By MICHELLE JAMES
The Register-Herald
BECKLELY, W.Va. — It’s been 42 years since the fall of Saigon, but the stories of those who served in Vietnam are often still untold.
Inspired by the upcoming PBS documentary “The Vietnam War” by award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, West Virginia Public Broadcasting will air its own special featuring Mountain State veterans on Sept. 14.
Producer Suzanne Higgins said “Vietnam: West Virginians Remember” is important, as, per capita, more West Virginians served and died Vietnam than any other state.
“We had to give them a voice,” she said. “We needed to honor their service. They were not really given the honor and respect when they returned, and a lot of them have suffered for it. The film really focuses on their experiences and how those experiences shaped their lives.”
The hour-long documentary focuses on five veterans from throughout West Virginia.
Higgins said she didn’t seek anyone with any particular point of view or experience, as she didn’t feel that was fair. She simply sought men willing to share their stories, whatever they might be.
And it wasn’t an easy task, as she said it was her second attempt at completing such a project.
“I tried to do this for public radio a couple years ago and no one would talk to me about it,” she said. “No one would go on the record. It’s only been in the last couple years that we’re hearing more first-person accounts of Vietnam veterans.”
Higgins attributes some of the hesitation to the stigma associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and what she said is the shame, anger and sometimes trouble adjusting to life after the war.
“PTSD wasn’t even recognized as a real condition that needed specialized treatment until the 1980s,” she said. “They came back in the mid-1960s, late ’60s and really, really suffered.”
She said she believes it’s important to preserve these stories of both their time in Vietnam and of their experiences and struggles after the war.
“I think it’s something to read about a war in a history book and it’s something else to sit down and talk with someone who was part of it,” she said. “Those are just really important first-person world histories that we need to preserve.
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Special screenings, open to the public, of “Vietnam: West Virginians Remember” are scheduled throughout the state and Vietnam veterans particularly are invited to attend.
Locally, the film will be shown at Tamarack, Sunday at 6 p.m. and Monday at the Shady Spring library at 11 a.m.
The film will premiere on PBS Sept. 14 at 8 p.m.
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