Place. Mark bowden will join the discussion. He is the author of hue 1968. We are live. Welcome. Im peter prichard, chair of the museum, and we are here tonight oakmark the opening to mark our opening of our latest exhibit. This is almost the 50th anniversary of the tet offensive, which, if you are a millennial, i will explain it to you, was a coordinated offensive by viet cong and north vietnamese troops on more than 100 towns, cities and american and south vietnamese military facilities. It began on the night of january 30th, 1968. And i remember it well, because i was an intelligence clerk with mac fee at the time. Our exhibit showcases the work of john olson, who, like me, was a young army draftee. John was a photographer for Stars Stripes, the militarys daily newspaper. And he spent three days in february with the marines as they took back the city of hue, in what turned out to be the bloodiest battle of the vietnam war. This innovative exhibit features 20 large format photographs and 10 tactile versions of these photos with touch activated sensors that trigger interviews. This enables blind and lowvision visitors to experience the images through touch and sound, and the newseum is the first museum in the United States to host a major tactile exhibit designed for these visitors. [applause] and you can really thank john olson for that, because it was his idea. Each and every day at the newseum, we highlight the risks journalists around the world take to report the truth. John certainly put his life and work at risk, taking these pictures. So this exhibit is another apt example of what journalists are willing to do to bring the world the news. Our mission at the newseum is to help the public and the media better understand one another, which is certainly needed in todays society. And to educate visitors about the value of free and fair press and the five freedoms of the First Amendment. Since we opened our doors here on pennsylvania avenue nearly 10 years ago, we welcomed more than 7 million visitors and our Digital Education programs reached 10 Million Students around the world every year. I would like to take a moment to thank all of our visitors, our newseum members and friends of the First Amendment society to help make these programs possible. This exhibit was a partnership with Stars Stripes, distinguished newspaper which i tried every day to read when i was in vietnam. 3d photo works, which converts 2d images into 3d tactile and tactile objects, and we also received important support from nikkon and the National Federation of the blind. Along with john, our panel tonight features three veterans who all fought in the battle of hue and are featured in the exhibit. A. B. Grantham, myron harrington, and brian thompson. Robert thompson. Our moderator is the bestselling author mark bowden, whose latest book is hue 1968 a turning point of the american war in vietnam. Now, i would like to take a moment to acknowledge everyone in the audience who served in the vietnam war. T was it was a difficult, unpopular, and divisive war and no one emerged completely unscarred. First, i understand there are other veterans of the battle of hue in the audience. Would you please stand up . [applause] and now would all the veterans of the vietnam war please stand up . Ill just raise my hand. [applause] host thank you thank you, that was a quite different reception than what we got back in 1969. Before we get to our other speakers, we would like to present some of the audio clips that are in the exhibit, which highlight the stories of three of our vietnam veteran panelists. Would you please roll the audio clips . The goal of every marine officer is to lead marines in combat and i felt compelled that i had to do that. We moved into the citadel probably late on the afternoon of the 14th. It was just absolutely utter devastation, burnt out trucks and bodies on the road, the stench of death was there all the time. And that night at our briefing, major thompson turned to me and he said, tomorrow, Delta Company will take the tower. He didnt say try to, well give it an effort or whatever. He said tomorrow, Delta Company will take the tower and i said ayeaye, sir. Well do it. Before we moved out in the attack, i went off and basically gave up my life, saying i dont know how im going to make it through this and i just asked that i not let my marines down and that i do the best that i could do. As we were mounting the assault, sergeant toms joined us and brought about 10 or 12 marines. That gave us the impetus that we were able to get up on to the wall and pushed through and take the tower. I went into the hue city battle with approximately 120 marines, when we attacked the tower we suffered 40 casualties. The end of the battle, there were 39 of us that were still standing, made it through unscathed. I was the Battalion Commander of the first battalion, saw about six marines being hit. Went down. And my shotgun, a young marine, he was my man friday. He was responsible for being my messenger, my bodyguard and any way he could help me. The one i had before was killed the day before, who was like a son. Well this new kid, goodlooking young man, he grabbed me and threw me on the deck and covered my body with his. And after, i asked him i said, son, why did you do that . Why did you throw me down and cover me with your body . He said, sir, Sergeant Major told me that if something happened to you, he would have my ass. Thats the way marines were. I said okay, lets get out of here. He was first man out of the room and he was hit and killed immediately. So that wonderful young man, i really didnt get to know him, but ill never forget him. I remember them lifting me off the floor and putting me on a door that they used for a stretcher. I remember them putting me on the tank. I could hear it running and i could smell the diesel. And it was the roughest ride ive ever had in my life. When we got back to triage, somebody said this ones not dead yet. And i remember thinking, that poor son of a bitch must be hit bad. I didnt know they were talking about me. After that, i remember being medivacd and i remember them putting me up on a table, stripping all my clothes off and the doctor started cutting me open on the side with a knife , and that hurt really bad. And thats the last thing i remember. And now its my privilege to introduce the publisher of Stars Stripes who will say a few words, max lederer. Max . [applause] thank you, pete. Wow, this is very powerful. I think as you went through the exhibit, you feel how powerful it is to have an exhibit featuring the u. S. Marines at the battle of hue during the tet offensive vietnam war in 1968 is unprecedented. Its a recognition of whats gone on in our past and how we honor it today. The images, as pete said, were taken by Stars StripesArmy Photographer john olson, a young lad then that proved he was capable and has proved that throughout his life. Stars stripes has been dedicated to telling the story of the u. S. Military since the american civil war. Our unique mission is an honor to perform, serving the men and women of our military by telling their story is a fulfilling mission and the most important story and reader are the men and women at the tip of the spear. This is where Stars Stripes staff excels, as john did, and where other media strive to achieve. 1968 was a watershed year for the United States, not just because of the battle of hue. Civil rights leader reverend Martin Luther king, senator and president ial candidate Bobby Kennedy were assassinated. Antiwar protests were growing. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was passed, hoping the promise of fair housing. The tet offensive was launched by the north vietnamese, resulting in the bloodiest year of the war and the bloodiest battle. The most significant battle was the offensive of the battle of hue. John Stars Stripes , a photographer, was was operating with u. S. Marines when they were attacked and chronicled the event. He still chronicles it today. Were here to help tell that story, as our Mission Always has been. His photos were published by Stars Stripes and published by other organizations at the time, including life magazine. Johns moving, iconic photos resulted in john being honored with the award as the best the prestigious Robert Kaplan award for photography. The bestscribed as photographic reporting from abroad, requiring exceptional courage and enterprise. As you go through this, youll hear that john was there in the thick of the battle. That took a lot of courage to take the photos, chronicle the event, tell it and not lose his cool. The partnership between the newseum, john olson, Stars Stripes, the National Federation of the blind has culminated in this exhibit presented today, one of its only kind, as peter mentioned. The exhibit includes a unique aspect of providing audio from the marines who lived through that horrific battle. The audio presentation combined with johns startling photography brings this unimaginable, brutal battle to life. Thank you to john for his tireless efforts to continue to tell the story of the battle for 50 years. Thank you to the newseum, National Federation of blind and nikon for recognizing the importance for continuing to tell this story. And special thanks to kathy and her team at the news for allowing us to bring it to this great space. Thank you to the United States marine for your bravery then, heroism and for continuing to tell your story today in a very private way and in very difficult moments. The exhibit is a tribute to them. But all men and women who serve in uniform at the tip of the spear. I hope you have been enriched by your immersion into the program and the exhibit. I have the honor of introducing the president of the National Federation of the blind and thank him for his sponsorship of this exhibit. Mark . [applause] thank you, max. Its a real privilege to be here, as the son of a vietnam veteran. Its a true honor to be here, representing the National Federation of the blind for this historic moment, celebrating this historic battle and most certainly the brave soldiers who put themselves on the line for all of us. The members of the National Federation of the blind , especially our blinded veterans, have supported this exhibit because we know that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day, we raise expectations for blind people because we recognize that low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams, that you can live the life you want and that blindness is not what holds you back. United States Military personnel put themselves on the line so that all of us and i do emphasize all of us can live the lives we want. And part of that is to enjoy fully life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And it is sitting that at this ofe, although in the sense museums and accessibility, it is probably long overdue, but it is fitting that we are here together in this historic exhibit, that it has come to be reality and that the first photographic display in a major museum in the United States regarding accessibility for all is being sponsored by these great organizations, and the National Federation of the blind is pleased to be part of that. It is our hope that the other cultural and historic institutions will follow the great leadership of the newseum in creating exhibits for all and recognizing that designing for full participation enhances the experience for all. And if youve been through the exhibit or when you go through the exhibit, i think you will find that the nonvisual elements of this historic exhibit bring meaning beyond the thousand words that are attributed to the visual photographs. I like to say tonight, we are bringing the next 2000 words to these stories. We sponsor this exhibit to acknowledgment celebrate the great photographic and innovative work of john olson, and most of all, the National Federation of the blind has sponsored this exhibit out of gratitude and humility for those offensivep the tet and all the other efforts to ,rotect our rights as americans to enable us to live the lives that we want. It is our honor to be here this evening, and i would like to thank all the other sponsors, our military personnel, the news their leadership in this effort, and it is our privilege to be here. I now would like to introduce another one of our sponsors this evening. I have the opportunity to invite to the podium mark steuben, the senior manager of professional services for nikon. Mark . [applause] thank you and good evening. For 100 years, nikon has been making products to allow individuals and families and the press to make some amazing photos, and nikon is proud to bring a new vision to photography to everybody. Again, on behalf of nikon and nikon professional services, thank you and enjoy the evening. Well see you soon. Thank you. [applause] now i would like to introduce mark bowden and our distinguished panel. Please give them a warm welcome. [applause] all right. Well, thank you all for coming tonight. As i heard in the introductions, they explained that i published a book just recently about the battle of hue. And in reporting that book, i think both because im a journalist and also because im here at the newseum tonight, i should say i was every bit as interested in the coverage of the battle as i was in the battle itself. And as part of that work, i tracked down the journalists who were in the middle of this fight. One of those who i collided with was john, john olson, who was in the middle of the battle and took what became some of the most famous images of the battle of you. Hue. I thought we should start tonight since this is your exhibit, john. You said that you had embarked on this project in part because you were interested in filling some gaps in your own memory and understanding of what youve been through. I wonder if you could explain what you mean . Well, you know, mark, my time in hue was unusual. I was the only combat photographer assigned to Stars Stripes. I was a u. S. Army draftee. They gave me tremendous amount of freedom, let me go where i wanted to go and do what i wanted to do. And if youre a combat photographer, you cant fake it. You have to be in the middle of things. And actually, the more dangerous, the better. And shortly after tet occurred, i learned that the fighting in hue was vicious. It was house to house. And i went to hue. And my story was a success story. I went into hue as a u. S. Army draftee e4, came out of hue. My my photographs were published by Stars Stripes but were also an arrangement between the newspaper and other media, they were picked up by life magazine and published there. And through this extraordinary set of circumstances having gone into hue as an e4 i came out of hue, not that much later, became the youngest Staff Photographer ever hired by the magazine, 21 years old. But i spent 40plus years, like many veterans, not talking about vietnam. Now, if you had asked me three years ago, did vietnam affect you, i would have said no, absolutely not. But as i got closer to the 50th anniversary, as it was approaching, i began to wonder what had happened to these 18, 19, 20yearold marines that i had photographed in 1968. And through a combination of circumstances, i found one marine. Or they found me. And that led to me thinking how powerful an historic document it how powerful a historic document it would be if we could locate all of the marines i photographed and find a museum that could showcase the event. And as i began this process of interviewing the men, often i would go into an interview session and i would take my digital recorder and i would put it in front of the individual. And i would turn it on and i would ask one question. I would say, tell me about hue. And it was very common that that would be either the only question or one of very few questions i would ask. And for an hour, hour and a half, they would tell me how hue had affected them, how still , nearly 50 years later, it haunted them and how it had changed their lives. Now, personally, as this process matured and as i began to listen to the hours of recordings, i would sit in front of my computer. Now, this is the individual who vietnam hadnt affected. And i would listen to these interviews and tears would start to roll down my face. Now i havent processed how this has affected me other than to share that with you and the audience this evening. Well, its an amazing exhibit. I think that the way youve put it together is a real contribution to our understanding of it. I think ill go down to the end of the panel here. The highestranking member of the panel is colonel bob thompson at the end, who commanded the marines who fought in what was arguably the most difficult phase of taking back the city of hue. And colonel thompson, i wonder if you would tell us something about your experience in hue and what its meant for you and the rest of your life and how you look back on it today. Obviously, the seminal life. Of my it was an unusual experience, to say the least. But i was blessed with about 500 or 600 wonderful, courageous marines. That made all the hardships worthwhile. That made all the hardships worthwhile. I had officers like myron harrington, Delta Company, and my horse, who i rode pretty hard for two weeks and for what . Six months after. And he always came through for me. Today i was honored to meet alvin. I never did know who that goodlooking guy was who was laying on that tank. I dont think hes any better looking today than he was back then,