The Vietnam War was a proxy war in the middle of the Cold War that cost 58,000 American lives and left countless more emotional, social and political scars that are still with us today. For those who served in Vietnam and survived the trauma of it came home to a country that had also been torn apart by the political divide over the War.
The objective of this presentation is to provide an overview of the Vietnam War for the general public and to acknowledge the service and sacrifice of all of our veterans. A recommended reading list and handout will be provided, and there will be a question and answer session after the lecture.
Bennett Smith is an instructor in history and political science at North Iowa Area Community College. He is also an instructor in various lifelong learning programs including the NIACC lifelong Learning Institute; the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Iowa State University and the LIFE program at Rochester Community and Technical College in Rochester, Minnesota. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in speech communication and a Master of Arts degree in history from Iowa State University. He has also done graduate work at the University of Iowa in Social Foundations of Education. He is from Clear Lake, IA and currently serves on the Clear Lake City Council.
