50 years since United States troop withdrawal: Lubbock has one of the largest Vietnam archive collections in the U.S.

“That encompasses all experiences from the conflict and it’s housed right here on the campus of Texas Tech”
50 years ago on January 1973, the Paris peace treaty was signed two months later on march 29th the last of the united states military combat troops were pulled
Published: Mar. 29, 2023 at 7:13 PM CDT

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - 50 years ago in January 1973, the Paris Peace Treaty was signed. Two months later on march 29, the last of the United States combat troops were pulled out of Vietnam, though full U.S. military involvement didn’t end until 1975. With the exception of the U.S. National Archives, The Southwest Collections and the Special Collections Library on Texas Tech’s campus holds the largest archive collection on the Vietnam war.

“The Vietnam war is the most controversial war of the 20th century, so realizing we’re gonna have to answer those questions, that was kind of the spark. We’re gonna need a place to do that,” Steven Maxner, Director of the Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive Center said.

Inside the Archive Center are rows and rows of artifacts, videos, books, and even letters from soldiers that were sent back home to their families. He said most veterans don’t share their combat stories with their family members, so the archives are there to share their history.

“We can preserve the remembrances of their service and also the impact the war had on them and their families,” he said.

In 2019, the center started the process of moving their archives into a Vietnam veterans museum but covid interrupted its plans. Now they are ready to move forward with that process and are looking for donations. Just recently, the center received its first donation from a Vietnam veteran who not only donated $1,000,000 but also donated his own war memorabilia.

Vietnam 50 years(KCBD)

When the center reaches its $25 million goal, the museum will be built in Lubbock. It will be open to the public so generations to come will continue to be educated on one of America’s biggest conflicts.

If you are interested in donating artifacts, you can call the Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive Center, or visit their website here.