This month marks a painful anniversary. April 30 is the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, the final cap to the 20-year-old Vietnam War.
More than 58,000 Americans died during the eight years the United States had troops on the ground. One hundred fourteen of those deaths were young men from Ventura County.
An exhibition honoring county residents who served, and those who died, just opened at Cal State Channel Islands.
"You see images of them when they were 18, 20, 22 years old, doing different jobs in Vietnam. I want people to experience what these guys went through," said George Sandoval.
He put together the exhibition called We Remember: Ventura County to Vietnam and Back.
Sandoval was 20 years old when he was sent to Vietnam. He considers himself lucky, because he wasn’t on the front lines.
"I'm doing it for these guys here, the 114 guys, the young men killed in action in Vietnam. I just thought it's time to honor them," said Sandoval. "And, to also honor the guys who gave up their lives, but came back to a country which shunned them."
The exhibition includes the history of what led up to the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, with photos and memorabilia from those who served.
The most moving thing is a wall with photos of the Ventura County men who died in the war. Each photo includes a description of where they were from in Ventura County and a little bit of information about them.
"I know some of these guys. I look at them and say, 'my god, they are so young,'" said Sandoval. "And conversely, I say I survived."
Sandoval is an Ojai-based documentary filmmaker, and he’s produced some works about the county’s Vietnam veterans. He did a version of the exhibition with the Museum of Ventura County a few years ago. This new documentary is showing at Cal State Channel Islands’ John Spoor Broome Library.
"The experience of being a soldier is a shared experience. It's kind of a brotherhood or sisterhood. It brings those people together," said Monica Pereira, who is the Collections and Resource Management Librarian. She said they share the trauma of living through the experience.
"They didn't get to talk about their trauma when they came back," said Pereira. "They were called names. They were vilified, and it just didn't seem right...they went because their government told them to go. They didn't choose to go."
Sandoval said the exhibition is important because it remembers those who served and those who died. It also helps educate younger generations about the sacrifices that, in some cases, their grandparents and parents made for their country. He said telling this story now is important because age is catching up with the veterans, who are in their 70s and 80s.
"I was in the VA trying to get my hearing aids, and I saw guys who are Vietnam veterans my age, and they look pretty frail," said Sandoval. "So you know, our time is coming up pretty soon."
The exhibition, We Remember: Ventura County To Vietnam And Back, runs through May 30 at the library on the Cal State Channel Islands campus.
