The Vietnam War: Legacies & Lessons in South Dakota
SDPB’s Dakota Life returns this month by introducing viewers to South Dakotans who served in the Vietnam War. The program is in conjunction with the premiere of Ken Burns’ & Lynn Novick’s The Vietnam War. We’ll meet James Pollock of Pierre and Stephen Randall of Sioux Falls. Pollock and Randall served in the Vietnam Combat Art program during the Vietnam War. The program sent nine Combat Art Teams (CATs) of soldier-artists into the field with soldiers on patrol. After their tour in the field, soldier-artists created their work in Hawaii. Originally stationed in Korea during the war, Specialist 4th Class Pollock applied to the Combat Art Team, was assigned to Long Biên and hitched rides all over Vietnam to sketch soldiers and scenes that he would later make into pen and ink or watercolor works. Pollock served in the CAT IV team in 1967 and Randall served in the CAT VII in 1968. We also learn about the service and homecoming experiences of
Ed McGaa and Francis Whitebird. Born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Oglala Lakota McGaa joined the Marines during the Korean War and later flew 110 combat missions as a fighter pilot in the Vietnam War. A graduate of the University of South Dakota Law School, McGaa has published several books, including Crazy Horse and Chief Red Cloud and Black Elk Speaks IV: Narration by a Teton Oglala Sioux. A member of the Rosebud Sioux, Francis Whitebird enlisted in the Army and was stationed south of Da Nang with the 196th Infantry Brigade. He served as a Combat Medic for 19 months and has been awarded the Purple Heart. Whitebird’s father, Noah Whitebird, was a WWII Lakota Code Talker. Whitebird’s great-grandfathers fought in the Battle of Rosebud and the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Whitebird’s sons Brendan and Colin served in Iraq. And we share the story of Soi Tran of Sioux Falls. Tran served in the South Vietnamese Army during the Vietnam War and was held as
Francis Whitebird served as a combat medic for 19 months in Vietnam.
6
Learn. Dream. Grow.
Photo: Stephen Randall
Dakota Life
Sioux Falls resident Stephen Randall served in the Vietnam Combat Art program.
prisoner of war for five years. In 1991, Tran moved with his family from Vietnam to Sioux Falls. We’ll meet Esther Huether who helped Tran and his family transition to life in the United States. Tune in to Dakota Life Thursday, Sept. 7 at 8pm (7 MT) on SDPB1. For more local stories and events from The Vietnam War: Legacies and Lessons in South Dakota, visit SDPB.org/Vietnam.
Soi Tran served in the South Vietnamese Army and was a POW for 5 years.