On Dec. 17, and again on Jan. 13-14, the Rockbridge Historical Society will be sharing Vietnam-themed selections for its paired VA250 initiatives – “Revolutionary Films” and “Revolutionary Books.”
To complement with this past Sunday’s “Vietnam Veterans Roundtable,” these programs and dialogues will continue to advance the community engagement and contributions that wrap RHS-VA250 commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the war’s end in 1975.
On Dec. 17, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Rockbridge Regional Library in Lexington, are residents are invited to view - or review in new lights - the 1968 episode of Ken Burns’ 2017 documentary, “The Vietnam War.” Halfway through the 90-minute screening (and again at the end, for final shared reflections), the RHS will pause for discussions of Burns’ portrayal of that remarkable year in American history, with its key turning points in Southeast Asia and on the homefront: from the Jan. 31 Tet Offensive, a crescendo of homefront protests on college campuses and political campaigns, the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy to the civic riots and devastation that ensued.
The RHS series’ capstone will come at the turn of our nation’s semiquincentennial year, in 2026. While no long-term commitments are expected, the Revolutionary Reading Group, 1776-2026, will gather again at the Lexington library on Tuesday, Jan. 13, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. to discuss two classic literary selections, fictional and non-fictional along.
First, is Tim O’Brien’s short story collection, “The Things They Carried” (Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1990), based on his own experience as an infantryman serving “in-country” from 1969 to 1970. O’Brien’s loosely fictionalized reflections will be counterpointed with the catalyzing speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” that Dr. King delivered in Manhattan’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967 -- exactly one year before he was killed in Memphis.
On Wednesday, Jan. 14, from 6 to 8 p.m., again at the Lexington library, a final screening will close the cinematic lens of Vietnam, with a feature film to be chosen from recommendations made at the Dec. 17 gathering, or emailed to [email protected].
This weekend, area residents can also attend a closing reception at the RHS Museum on Saturday, Dec. 13, for a final chance to see the statewide traveling exhibit, locally loaned artifacts, and oral histories kiosk centered around “Virginia & The Vietnam War.” The reception will run from noon to 4 p.m. at the museum at 101 E. Washington St.
During the week through Thursday, are residents can also view core elements of that exhibit and its 10 richly illustrated interpretive banners in the main room of the Lexington library.
As RHS and VA250 extend the local commemorative window of the celebrations of American independence in 1776 and the creation of Lexington and Rockbridge County in 1778, area residents are invited to contact the RHS executive director, Eric Wilson, at [email protected] to discuss recording oral histories that chronicle their families’ or their own experiences in the 1970s, adding to RHS’ longstanding archive of local history. Those shorter or longer interviews might variously center around the Vietnam War, America’s continued Civil Rights freedom struggle and local desegregation, or personal memories of the 1976 Bicentennial, to set the stage for RHS’ special open mic program on July 4, 2026: “Where were you during the 1976 Bicentennial?”
