Vietnam War 1945-1975: Exhibit on display at WWI Museum & Memorial

More than 40 years after its conclusion, the Vietnam War remains one of the most controversial events of the 20th century. 
How did the conflict begin? Why did it begin? 

Some of the answers can be found in the exhibit "The Vietnam War: 1945-1975" currently on display at The National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, MO. 
The exhibit explores themes of patriotism, division, and duty through stunning photographs, a troopship berthing unit, vibrant anti-war posters, artwork by Vietnam vets, a Viet Cong bicycle, the Pentagon Papers, and historical film footage. 

The exhibit also conveys the WWI connection and historical significance of a young man named Nguyễn Sinh Cung, who requested meetings with world leaders at the Paris peace talks in 1919.  "Desperate to free his country, known then as Indochina, from France, he was rejected," explained museum Senior Curator Doran Cart." He would eventually return home and forge alliances with Communist-leaning leaders and rename himself Ho Chi Minh- a name that is forever etched in the memory of those who fought in Vietnam.

"There's no such thing as history repeating itself, it just never ends," said Cart. "It continues on because of the spaces left in the things that have gone before."

This remarkable collection from the New-York Historical Society honors all Vietnam veterans and will be on display in the Wylie Gallery through May 31, 2020.

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