Hagels aid Vietnam project

Brothers Tom Hagel, left, and Chuck Hagel served in the same Army squad in the Vietnam War.

Washington— Former Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and his brother Tom Hagel helped the Veterans History Project launch a new campaign Wednesday to chronicle the experiences of those who fought in the Vietnam War.

Dozens attended the kickoff in the Library of Congress' ornate Members Room, including former staffers of the senator and leaders on veterans issues. Nebraska Educational Telecommunications donated hours of footage from a 1999 journey the Hagel brothers took to Vietnam that served as the basis of NET's documentary "Echoes of War."

The Hagel brothers served side by side in the same Army squad in Vietnam. Each was severely wounded, and each saved the other's life.

And like other Americans of that time, the two men had very different thoughts on the war when they returned.

Now they are urging other veterans to come forward and share their war stories.

Many Vietnam veterans are reluctant to talk about their experiences, given the political turmoil over the war that they encountered on arriving home. Chuck Hagel said he can understand the reluctance, but it's important for the public to understand through their stories the human element of war and its consequences.

As a senator, Hagel was an outspoken critic of President George W. Bush's handling of the war in Iraq. At Wednesday's event, he underscored the gravity of the decision by a nation's leaders to go to war.

"They are committing men and women to their deaths, to terrible injuries, to terrible tragedies, to terrible sorrow," Hagel said. "A society is changed forever when a nation goes to war. It is not a decision that can be, should be, ever be taken lightly."

Tom Hagel, a professor at the University of Dayton law school, said there are different "Vietnam Wars," depending on veterans' individual experiences. A clerk-typist in Saigon experienced a different war, for example, than the rifleman in the Demilitarized Zone.

As a senator, Chuck Hagel sponsored the legislation creating the Veterans History Project, which aims to show the human experience of war through first-person accounts of military service.

Librarian of Congress James Billington praised the Hagel brothers for their service and promoted the new campaign. Billington described the overall Veterans History Project as the most extensive oral history project in American history and noted that it already has collected more than 78,000 interviews.

The project is hoping to use the many events that will be held in the coming months to commemorate the 50th anniversary of heavy U.S. involvement in Vietnam to collect veterans' stories. Organizers are mindful that World War II veterans were already dying at a fast rate by the time efforts to preserve their stories really got going.

The recorded interviews and other materials aren't gathering dust on a shelf. Historical researchers already have been combing through the collections, which also are being digitized and made available online.

Information on how to submit materials to the project can be found at www.loc.gov/vets.

Contact the writer: 202-630-4823, joe.morton@owh.com

Published Dec 8, 2011
Published Thursday December 8, 2011
By Joseph Morton
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER