Marines Return to Vietnam

In 1967, John Musgrave was wounded in Vietnam. More than fifty years later, he, along with fellow marine John Solbach, journalist Lindsey Foat, and historian Bill Tuttle, returned to the Southeast Asian country. In this program, the four guests will discuss this experience and what it was like to return while sharing images from the trip captured by Musgrave’s son, Daniel.

Lindsey Foat spent ten years working as a reporter, producer, and community engagement expert at Kansas City PBS. She led the station’s content and engagement efforts focused on veterans, including award-winning, local documentary, and innovative engagement initiatives for Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s The Vietnam War. Through that work, she was lucky to work with and befriend John Musgrave and joined him on his return trip to Vietnam. Currently, Lindsey is the Content and Communications Director at the Rabbit hole, which is an immersive museum for children’s literature.

Dan Musgrave is a writer and photographer with a particular interest in the intersections of the human and animal world. At the moment his efforts are mainly directed toward a collaborative memoir with his father, probing the interpersonal and intergenerational ramifications of combat. Dan’s work has earned recognition from the Iceland Writers Retreat, Tulsa Artist Fellowship, Odyssey Writing Workshop, and several literary magazines and journals. He is a registered member of the Osage Nation, and an alum of Grinnell College.

John Musgrave was born in 1948 in Independence, Missouri—a suburb of Kansas City. After high school he enlisted in the Marine Corps, ultimately becoming a member of the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines. He served in Vietnam for 11 months before being permanently disabled by his third wound at the battle of Con Thien in November 1967. After returning to the states, John studied at Baker University in Baldwin City, KS, where he struggled with PTSD and suicidal tendencies. Eventually, he joined Vietnam Veterans Against the War, participating in protests in Washington, DC, and elsewhere around the country. After years of struggle, depression, and heart-searching, he learned to cope with his PTSD, though as with most veterans, that would remain a lifelong process. He has worked extensively with other veterans in suicide-prevention programs such as the National Veteran’s Wellness and Healing Center, and the U.S. Army’s Worldwide Stand-Down for Suicide Awareness. In recent years he has been particularly focused on post-9/11 vets.

John Solbach is a Lawrence attorney who served in Vietnam with the 3rd Battalion 3rd Marines Lima Company in 1967 and 1968. He served in the Kansas legislature for 14 years. He lives with his wife on a farm west of Lawrence

William M. Tuttle, Jr., is Professor Emeritus of American Studies at the University of Kansas. In support of his research, Bill Tuttle has been awarded major fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Henry A. Murray Research Center, Radcliffe College. He has also held residential fellowships at the Institute of Southern History, Johns Hopkins University, the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History, Harvard University, and the Stanford University Humanities Center.