The University of Texas at Arlington and legendary CBS News correspondent and Fort Worth native Bob Schieffer have partnered on a series of special campus events.
On Monday, Feb. 9, from 4 – 7 p.m., the UTA Libraries Special Collections will host a grand opening ceremony for Schieffer's exhibit, "Our Man in Viet Nam." The following evening, Feb. 10, at 7:30 p.m. at Texas Hall, Schieffer will reflect on his historic career as the featured guest for UTA's Maverick Speakers Series.
Currently open to the public, the "Our Man in Viet Nam" showcases Schieffer's collection of photographs, letters, notebooks, paintings and other materials from his time reporting from the front lines in Vietnam 60 years ago. He recently donated a trove of these materials to UTA Libraries Special Collections.
"I've come to believe that the most valuable gift we can pass on to the next generation is an accurate history," Schieffer said, commenting on the significance of this donation. "To understand our future, we must learn from our past."
The exhibit offers a glimpse into the experiences of soldiers serving in Vietnam from late 1965 through early 1966, as the conflict escalated into a large-scale American ground war. Photographs captured by Schieffer provide compelling insight into the daily lives of soldiers and raw depictions of pivotal military operations during the war.
As the Vietnam War began to accelerate in 1965, Schieffer was determined to convince his editor at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to send him overseas to bring readers an eyewitness account of the divisive conflict. It wasn't until Schieffer threatened to resign from the newspaper that editor Jack Butler agreed to send him in December 1965, making him one of the first correspondents from a major Texas newspaper to reach the country on the Indochina Peninsula.
Related: From the frontlines to the archives at UTA
Before Schieffer departed, the Star-Telegram encouraged readers to write to him while he was abroad, both to help locate loved ones serving overseas and to share updates with their families back home. Schieffer ultimately tracked down 235 soldiers deployed from Texas and interviewed dozens of them for the newspaper. He also navigated through Vietnam's dense jungles alongside notable journalists such as Peter Arnett, Horst Faas, George Esper and Eddie Adams.
When Schieffer takes the Maverick Speakers Series stage at Texas Hall, he will reflect on his career as a journalist with the Star-Telegram and later CBS News, including recounting his four months in Vietnam as a war correspondent.
Tickets to the Maverick Speakers Series are available at utatickets.com. The event is free for students, faculty and staff and $5 for members of the community.
