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DR. ANDREW WIEST GIVES MGC LEARNING COMMUNITIES KEYNOTE ADDRESS
By: Tricia Purser Release Date:04/24/2012
(Cochran, GA) – Dr. Andrew Wiest recently gave the Middle Georgia College Learning Communities Keynote Address. Dr. Wiest, a WWI and Vietnam historian, helped expand on the LC’s “Life in Conflict” theme with his lecture, titled “Vietnam: Myth, Fact, and Memory.” The event was a part of MGC’s The Big Read program.
Dr. Wiest has been studying about the Vietnam War since he volunteered to teach a class on the subject when he was a young faculty member. He would bring Vietnam veterans into his class to tell first hand stories of the war and the veteran’s experiences in the war, all while doing his own research.
Dr. Wiest explained that most of the myths of the Vietnam War are propagated by movies, books, and public opinions. For example, one myth about the Vietnam War is that it ended in 1968, said Dr. Wiest. “Although 1968 was a climatic year, the war was not over,” he said. “America did not withdraw until 1973, and there were a lot of battles and issues between 1968 and 1973.” Although many people also saw the Vietnam War as strictly an American war, it was more complex than that, said Dr. Wiest. “There were other nations in this war, such as Cambodia and France,” he said.
Another myth about the Vietnam War is that America lost the war, said Dr. Wiest. “Yes, we attempted to help the South Vietnamese and lost,” he said. “However, if you look at it as a battle lost in the bigger campaign of the Cold War, then we won. They are not communist, so it was a victory on a larger scale.”
Another myth about the Vietnam War is that America lost the war, said Dr. Wiest. “Yes, we attempted to help the South Vietnamese and lost,” he said. “However, if you look at it as a battle lost in the bigger campaign of the Cold War, then we won. They are not communist, so it was a victory on a larger scale.”
Dr. Wiest challenged students to go see the Vietnam Wall in Washington D.C., and to notice that half of the names on the wall were inscribed on the dates after America decided it wasn’t going to win. “These soldiers did everything they were asked to do and did it well,” he said. “Vietnam veterans deserve undying praise and gratitude.”
Dr. Wiest spoke about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and the wide variety of effects it can have on a person. “Truly violent war changes people and they come home with an altered soul,” he said. “Veterans can have difficulty getting closure.”
Lorraine Dubuisson, an Assistant Professor of Learning Support/English, said “Dr. Andrew Wiest presented the Vietnam Conflict to MGC students as a more complex subject than perhaps they have been led to believe in the past. Drawing on research he''s done with veterans of the war from both America and Vietnam, Dr. Wiest debunked common myths surrounding the conflict and provided students with a new perspective on the war we think we all understand.”
Dr. Wiest received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi, and his Ph.D from the University of Illinois, Chicago, specializing in the study of World War I and Vietnam. Dr. Wiest, who is active in international education, developed the award-winning Vietnam Study Abroad Program. Recently, he has contributed to Vietnam in HD for the History Channel and the publication of The Boys of 67: Charlie Company’s War in Vietnam.
The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.
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