Hidden Histories: The South Vietnamese Side of the Vietnam War

The Clark County Historical Museum Speaker Series continues at 7 p.m. April 6 with “Hidden Histories: The South Vietnamese Side of the Vietnam War” at 1511 Main St., Vancouver. Admission is free.

The Vietnam War is seen by much of the Western world as being fought between the Americans and North Vietnamese Communists, with the South Vietnamese largely absent. Yet many Vietnamese refugees who came to America after the war served in the South Vietnamese military, and there is little recognition and understanding of their contributions and role in the war. In fact, in American and Vietnamese Communist histories, the South Vietnamese are painted as corrupt, apathetic sidekicks to the Americans. How did the South Vietnamese military really experience the Vietnam War? Historian Julie Pham draws from interviews she conducted with 40 South Vietnamese military veterans in the United States, and illuminates how people can remember historical events differently.

Pham is the CEO of  CuriosityBased, a consulting practice focused on fostering curiosity in the workplace. Her family owns Northwest Vietnamese News. She published Their War: The Perspectives of the South Vietnamese Military in the Words of Veteran-Emigres in 2019. She earned her PhD in history from the University of Cambridge as a Gates Cambridge Scholar. For more information, contact the museum at 360-993-5679 or outreach@cchmuseum.org.