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Vietnam: The Living Memory

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Introduction

When we decided to recall the Vietnam era at Tufts, we turned first to alumni. Their recollections of the Hill from roughly 1968 through 1973 would provide a glimpse of the university, not only in terms of the antiwar movement but also of other prominent causes, among them civil rights, women's rights, the right to more freedom in choosing their lifestyles and their academic choices. As their accounts arrived, however, we discovered a larger, more complex story woven beneath their memories. Although space was a concern, we set out to present a larger perspective, augmenting these alumni essays with a brief review of cultural and social forces gathering at Tufts. We turned to current faculty for a present-day viewpoint of how they teach the Vietnam conflict to a new generation of college students. We met and talked with an undergraduate for whom Vietnam means home, not war, and a young Tufts graduate who experienced the country for himself. And we interviewed a Fletcher professor whose provocative new book reveals U.S. covert operations in North Vietnam. We would like to have included more, but we hope the following articles are a beginning. They are not intended as the last word, but as a framework for learning, reflection and response.