Webinar on Humanitarian Volunteers in Vietnam During the War
Mennonite Central Committee volunteer Doug Hostetter with Bữu Bùi Tấn, a high school literacy teachers in Tam Ky, South Vietnam
Americans helping Vietnamese victims of war also worked to bring peace
RIVERHEAD, NEW YORK, USA, June 21, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A national webinar at 7 p.m. ET on Monday, June 24, offers personal accounts by volunteers in Vietnam who both assisted the war’s victims and worked in the US to bring peace.
As we approach the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war on April 30, 2025, a seldom mentioned aspect of its history is brought to life by recollections of former humanitarian volunteers who translated their sympathy, sadness and anger into effective antiwar activism in both countries.
Speaker bios and a registration link are here https://vnpeacecomm.blogspot.com/2024/05/role-in-antiwar-movement-of.html
Sharing their experiences are:
• Ann Wright-Parsons International Voluntary Services (IVS)
• Earl Martin Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
• Bill Herod Church World Service / Viet Nam Christian Service (CWS/VNCS)
• John Balaban International Voluntary Services (IVS), Committee of Responsibility (COR)
• Claudia Krich American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Special guest: Dick Berliner. With IVS (eighteen months); COR (six months); Vietnam Education Project in Washington D.C (six months); back to Viet Nam with COR (six months); Dispatch News Service in Saigon (eight months); back to DC to run Dispatch (two years).
Background: A contradictory aspect of the US war in Indochina was that while the US government was responsible for widescale death and destruction, American non-governmental organizations, both religious and secular, undertook humanitarian programs to help afflicted populations.
Staff and volunteers through direct engagement with civilian victims encountered a grass roots reality of the war that they shared with sponsoring organizations, journalists, peace activists and US government staff. Several died and were injured in war related incidents during their civilian service.
Upon returning to the US, many were active opponents of the war, using their personal experiences to give interviews, write articles, undertake speaking tours and brief Members of Congress and Senators.
The sponsor of the webinar is the Vietnam Peace Commemoration Committee, a nine year old non-governmental organization working to document the historic contribution of the antiwar movement. Webinar registrants will receive a URL for later viewing on youtube
John F McAuliff
Vietnam Peace Commemoration Committee
+1 917-859-9025
jmcauliff@gmail.com
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