Past Exhibitions | Apr, 1 2014 9:00AM - Jul, 28 2013 5:00PM
The Texas Vietnam Heroes Exhibit is a personalized tribute by the Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument Committee to honor and remember each of the Texans who died in the Vietnam War, including the 105 Texans who remain Missing in Action. Every Texan who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam is individually represented on one of a pair of dog tags that includes his name, rank, branch of service, home of record and date of loss. Two blank tags have been added to represent those Texans known only to God who died in Vietnam. The 102 veterans who have been identified as Missing In Action are represented with black dog tags.
Artifact Highlights & Photos
Committee member Don Dorsey, a U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran of the Vietnam War, led the creation of this exhibit by hand embossing two sets of tags [6834] with the assistance of Marine Corps veteran James Hart. One set has been incorporated in The Texas Vietnam Heroes Exhibit in the Great Hall at the LBJ Library. The second set of tags has been encased in a vintage ammunition canister to be entombed inside the Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument, which will be dedicated on March 29, 2014. A reading of the names was held on March 24, 2013, in the LBJ Auditorium.
This exhibit has won two Crystal awards presented by the American Marketing Association of Houston—Best Special Event and Best Fixed Installation. The exhibit will be on display through July 28, 2013, before it is moved to San Antonio.
Did You Know...
Thousands of young men and women left the farms and ranches and cities and small towns of Texas to serve half a world away in the Vietnam War. Though there is no accurate statistic of the exact number of native Texans who served, today an estimated 500,000 Texas residents are Vietnam veterans. All of the 3417 Texans who died in service in the Vietnam War were men.
