By Kyle Beatty, Staff Writer
Five Vietnam veterans gathered in CUB 260 Thursday evening to share their war experiences with Gettysburg students and faculty. The event, hosted by and presented to two First-Year Seminars, began with an introduction from History Professor Michael Birkner, who teaches the seminar, “You Say You Want a Revolution? The Sixties Revisited.” He presented the war as a Rorschach, or inkblot, test that “you can read a lot of things into… depending on your point of view.”
Thomas Dombrowsky, Adjunct Instructor of History and a Vietnam veteran himself, presented to students in both his seminar, “The Myths and Realities of the Vietnam War,” and Birkner’s seminar, as well as other students in attendance. He put the discussion in context, explaining “the difference between a fairy tale and a war story is that a fairy tale starts with ‘once upon a time,’ and a war story starts with ‘this is no shit—there I was.’” Even in firsthand testimony, a sense of uncertainty pervades the Vietnam War: each guest’s experience differed by when, where, and why they were in Vietnam.
While no two stories were identical, a common theme was the great respect for the Vietnamese that fought for and against the American and coalition forces. The panelists described them as “hardworking.” “creative,” and “some of the best, most dedicated soldiers you will ever meet in the world.”
A short question and answer session followed the panelists’ accounts, with discussion of the lessons learned from the war, our ongoing war in Afghanistan, and the Army’s present-day organizational structure. Professor Birkner thanked the panelists for having “more than delivered” on his promise to make the event worth his students’ time.
