At each university exhibit venue, in cooperation with the local chapter of Veterans For Peace, we offer a prize for the best student essay addressing the theme, "What the Waging Peace in Vietnam exhibit means to me, and its lessons for today."
San Diego State University
From left- Professor Greg Daddis, Charles Ballwan, Contest Winner Molly Scheid, Isabella Canale, Kyra Honey, and SDVFP President Jim Brown
Guest Judge: Craig McNamara, author of Because Our Fathers Lied: A Memoir of Truth and Family from Vietnam to Today. Craig is the son of the late Robert S. McNamara, Vietnam War-era U.S. Secretary of Defense.
Molly Scheid won the top prize. She wrote:
“The tragedies in our world can feel overwhelming at times. Police brutality in the U.S., endless war in the Middle East, humanitarian crises ravaging Yemen, are all constantly claiming innocent lives.
Hearts that weren’t ready to stop beating.
Minds that weren’t ready to stop thinking.
Souls that weren’t ready to stop wandering.
”
Read Molly's full essay here.
University of San Diego
From left- Abigail Stallard, Contest Winner Samuel Longo, John Falchi, Xela Sarmiento, SDVFP President Jim Brown, Le Ly Haslip, Professor Kathryn Statler and Samantha Lopez-Diez
Guest Judge: Le Ly Hayslip, author of When Heaven and Earth Change Places.
Samuel Longo won the top prize. He wrote:
“As someone two months away from commissioning as an officer in the U.S. military, learning about My Lai has had a major impact on me.... History will remember that the U.S. Army carried out the My Lai massacre much longer than it will remember the name of Lt. William Calley.”
Read Samuel's full essay here.
University of San Francisco
From left- Jim Aldrich, Treasurer, San Francisco Veterans For Peace Chapter 69, Contest Winner Tiffany Trumble, and Craig McNamara, author.
Guest Judge: Craig McNamara, author of Because Our Fathers Lied: A Memoir of Truth and Family from Vietnam to Today. Craig is the son of the late Robert S. McNamara, Vietnam War-era U.S. Secretary of Defense.
Tiffany Trumble won the top prize. She wrote:
“The government, a most talented organization promoting violence and propaganda, does one thing particularly well: indoctrination....I spent seven years in the U.S. Army, and I am ashamed to admit I glorified the fight of America against “all enemies, both foreign and domestic.” ”
Read Tiffany's full essay here.