The End of the War in Việt Nam: Reflection, Recovery, Reconciliation 11.11.2025
Tuesday, November 11, 4-6:30pm
Flatirons Room, Center for Community (C4C)
4pm Reception
5:00pm, Introductory remarks
5:10 - 6:30pm, presentations followed by Q&A
Featuring:
Dr. Kelly Denton-Borhaug, Professor of Global Religions, Moravia University. Preliminary title: Reflections on Moral Injury and U. S War Culture
Mr. Chuck Searcy, Vietnam veteran and founder of Project Renew. Preliminary title: Recovery from War: Removal of Unexploded Ordnance and Mitigation of Agent Orange Poisoning
Ms. Erin Steinhauer, Founder and President of the Vietnam Society. Preliminary title: Paths to Reconciliation and Healing
Linda J. Yarr, Research Affiliate of the Center for Asian Studies and director of PISA, will serve as moderator.
April 30th marked the 50th anniversary of the end of the war in Việt Nam. In Việt Nam, the day was one of celebration, featuring an elaborate parade among other events. In the United States, reactions were mixed: relief, shame, gratitude for improved relations between the two countries, and perhaps confusion over the meaning of the war.
This program will prompt us to consider reflect on the impact that war has on soldiers, even in the absence of physical wounds or outwardly manifest psychic pain. In her 2021 book, And Then Your Soul is Gone: Moral Injury and U. S. War-Culture, Dr. Kelly Denton-Borhaug, Professor of Global Religions, Moravia University, writes, “…moral injury results from participation in the moral distortion of the world that is created by war (pp6-7). She will help us understand how the effects of war endure over time in the hearts and minds of veterans.
The people of Việt Nam continue to cope with the lasting environmental, health and emotional effects of the war. This includes the search for remains of missing relatives, the need to clean up the environment from the toxic chemicals sprayed to reduce tree cover, and not least the task of removing tons of unexploded ordnance that litter the land and pose a continual danger to farmers and children. Mr. Chuck Searcy, a veteran of the Vietnam War will share his thoughts on one path to recovery. After the war, Searcy returned to Vietnam and witnessed the damage unexploded bombs and shells were wreaking on the population and vowed to help. He founded the organization Project Renew to teach Vietnamese how to safely uncover and disarm or detonate these silent killers and to educate villagers and children to stay away from them and alert project staff. He will present an update on the work of Project Renew and its impact on the population.
The issue of post-war reconciliation is complex. Competing memories and narratives, serve to divide veterans from both sides of the war whether in the United States or in Vietnam and successive generations bear intergenerational burdens of incomplete understanding. Ms. Erin Steinhauer has chosen to grapple with the need to promote reconciliation among those marked by the war by founding the Vietnam Society. The Society fosters reconciliation through the arts and culture as a way to encourage conversation and healing.
Free and Open to the Public