Upcoming MSU Libraries exhibit examines school’s role in Vietnam War

In the early to mid-‘60s, most young men couldn’t find Vietnam on a map, despite the ramped-up coverage of the war on the nightly network news.

The vast majority of males paraded to post offices in their hometowns on their 18th birthdays to register for the draft and receive a little white card indicating draft status, which they were required to carry in their wallets. But reality arrived in late November and early December 1966: Every male of draft age was required to stand for a pre-induction draft physical. In a concise letter, they were ordered to report to a public building in their hometowns and then board a bus to a military induction center.

In short order, most Michigan men found themselves standing in their underwear at Fort Wayne in Detroit. There, stiff-backed military members in uniform were happy to show them where Vietnam was. Many of those young men left Fort Wayne on a different bus — one going to a boot camp. Six months later, they would be boots on the ground in Vietnam. It was a sobering time that made the war feel more real.

Michigan State University Libraries’ Special Collections and Archives will soon mount an exhibit on the Vietnam War and its influence on campus in the 1960s. Located on the ground floor of the Main Library, it opens June 9 and will run through early fall.

According to Leslie Van Veen McRoberts, head of Special Collections, the exhibit will shine a light on the role MSU played in Vietnam and on the world stage from the 1950s through the 1960s. Perhaps the most notable topic covered will be the history of what was called the MSU Group, which provided technical assistance to the government of South Vietnam, including training the “white mice,” South Vietnam’s national police force.

In principle, the advisory group seemed like a good idea. Of course, there are always caveats. In this case, the group was funded by the CIA.

MSU Archives has more than 80,000 documents relating to the MSU Group, providing one of the most comprehensive looks at this aspect of the war.

The group went on for nearly a decade under the direction of MSU Professor Wesley Fishel, who on paper appeared to be a mild-mannered educator, except for the fact that he was a good friend of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem.

MSU’s role in the war became a public embarrassment for the university when it was revealed in a 12-page cover story in the alternative magazine Ramparts. An illustration of Madame Nhu, Diem’s sister-in-law, in a faux MSU cheerleader uniform was displayed on the cover. A copy of the magazine will be on exhibit, along with two letters written by Ho Chi Minh, the president of North Vietnam.

The exhibit will also consider some of the antiwar culture that developed at MSU in the 1960s, including the Students for a Democratic Society chapter and the rich underground newspapers that proliferated on campus.

McRoberts said the exhibit “looks at the Vietnam War from all sides,” with a focus on its ties to the MSU campus and to the popular culture of the era, such as movies, comic books and music.

McRoberts worked closely with MSU history Professor Charles Keith, who was responsible for compiling the online MSU Group database. Interestingly, both scholars have visited Vietnam, and they both lamented that the one thing missing from the exhibit is first-person stories from students of that era. MSU Special Collections and Archives are interested in collecting scrapbooks and other materials of that era from former students.

Keith, who periodically teaches classes on the Vietnam War, said, “Students today know very little about the war and come in without any preconceptions, which is a good thing.”

For a primer on MSU’s role in Vietnam, I recommend reading John Ernst’s “Forging a Fateful Alliance: Michigan State University and the Vietnam War” or Graham Greene’s “The Quiet American.”