Making Meaning of Vietnam Learning Series Launch Thursday, April 10 at 7pm

[annm4peace]

Making Meaning of Vietnam Learning Series Launch
Thursday, April 10

7:00 p.m.
Macalester Plymouth Church, 1658 Lincoln Ave, St Paul.

The kick-off of a yearlong series to remember the lessons of the Vietnam war. Dr. Ron Glasser, a local physician, along with Saint Paul poets Carol Connolly and Teresa Ortiz will speak. The event will be followed by an open meeting to organize ongoing events through the 40th Anniversary of the fall of Saigon in April 2015. Events will focus on the war’s impact on both veterans and civilians with intent to remember and learn from America’s political and military mistakes. It will include readings, lectures, storytelling, music, film, theater and art exhibits. The goal is a yearlong cultural conversation about the wounds of America’s Wars and how we can heal them. Participation by all is encouraged.

Sponsored by: Vietnam Forty Years.




Yes, Ron Glasser will speak on April 10, but the evening goes way beyond that. Glasser is a powerful speaker, a medical doctor drafted in 1968, who wrote the 1971 bestseller, 365 Days, about spending a year dealing with too many soldiers coming out of Vietnam in ways that should happen to no one. More recently he's written Broken Bodies, Shattered Minds, about what we are doing and not doing now, and he hasn't been known to hold back.

After the talk we'll engage those present in ideas for the next year and how to get it out to a larger audience, affected by the impact of war, but insulated too often by strong stories that just plain are not true. We expect there will be events and talks and music and media that will look at all sides. There will be something on the draft resistance movement, and why is it that Vietnam Veterans are still fighting for justice on Agent Orange exposure, as well as making up a large percentage of the total homeless population. We expect there will be a night on the so-called "Secret War", and on citizens in Vietnam still being injured by landmines and ordnances left behind 50 years ago. We'll look at who profited from our being in Vietnam, and why are some still profiting today from so horrendous an endeavor as war. We'll examine the shocking admission by Robert McNamera, so many years later, saying,
"I'm sorry. We knew at the time we shouldn't be there, but . . .", and we'll wonder out loud how we can continue to engage in undeclared wars, a violation of the Constitution soldiers are sworn to protect. WE EXPECT THAT THOSE WHO GATHER ON APRIL 10 WILL HAVE MANY IDEAS ON WHAT SHOULD BE LOOKED AT AND HOW THE REAL TRUTH OF WAR MIGHT GET OUT TO MORE PEOPLE IN A WAY THAT THEY CAN GRASP IT.

Please come and be a part of that group, and let as many as you can know about this evening and this next year.