National Archives at Kansas City to Launch Remembering Vietnam Program Series

February 12, 2018

Kansas City (MO)…Beginning in February, the National Archives at Kansas City will launch a public program series focused on the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War and how its impact affected Americans at home and abroad. This series coincides with an exhibition currently on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. titled Remembering Vietnam. More information about the exhibit can be found online. 

The first event of this program series will be on Tuesday, February 27 at 6:30 p.m. and will feature a moderated conversation with Dr. Jim Willbanks who served as an advisor and was interviewed for the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick documentary film The Vietnam War. Willbanks will be interviewed by Kansas City Public Television community engagement producer Lindsey Foat who will share clips of the documentary. A free light reception will precede the program at 6:00 p.m. This program is presented in collaboration with Kansas City PBS.

The Vietnam War is a ten-part, 18-hour documentary film series directed by Burns and Novick. In an immersive 360-degree narrative, the directors tell the epic story of the Vietnam War as it has never before been told on film as the documentary features testimony from nearly 100 witnesses. Requests for ADA accommodations must be submitted five business days prior to events. Reservations are requested for this free program.

About the Speaker

Dr. James H. Willbanks is the General of the Army George C. Marshall Chair of Military History and former Director of the Department of Military History at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He has been on the faculty since 1992, when he retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel with 23 years' service as an infantry officer in various assignments, to include a tour as an advisor with a South Vietnamese infantry regiment during the 1972 North Vietnamese Easter Offensive. Willbanks is an honor graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and a graduate of the inaugural class of the School of Advanced Military Studies. He holds a B.A. in History from Texas A&M University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in History from the University of Kansas. He is the author or editor of 15 books on the Vietnam War and other topics in military history. His military awards and decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star with "V" and Oak Leaf Cluster, two Purple Hearts, and Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with two Silver Stars. 

The National Archives at Kansas City is home to historical records dating from the 1820s to the 1990s created or received by Federal agencies in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. For more information, call 816-268-8000 or visit www.archives.gov/kansas-city/.    

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