For the first time, Vietnam Army veteran Col. Miguel Monteverde was asked to recount his story of the war on March 29.
After Monteverde was sent to Vietnam at 25-years-old, he hadn’t looked back at his past in a long time and taken the time to recount his memories. But when the National Museum of the United States Army asked him to tell his story, he didn’t think twice about doing it.
“I don’t think I’m alone in never being asked about my story,” said Monteverde, who serves as a volunteer at the museum. “I think this event was the first time other Vietnam veterans were asked as well.”
The National Museum of the United States Army, located in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, hosted a day-long showcase in March with museum volunteers who served in the Vietnam War to mark National Vietnam War Veterans Day.
Other volunteers alongside Monteverde who were featured at the event included Tammy Call who is an Army veteran and daughter of a Vietnam veteran and Army Vietnam veteran Lt. Gen. Roger Schultz.
Monteverde said because the war was not popular during its time, Vietnam vets were not sought out to tell what they did there and how they were affected.
“So this event was important to me,” he said. “At that time, I had no geopolitical view and was just focusing on my job as an artillery battery commander.”
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His job consisted of taking care of hundreds of soldiers as part of the 101st Airborne Division.
“I was proud to be serving with that division,” he said. “Being in the thick of things, he focused on getting the job done, and done right.”
Even though his division was attacked more than once, when it was all over, Monteverde was happy to have gotten all his troops out in one piece.
Thinking back to the entirety of the war, he was aware of many people’s thoughts on the war.
“I recognize that it was a little bit unfortunate that Vietnam vets weren’t received more positively, but I didn’t focus on that,” he said. “We look at soldiers from WWI, WWII and the civil war with admiration and respect and I’m not sure the soldiers who fought in Vietnam have been accorded that same status.”
Being a speaker at the National Museum of the United States Army event was an honor to Monteverde.
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“The Army is the soldiers who make it up and the museum tells that story,” he said. “The museum is a tribute revolution to the soldiers who put on a uniform even to this pressing day and I wanted to be a part of that.”
The National Museum of the United States Army, which is owned by the Army, provides the only comprehensive portrayal of Army history and traditions through the eyes of the American Soldier. By preserving, interpreting, and exhibiting invaluable artifacts, the National Army Museum creates learning opportunities for all visitors and bonds the American people to their oldest military service.
At the March event, speakers had the opportunity to display personal objects to help tell their stories. Monteverde brought water buffalo horns to show, which are native to southeast Asia and therefore were symbolic of Vietnam.
It was a present his soldiers gave him when he left his command. On it, it contained a plaque that thanked him for the time he served and for being a defender of the A Shau Valley.
“I am proud of these water buffalo horns, although my spouse of 56 years still won’t let me put them up over the fireplace,” he said.
The March 29 event was the first time Monteverde really had a chance to display them. But along with having the opportunity to display his items, he also was able to look around the museum and see all the equipment he once used during the war.
“It amuses me enormously to look around at age 78 and see that all the equipment that I had at the time are all artifacts in the museum,” he said. “I look at myself in the mirror and say, ‘you’re a walking artifact!’”
Susan Smullen, the Public Affairs Officer for the museum, said that every year, the museum will recognize Vietnam veterans.
“We have the opportunity to have veteran volunteers here and we want to tell the Army’s history through veterans’ stories,” she said. “It gives them the opportunity to give personal accounts and I hope it continues to be very meaningful and powerful.”
This is the first time the National Museum of the United States has held this event.
The museum was set to open in June 2019, but due to COVID, the opening was delayed. It opened on Veterans Day 2021 and was only open for around three weeks until it closed temporarily. It opened for good on June 14, 2021.
“Having those three volunteers be able to tell their story at this event is the type of thing we plan to continue to do long into the future,” she said.
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