight on the evening news, but there was progress too. This volume documents the start of a new beginning for Knoxville as the city tried to hold onto its traditional Appalachian values and move into a new era.