Courtesy photos.
CAMARILLO — Ask Ojai filmmaker George J. Sandoval why he created an exhibit to honor Ventura County Vietnam veterans, and the weight of it catches in his throat.
“I did this for the 114 guys from Ventura County,” he said, pausing to blink back tears. “Those are the vets who did the fighting and were shunned when they returned home.”
Sandoval was 20 years old when he was sent to Vietnam on June 12, 1968. But he was lucky, he says, as he was not sent to the front lines, and he was able to come home. But 114 Ventura County soldiers did not.
“We Remember: Ventura County to Vietnam and Back” is for them, Sandoval said.
The exhibit was produced in partnership with Sandoval and the Oxnard Film Society and will be on display in the Exhibition Hall at CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI)’s John Spoor Broome Library beginning Saturday, March 29 through Friday, May 30, with the opening event scheduled for 2 p.m. on March 29, which is National Vietnam War Veterans Day.
The exhibit coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, which takes place on April 30. This event signaled the end of the Vietnam War, but it wasn’t the end for many vets who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, or were sickened by the effects of Agent Orange, an herbicide used by the U.S. Military to clear vegetation. For others, it was the pain of disrespect they received upon their return home from the unpopular war.
“Some Vietnam vets are still ‘coming home,’” said Ventura Vietnam veteran Clyde Hoffland, 78, a friend of Sandoval’s who is helping with the exhibit. “Because there are so many memories. Because in wartime, you are asked to do things you would never do as a rational person. And you’re guilty because you survived and so many didn’t. That’s why we don’t talk about it.”
Sandoval is the owner and producer of WestEnd Productions, a production company based in Ojai that has produced two documentaries for the exhibit: “We Remember, Part 1: First Casualty” and “We Remember, Part 2: Loss of Innocence,” featuring veterans of the Vietnam War.
Along with artifacts, didactic panels, photos, and films with veteran interviews, there will be interviews with local veterans about the Vietnam experience. The March 29 opening will include films Sandoval made in which he interviewed local vets such as Ventura native Moses Mora, who was drafted at the age of 18 and suffered trauma that still haunts him, and car dealer Steve Thomas, who served with the Navy Seabees and returned home at age 22. Sandoval also interviewed former U.S. Marine Richard Camacho, who received a Purple Heart after being wounded by a grenade during his service in Vietnam, along with 25 other veterans from the county.
When John Spoor Broome Library Collection & Resource Management Librarian Monica Pereira saw a screening of the “We Remember” documentary at the Museum of Ventura County in 2015, she observed the effect it had on the audience and knew she had to bring a Vietnam exhibit to CSUCI.
“It was the film, but it was also who was at the films,” Pereira said. “These Vietnam veterans who maybe haven’t seen one another for years were coming up to each other and they were like ‘How are you buddy?’ It brought people together. And bringing people together is what libraries do.”
To RSVP to the March 29 opening and to learn more about the exhibit, visit: We Remember
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY CHANNEL ISLANDS
California State University Channel Islands?(CSUCI) is Ventura County’s only public university and opened in 2002 as the 23rd campus in the?CSU system. CSUCI is located between Camarillo and the Oxnard Plain, midway between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.
The campus is nestled against the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains and is a 10-minute drive from the Pacific Ocean. With more than 4,880 students, 29,000 alumni, and 1,000 employees, CSUCI is poised to grow in size and distinction, while maintaining one of the most student-focused learning environments in public higher education with more than 90 academic degrees, teaching credentials, certificates, and professional and community programs.
CSUCI is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and as a result of student and faculty research has also earned the distinguished “Research Colleges and Universities” or “RCU” designation from the?Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
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