Victor Davis Hanson addresses Hillsdale College students. Courtesy | The Collegian
Historians discussed the legacy of the Vietnam War in a two-day conference.
Hillsdale College hosted the conference, titled “The Vietnam War at 50,” on Sept. 12-13. The event, organized by the college’s Military History and Strategy Department, brought together scholars and veterans to reflect on the conflict’s legacy and commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War.
The conference opened with Mark Moyar, the William P. Harris Chair of Military History, who delivered a chronological history of the war. Paul Rahe, professor of history, organized the conference. Rahe said that Moyar’s lecture was unique because it featured sources from North Vietnam.
“Before he got to work on this, people wrote histories almost entirely through American sources — and they weren’t very good,” Rahe said. “He had the moxie to get hold of North Vietnamese sources, which are plentiful because they were very happy about having won the war.”
The following lecture, given by Marine veteran and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Francis “Bing” West, criticized civilian leadership for mismanaging the conflict.
A powerful moment came on the second day, when retired Maj. Gen. Viet Luong told his story of fleeing Saigon as a child in 1975, according to Rahe.
“It may not have been the most informative lecture, but it was the most moving,” Rahe said. “You got a sense of his family’s history — their flight from the North in 1954, his father’s service as an officer, and then of his own work in the U.S. Army.”
Professor of History David Stewart agreed, noting the emotional impact on the audience.
“Luong talked about being 8 years old, trying to get out of the country, being on the runway while the North Vietnamese were shelling, and watching people die as he tried to get on a helicopter,” Stewart said. “It’s really hard not to be affected by that.”
The conference concluded with a lecture over Zoom from Victor Davis Hanson, Wayne and Marcia Buske distinguished fellow in history at Hillsdale, on the political and cultural consequences of the war.
“Victor Davis Hanson is one of the world’s leading military historians,” Moyar said. “Particularly trenchant was his commentary on the transformation of the Democrats from the party of intervention to the party of isolationism.”
Attendance topped 150 people, including many Vietnam veterans, whose questions shaped the discussion, according to Rahe. One of the most common questions that attendees asked was how lessons from Vietnam apply today, particularly to the war in Ukraine, according to Stewart.
“Again and again, people wanted to know: What did we learn in Vietnam that could help us now?” Stewart said.
