The Vietnam War as Seen in the Improvement Era
In this post, Michael Robison frames the Vietnam era through the lens of the Improvement Era and lists significant articles published in the Church periodical during the war.
The United States got involved in the Vietnam conflict in the 1950s, but the major escalation in involvement occurred in the 1960s, especially after the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964. The last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam on March 29, 1973, and the official end of the war is marked by the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.
LDS soldiers were involved in the war from the start. Many were wounded and disabled. According to the website Military Factory, 589 Latter-day Saints died during the conflict (“Vietnam War Casualties [1955–1975],” militaryfactory.com).
The Improvement Era (commonly called the Era) began publication in November 1897 and ran until December 1970; thus, most of the Vietnam War occurred during the period of the Era’s existence. We find mention of the war in issues from 1961 through March 1970 in a variety of items: poems, articles by and about people who were serving in Vietnam, and talks from General Authorities and other leaders who visited the LDS soldiers in Vietnam. The Era can be a useful source of cultural insight into the attitudes and experiences of Church members who were touched by the war.
Here are some examples of what you can find in the library’s digitized collection:
- In the January 1961 issue (Era of Youth section, between pages 32 and 33), is an article titled “Armed Service Time,” by SP/4 Stephen L. Barrett. The author suggests ways to help military personnel during their term of duty. He highlights “proper usage of time,” learning “self-control” to avoid the many temptations they might encounter, and “proper choice of associates,” emphasizing that “there are all kinds of people to associate with and his [the soldier’s] choice here can make a difference all the rest of his life.”
- There are also examples of correspondence from soldiers in Vietnam. One can be found in the September 1966 issue (page 758)—a letter titled “From Viet Nam,” from 1st Lt. Richard G. Miles, thanking the magazine for its coverage of the Church in Polynesia. Another is in the November 1966 issue titled “A Letter from Viet Nam,” from Brent C. LeBaron (page 963), expressing gratitude for a subscription to the Era.
- From the March 1968 issue, we find a poem titled “Soul Survivor,” by John Blosser (page 53), narrating a harrowing personal experience.
- The August 1967 issue (pages 12–16) narrates an uplifting story about the successful rescue of a downed pilot, Lt. Col. Wayne Myers, by Maj. Bernard F. Fisher, an LDS pilot born in San Bernardino, California, and raised in Clearfield, Utah. Maj. Fisher was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroics.
- In the August 1969 issue of the Era (page 46), we have an article by Chaplain Joseph F. McConkie (son of Elder Bruce R. McConkie) titled “I Saw Courage.”
- Several General Authorities and other Church leaders visited Vietnam and spoke about their experiences in the Era. In the December 1966 issue, we find a talk by Elder Gordon B. Hinckley that was originally given in the October 1966 General Conference titled “Appreciation for Our Men in Military Service” (pages 1121–1123). And in the June 1968 issue, we find an important talk given by Elder Hinckley in the April 1968 General Conference titled “A Silver Thread in the Dark Tapestry of War” (pages 48–50). Elder Hinckley expresses hope that something positive might come from the “unspeakable tragedy” of the war.
- The May 1967 issue carries a tragic story titled “Greater Love Hath No Man,” by Elder Marion D. Hanks (pages 46–47). It tells the story of Capt. Stephen A. Childers, who died fighting in Vietnam.
- In the October 1968 general conference, Bishop Victor L. Brown gave a talk published in the December 1968 issue (pages 97–99) of the Improvement Era titled “With the Servicemen in Vietnam.”
One frequent contributor to the Era, Dr. G. Homer Durham, wrote several articles about the war and the social problems it caused back in the United States. It is mainly in his articles that we get an inkling of the conflicts and turmoil that were going on in the United States during this period—things like race riots, political riots, and the increasing protests by college students of the war. Dr. Durham was the president of Arizona State University from 1960 to 1969 and then served as the first commissioner and executive officer of the Utah System of Higher Education. Later he became a General Authority.
- In the August 1964 issue (pages 630–632, 687), he wrote an article titled “Some American History and the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” which deals with the sensitive issues of race and civil rights. Racial issues were not only a major problem in the United States, but racial problems also existed among the troops in Vietnam. Racial conflicts became more and more pronounced as the war went on (for example, see the excellent discussion in Gerald F. Goodwin, “Black and White in Vietnam,” New York Times, July 18, 2017).
- In the January 1967 issue (pages 66–67), in an article titled “The American Presence in Asia,” Dr. Durham discusses American military bases in Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Guam, Taiwan, and Vietnam and contrasts how America’s fighting in the Korean War differed from the problems faced in Vietnam.
- In the August 1967 issue (pages 76–79), in an article titled “War, Peace, Congress, and the U. S. Constitution,” Dr. Durham discusses the fact that the Vietnam War was not authorized by the U.S. Constitution.
- In another article from Dr. Durham, from January 1968 (pages 85–86), he quotes the opinion of General Omar N. Bradley, a highly regarded World War II general, on the Vietnam War. General Bradley stated that the Vietnam War was “a war at the right place, at the right time and with the right enemy—the Communists.”
- In an article from the April 1968 issue titled “Civil Disobedience and the Destruction of Freedom” (page 87), Dr. Durham discusses the conflicts caused in the United States by protestors as they made their voices heard about civil rights and the Vietnam War.
- Dr. Durham discusses the difficulty of “Ending the War in Vietnam” in the July 1968 issue (pages 68–71) and points out some of the political realities that impeded South Vietnam from prevailing against the North Vietnamese.
The Improvement Era ceased in December 1970, before the Vietnam War came to its end. After the war’s end, R. Lanier Britsch and Richard C. Holloman Jr. wrote an excellent overview of the Church in Vietnam up to 1980. It was published in the August 1980 Ensign, titled “The Church’s Years in Vietnam.”