Browse Exhibits (38 total)

    General George S. Patton once said "Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men". While most military historians accept this as gospel, I want to document the weapon side of the conflict. This war encompassed well over thirty years of strife and conflict, which leads to an immense amount of weaponry implimented. From the Japanese occupation in World War II to the French colonization until 1954 to the United States' involvement until 1975, the swath of weapons that you could find on the battlefield would cover the entire globe in terms of manufacture and design. It is simply impossible for anyone to truly determine every single firearm used by both sides due to the sheer amount of variety. Therefore, I will focus on the main weapons utilized as well as some unique ones not mentioned often. 

    This exhibit covers weaponry on both sides of the conflict; the allied powers (US, ARVN, French, and smaller nations) and the North Vietnamese. We take a look at what the average soldier carried as well as their experience with what they carried. We will also look at the development, trials, and field experience with that piece of technology. The troops in Vietnam experienced many issues on the battlefield when it came to weaponry. I want to categorize that and share these episodes. 

Ronald (Ron) Cleo Redding was born July 31, 1949, in Omaha, Nebraska. To parents Gerald and Lois Redding. Ron attended kindergarten thru Twelfth in Omaha. He was an Omaha Benson alumni. He was the third of five kids. His siblings consisted of John, Diane, Cindy, and Cathy. Ron is that father of two daughters, Wendy and Sabrina. Married to Patty in the early ’70s. Following with a later divorcing in 2001. Later remarrying in 2017 to Janice. Ronald was joined by his first grandchild Cooper in 2009, followed by Mackenzie in 2011. Since then his family has continued to grow.

From the American perspective, the irregulars fighting in Southern Vietnam take on a clandestine mystique. They're often perceived as phantoms, being nowhere and yet everywhere at the same time. Little attention is given to who these people were, how they were organized, and the nuances and complexities that culminated to form their organization. Their members were more than just guerrillas and peasant farmers fighting in the shadows. Some were prominent businessmen in Saigon, some were highly educated in French universities, some acted as secret agents that operated within the Diem and U.S. supported regimes. Their motivations and beliefs were as diverse as the people that formed their ranks. Many were not even communist. Nationalism, independence, and the hopes for a better life were often the driving force that compelled them to take up arms. This exhibit, then, seeks to illuminate and portray the humanity of Viet Cong.

It will examine the background and context that lead to their formation, the political front and military wing that operated in the countryside, the motivations of those who joined, their tactics, training, equipment, and the stories of individual members. A feature inherent to the nature of the Viet Cong is perpetual adaptation and dynamism. They had an uncanny ability to adapt to any situation and develop methods of facing overwhelming firepower.

The draft has become one of the most contentious aspects of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Re-established in 1948 after the end of World War II, the draft was often lauded as a hallmark of American democracy until military involvement in Southeast Asia escalated in 1964 and 1965. With the advent of a desegregated military and affordable mass communication devices such as televisions, problems familiar only to the top brass of the military became topics of discussion in many civilian homes. Even though the U.S. military during the Vietnam conflict was overall the best-educated military in history up to that point, men of lower intelligence, disproportionately minorities, often were overrepresented in combat positions due to various reasons.

With a poor understanding of the reasons for being in Vietnam and mounting casualties for little tangible gain, American public opinion turned against the war and the draft. Symbolic burnings of draft registration cards and attacks on draft boards in an attempt to destroy records and impede operations became commonplace beginning in the late 1960s. In 1968, presidential candidate Richard M. Nixon ran on a promise to end the draft altogether and return to an all-volunteer military. Accusations that the draft targeted the poor, minorities, and those of lower educational status led to a modification of the draft procedure beginning in 1969. A commission appointed by President Nixon found that it would be economically and militarily viable to return to an all-volunteer military, and so the bill which gave the government the authority to conduct a draft was allowed to expire in 1973 and not renewed.

For anyone who is not aware of what the USO is and what they do for the troops, here is a little background about the USO.

The USO was founded shortly before WWII in February of 1941.  The USO was formed by the joining of six different organizations; the Salvation Army, (YMCA) Young Men’s Christian Association,  (YWCA) Young Women’s Christian Association, National Catholic Community Service, National Travelers Aid Association and the National Jewish Welfare Board.  The USO's main objective is to raise the morale of the troops.  They bring celebrities, professional athletes, musicians, as well as comedians to perform for the troops.  It can range from a huge show like Bob Hope's Christmas Special filmed in Vietnam, to Dalton Fuller and the Nebraska Playboys, my great uncle's Band.  Each act was assigned a marine protection detail due to the bounties that were placed on them.  Bob Hope had a $250,000 bounty and never spent a night in Vietnam, after each show he was flown back to thailand.  Dalton Fuller and the Nebraska Playboys, spent the majority of their tour in Vietnam, even staying in the barracks.  However, part of their tour was in Thailand.