Bitiranu Gi Geran Vietnam

The primary goal of this project is to record the unique experiences of CHamoru veterans of the Vietnam War from Guam; their stories; their perspectives; their experiences and their feelings about the conflict, its effect on their lives and the island of Guam. These interviews were conducted in CHamoru and English with the emphasis on CHamoru in order to elicit unique perspectives as well as assist in the study of the language of CHamoru.

 

These interviews were conducted by CHamoru language teachers who received training through the project to conduct respectful interviews, provide follow-up questions and pursue lines of inquiry as seemed appropriate.

 

In order to ensure sensitivity and accuracy, two veterans served as advisers. They are Retired Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Bill Cundiff and Retired USMC Colonel Danny Santos. Both are Vietnam War veterans themselves. Their role was to identify the veterans in collaboration with veteran organizations and their personal knowledge. The project also worked with the Vietnam Veterans of America – Guam Chapter and the Purple Heart Association. As much as possible, combat veterans were selected and their stories were recorded in interviews that varied between 30 minutes and two hours. There were stories of battlefield tragedy and heroism. Similarly, their lives subsequent to their Vietnam War experience were varied. The full range of their experiences and what it meant for them as individuals and for Guam were eloquently explained in their own words.

 

Questions and lines of inquiry were proposed and approved before the project was initiated with the assistance of the two advisers, and a CHamoru language expert. Preliminary training was provided via zoom by the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress.

 

The main vehicle for dissemination is through a website under Humanities Guåhan, an independent nonprofit organization affiliated with the National Endowment for the Humanities, and archiving protocols with two organizations:

 

The American Folklife Center, Veterans History Project (Library of Congress)

 

University of Hawai’i Keipuleohone Language Archive

 

Cooperative agreements will also be signed with the Kumision I Fino’ CHamoru and the University of Guam, Micronesian Area search Center for the archiving of materials and conducting the interviews.

 

Bitiranu gi Geran Vietnam hired social media developers who are esponsible for creating, maintaining and ensuring the dissemination were recorded in interviews that varied btwo hours. There were stories of battlefie Similarly, their lives subsequent to their V were varied. The full range of their experfor them as individuals and for Guam we their own words of information via the website and through a Facebook presence. The dignity of the informants will be maintained and accuracy of information posted beyond the interviews themselves will be ensured by close cooperation with the Project Director and Advisers. The website developer is GuamWebz and the Facebook developer is Thrive.

 

The project is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities through a Chairman’s grant awarded to Humanities Guåhan by Chairman Jon Parrish Peede as one of his last actions before he left office. It was proposed by Robert Underwood with the support of Kimberlee Kihleng, Executive Director of Humanities Guåhan. Additional funding was provided by the Education Stabilization Fund from the Office of Governor Lou Leon Guerrero.

 

---

 

Contact information

Robert Underwood, [email protected]

Kimberlee Kihleng, [email protected]

 

PROJECT PERSONNEL

Scroll the table left to right  

VIETNAM VETERANS

 

INTERVIEWERS/TRANSCRIBERS