Cantigny exhibit marks 50th anniversary of 1st Division in Vietnam War
Visitors at Cantigny Park's First Division Museum this weekend will get a chance to step back in time to the late 1960s during an event marking the opening of a new Vietnam exhibit.
"Five Years in the Jungle: Vietnam Experiences of the 1st Infantry Division 1965-1970" opens Saturday, May 16, in Wheaton and runs through Nov. 1. Curator Bill Brewster said it marks the beginning of the 50th anniversary of the First Division's role in the combat.
No matter what people's feelings are on Vietnam, Brewster said, it was "a war between what we viewed as a Democratic government in South Vietnam and a Communist government."
The enemy that the U.S. fought, he added, was the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong, the Communist force in the South.
"I don't know how much of that folks really know," he said. "We're hoping that people will come and have a little bit more of an understanding of what the war in Vietnam is about."
The exhibit is, in part, a re-creation of a "museum" the Army set up in Vietnam in 1967.
"The division felt that as the soldiers arrived, they still weren't necessarily familiar with the enemy they would be facing," Brewster said.
So, one of the brigades opened the museum and filled it with clothing the enemy wore, examples of booby traps they might set, weapons they used and flags and propaganda they left behind at battle sites.
New First Division soldiers who arrived in Vietnam were required to go through the museum as part of their training, to better understand life in the jungle and who they were fighting, Brewster said.
To celebrate the exhibit's opening, there will be a day filled with music, food and entertainment to give guests insight into the time period.
Starting at 1 p.m. Saturday, performers from the Old Town School of Folk Music will recreate a song circle and talk about songs that were inspired by the war.
From 1 to 4 p.m., Friends of Scales Reptile Rescue will make a presentation about reptiles and amphibians soldiers may have encountered in Vietnam's jungles.
At night, a street vendor will be set up at the entrance to the tank park, serving Vietnamese barbecue pulled pork, pork and vegetable pho and Asian slaw. An outdoor concert with the SHiNDiG!, a rock band that covers music from the Vietnam era, will begin at 7 p.m.
"We thought we'd try to support it with a little more of a '60s environment and feel," Brewster said.
There are an estimated 200 artifacts on display in the exhibit, including uniforms, weapons, flags, propaganda and other materials. Much of it, Brewster said, came from captured Viet Cong and North Vietnamese fighters and was donated to the museum by First Division veterans.
Quotes from some of those veterans are used to explain several artifacts, such as a helmet with a bullet hole through it.
The exhibit also includes a timeline highlighting important events during the war, enlarged photos that portray various environments the First Division fought in and an interactive display that allows visitors to listen to music from the '60s and create their own playlists.
A large map covers almost half the floor in the gallery space, focusing on the 11,000 square miles near the South Vietnamese capital that the First Division was in charge of protecting.
Brewster said the exhibit is unique to the museum because unlike others that have been on display in the past, it focuses solely on one conflict.
"You see a lot about World War I and World War II," he said. "Generally, you don't see a lot about Vietnam, so I think it would just be interesting for the public to get some exposure to this conflict."
If you go
What: "Five Years in the Jungle: Vietnam Experiences of the 1st Infantry Division 1965-1970"
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday; exhibit opens Saturday, May 16, and runs through Nov. 1
Where: First Division Museum at Cantigny, 1S151 Winfield Road, Wheaton
Cost: Free admission; $5 parking
Info: firstdivisionmuseum.org or (630) 260-8185