Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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Local Galleries and Museum Participate in Heroes Homecoming: Honoring Those Who Served in Vietnam by SONI MARTIN Heroes Homecoming events are Fayetteville's way of officially honoring all those who served in Vietnam, their families and native born Vietnamese in the region. After a year of plan- ning, the opening ceremony begins 10 a.m. at the amphitheater in the North Carolina Veteran's Park, Friday, Nov. 4. The following nine days leading up to Veterans Day 2011 include more than 66 events that focus on many aspects of the Vietnam War — facts, perceptions, interpretations and experiences from the Vietnam War era. According to the Heroes Homecoming website, the mission of the 10-day event is "a continuing effort to finally put the city of Fayetteville's stigma associated with the unpopular Vietnam War to rest and create healing among the Vietnam veteran com- munity. Heroes Homecoming will celebrate the city's history and cultural diversity, while promoting an atmosphere of appre- Photo courtesy of the Texas Tech University Vietnam Center and Archive. ciation; giving thanks to those who fought for us in the conflict." In short, "Heroes Homecoming was created to give Vietnam veterans the welcome home they never received, but so greatly deserve, and to show them that we remember and appreciate their courage, sacrifice and everything they've done to defend our freedom." By the time the 10 a.m. opening ceremony begins Cumberland County high school students will have already begun interviewing veterans on their experiences in Vietnam. The experiences will be archived in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Businesses in downtown Fayetteville will have a chronological history of the events in their store windows. The Heroes Crusade Charity Golf Tournament at Cypress lakes Golf Course will have started (all proceeds go benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, Green Beret Foundation and RDU AMBUCS.) Prior to the opening ceremony in November, two galleries in downtown Fayetteville will have already opened their Heroes Homing exhibitions at 4th Friday in October — the Cape Fear Studios and the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County. Chris Kastner and Ellen Brooks planned and spearheaded a city- wide exhibition project that involves local galleries and the Museum of the Cape Fear. Cape Fear Studios opened a selection of photographs by Vietnam Veterans about their experiences in Vietnam titled Those Who Served: Family. The Arts Council opened their exhibit titled Witness: The American Vietnam Experience Told Firsthand through Images and Stories of Local Vietnam Veterans, Native Born Vietnamese, and the Texas Tech University's Vietnam Center and Archive. A combination of photographs and text panels by five local Vietnam veterans is in the Grand Hall and a small display case of Montagnard collectibles. In the West Gallery of the Arts Council is the exhibit of artifacts from Texas Tech University's Vietnam Center and Archives. The exhibit includes bedding from the USNS General John Pope Collection (Vietnam Graffiti Project), photographs by combat photographer Bryan Grigsby (DASPO - Department of the Army Special Photographic Office), two pencil drawings from Texas Tech, and videos from the Howard Breedlove Collection (DASPO). Ellen Brooks and FSU art professor Shane Booth selected the photo- graphs for the Grand Hall at the Arts Council; Calvin Mims coordinated the exhibit in the West Gallery from Texas Tech University's Vietnam Center. Booth shared his thoughts with me about the whole project after he and Ellen Brooks had selected 130 images, from over a thousand, for the exhib- its. He stated, "Each print was scanned and framed for the exhibit. We kept the colors muted due to the subject matter; but we didn't fix the bumps and 18 UCW NOVEMBER 2-8, 2011 cracks in the photo. It's been a long pro- cess, yet it's been an educational one for me — coming from a generation that knows very little about the Vietnam War. I learned from the photos and talking to some of the veterans. I was able to hear a side of the war, and see a real human side of the war, not a Hollywood version. One of my favor- ite photos is one of the veterans writing a letter home at Christmas surrounded by images of his wife and family." After helping Brooks, then printing and framing all the work for the Cape Fear Studios and the Grand Hall at the Arts Council, Booth also curated a Heroes Homecoming exhibit at the Rosenthal Gallery on the campus of Fayetteville State University titled DOCUMENTED: Photographs by Vietnam War Veterans. The exhibit opens Nov. 4, 2011 and is the third art gallery to host photographs by Vietnam veterans. Booth is looking forward to visitors see- ing DOCUMENTED: especially students at FSU, hopefully many students in Cumberland County if possible. He stated, "There is one photograph in par- ticular I would like visitors at Rosenthal Gallery so see. Soldiers call it 'the stare — the thousand mile stare.' A look someone has after coming in from combat; one photo in the Rosenthal exhibit captures 'the stare' and it haunts me. It captures the time of processing what they had just experienced." Ellen Brooks, from Cape Fear Studios, gave me more insight into the process of selecting the photos and her sentiments after the whole experi- ence. "The Vietnam War photography exhibit has been a collaborative effort between Cape Fear Studios, Museum of the Cape Fear, and Shane Booth at FSU. We started with a call to veterans for photos, and began interview- ing veterans last year. Most of the interviewing was done by David Reid at Museum of Cape Fear and me." Brooks continued, "The vision of the exhibits is to tell the stories of those who served … in their words, through their photographs, through their current emotions and reflections. It has been a powerful, emotional journey for all of us involved. The Vietnam War, like all wars I suppose, transforms those who serve directly and those who are the observers. This project, for me personally, has reminded me of the terribly great losses and terribly great honor connected with the act of war. These veterans and their stories reflect both the sacrifice and the nobility possible in human beings." Chris Kastner, executive director of the Cape Fear Studios, also assisted on the project. After hanging the Cape Fear Studios exhibit she reflected on her experiences of the project. "For me personally, the daughter of a Vietnam vet, this project has helped me understand and appreciate all that my father and his peers went through, the climate of the country during this time, and the hard feelings that remained for so many years." Before the 10 days are over, there are going to be many stories and rev- elations that take place in presentations, theaters, galleries and round-table discussions. The Museum of the Cape Fear is featuring an exhibit titled Voices from the Vietnam War. Truth and Consequences will be performed at the Gilbert Theater; the Cameo Theater is hosting special events — the list of venues is more than I can mention here. There are just too many insightful and informative events across Fayetteville and Fort Bragg to begin to touch upon in this article. There is something for everyone, no matter what age. To know what is planned for those 10 days, simply visit the Heroes Homecoming website and print all the planned events, dates and locations, visit www.heroeshomecoming.com. SONI MARTIN, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM