Americans continue to grapple with the history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Each generation interprets and then reinterprets the war: its meaning, lessons, and how it should be remembered.
This section of the website helps viewers recognize and reflect upon the U.S. veterans’ experience, without debating the rightness or wrongness of the war. Instead, the features here offer a more personal engagement with veterans’ stories and provide some historical foundation to better understand their experiences.
While the History and Legacy Branch cannot include every detail or individual experience, it gives viewers a glimpse of the complexity of that historical era—the choices facing people who lived through it and how they understood and approached difficult situations. Additional suggested resources also encourage visitors to investigate and discuss these topics beyond what is provided here. Please listen to the veterans’ stories, and consider what they tell us about the experience of war.