Cook Library Exhibit on the Vietnam War Marks Veterans Day

News item published on: 2019-11-11 14:30:18

An exhibition on the Vietnam War, entitled NAM, is currently on display in the Joseph Anderson Cook Library lobby. The exhibition traces the United States’ involvement from 1963-1975, drawing from holdings in Special Collections and Cook Library.

Exhibited are photographs, scrapbooks, correspondence, manuscripts and medals from the Vietnam era. Featured collections are those of Courtney Lynn Frobenius, who received the Purple Heart, the Silver Star, and three Bronze Stars for his service in combat and as advisor in the Mekong Delta from the ages of eighteen to twenty-three; Hattiesburg native, Dr. Toxey Morris, who received the Navy Commendation Medal for his service as surgeon aboard the USS Tripoli; Mississippian, Roy M. Wheat, who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his valor in combat; and Hattiesburg ophthalmologist, Dr. John L. Pendergrass, who received the Air Medal for his service as flight surgeon at the Da Nang Air Force Base. Also a triathlete, Dr. Pendergrass authored Racing Back to Vietnam: A Journey in War and Peace, a reflection on Vietnam as he returned in 2016 to compete in an Iron Man triathlon.

The exhibition also highlights the works of faculty members, including David C. Berry, author of poetry books Vietnam Cemetery (1972) and Vietnam Ecclesiastes, 1945-1975 (2007), and historian Andrew Wiest, author of The Boys of '67: Charlie Company's War in Vietnam (2012), Vietnam: A View From the Front Lines (2013) and Charlie Company Journeys Home: The Forgotten Impact on the Wives of Vietnam Veterans (2018). Also featured are the film depiction of the conflict by well-known Hollywood directors. An audio recording of HBO documentary, Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1987) accompanies the exhibition.

For more information on this exhibit, contact Lorraine Stuart, head of Special Collections, at 601.266.4117 or Lorraine.Stuart@usm.edu.