Finding Aids to Collections Organized by Topic in the Archive of Folk Culture

VIETNAM WAR COLLECTIONS
IN THE ARCHIVE OF FOLK CULTURE
Acquired through 1996

Compiled by: Jennifer L. Davis and John C. DeMetrick with assistance from Andrew T. Urban
Series Editor: Ann Hoog

Publication Date: March 2001
Series Number: LCFAFA No. 26
ISSN 0736-4903

Sound Recordings and Multiformat Collections

AFS 14,617:  One 7-inch 45 rpm disc of "The Sun Will Shine in Vietnam" and "I Heard It Through the True Vine" sung with guitar by Flora Molton, and accompanied by Ed Morris.  Probably recorded in Washington, D.C., ca. 1970.  The collection includes a one-page description of the contents.  (Eight minutes; Molten's Record 6661-6662)

AFS 16,981: One 7-inch tape of eight songs sung with guitar by Flora Molton.  Recorded in Washington, D.C., by Joseph C. Hickerson, November 19, 1973. The collection includes a one-page log.

AFS 16,981A4: "The Sun's Gonna Shine in Vietnam One Day" composed by Molton.  (Five minutes; LWO 7590)

AFS 17,483; 18,882: Two 10-inch tapes of "In the Midst of War," scripted by Gen. Edward G. Lansdale and narrated by Hank Miller, incorporating forty-one songs about the Vietnam War and related topics sung by Steve Addiss, Pham Duy, Hershel Gober, and others.  Recorded at the home of General Lansdale, Saigon, Vietnam, January 1967.  The collection includes three-eighths linear inch of articles, correspondence, logs, notes, and transcriptions.  (One hour and thirty minutes; LWO 8281 reels 1-2)

AFS 17,970:  One 10-inch tape of American servicemen's songs from the Vietnam War, recorded primarily at an aviation unit commanders' conference in Nha Trang, Vietnam, April 1967.  Donated by Saul Broudy.  The collection includes a 70-page M.A. thesis entitled "GI Folklore in Viet-Nam" by Saul Broudy (Philadelphia:  University of Pennsylvania, 1969) that includes extensive song transcriptions from this collection, and  examines the folk community of GIs in Vietnam through their customs, humor, slang, songs, speech, and tales.  Includes a bibliography, discography, dictionary of slang terms.   (Two hours; LWO 8644)

AFS 18,977-18,982: Six 10-inch tapes of one-hundred-sixty songs about the Vietnam War, sung by American military personnel, including Jim Bullington, the Cosmos Tabernacle Choir, Dolf Droge, Bill Ellis, Hershel Gober, Dick Jonas, the Merrymen of 173rd AHC, Barry Sadler, Bill Stubbs, and the USAF Band and Singing Sergeants.  Recorded primarily in Thailand, Vietnam, and Virginia by Gen. Edward G. Lansdale, 1962-72.  Also included are some commercial recordings and recordings from tapes and discs sent to Lansdale by friends and colleagues.  The tapes are edited and narrated by Hank Miller. The collection includes one-half linear inch of articles, logs, notes, and transcriptions.  (Twelve hours; LWO 9518)

AFS 24,115-24,116:  Two audiocassettes of twenty-six songs about the Vietnam War, primarily composed and sung with guitar by Michael Martin.  Recorded in Buffalo, New York, by Lydia M. Fish and Larry Roberson, April 1984.  The collection includes six pages of correspondence, logs, and notes.  (Two hours; RYA 5120-5121)

AFS 24,260A4: Parody of "Green, Green Grass of Home" about a wounded veteran returning from Vietnam.  Sung with guitar by Jim Garland.  (Six minutes; RYA 6186)

AFC 1980/001: Forty-three 10-inch, eighty 7-inch, and thirty-five 5-inch tapes containing events, instrumentals, interviews, and songs.  Recorded primarily by and for Barbara Dane and Irwin Silber at various locations in Canada and the United States, 1952-78, including the "Sing Out!" radio program on WBAI-FM, New York City.  The collection includes one and one-half linear inches of content lists, correspondence, notes, photocopies of original tape boxes, and transcripts. [Note: the logs are incomplete, therefore there may be additional material related to the Vietnam War not mentioned here]

AFC 1980/001:SR46: One 7-inch tape containing "It's Gonna Be Awful" sung by Bessie Jones of St. Simon's Island, Georgia,  "Napalm" sung by Michael Cooney,  "Guns of Our Cities" sung by Mark Spoelstra,  "Soon Born Baby" sung by Bob Cohen, and  "Lambarene Time," "Bitter Rain," "Only a War," "Peace Isn't Treason,"  "I Believe," and "No Town," sung by Malvina Reynolds, as well as comments.  Recorded and subsequently submitted for use at "Sing-In for Peace," the first major anti‑Vietnam War demonstration in New York City, September 24, 1965.  (Fifty minutes; RXB 0027)

AFC 1980/001:SR72: One 7-inch tape containing eighteen anti-war songs composed and sung by Tuli Kupferberg of New York City.  Recorded ca. 1967.  (One hour and five minutes; RXB 0033)

AFC 1980/001:SR77-82: Six 5-inch tapes containing Irwin Silber interviewing Michael Cooney, a musician and draft resister; Dennis Gaston, a "hippie" draft resister and former VISTA worker; "Country" Joe McDonald, musician and composer of "Fixin' to Die Rag"; Barry Melton, a musician in McDonald's band; and an unidentified ex-Berkeley student.  Recorded spring 1968.  (Nine hours; RXB 0038-0043)

AFC 1980/001:SR83-84:  Two 5-inch tapes containing GIs at Fort Hood, Killeen, Texas, talking about their experiences during the Vietnam War.  Recorded July 6, 1968.  (Three hours and fifteen minutes; RXB 0044-0045)

AFC 1980/001:SR86:  One 5-inch tape containing "The Unknown Soldier," based on reports of African‑American soldiers who defected to North Vietnam, sung with banjo and guitar by Peggy Seeger and Tark Warshaw.  (Four minutes; RXB 0047)

AFC 1980/001:SR87:  One 5-inch tape containing "Uncle Sam Wants Me As a Soldier," sung by a draftee.  Recorded January 31, 1970.  (Three minutes; RXB 0048)

AFC 1980/001:SR92:  One 7-inch tape containing topical songs from a variety of sources, including the Coral Sea Rally, a campaign to stop the ship of that name from returning to the Vietnam area.  (Twenty-four minutes; RXB 0053)

AFC 1980/001:SR93:  One 5-inch tape containing a  program entitled "Draft Resistance Trial and Support Statements from Active-duty GIs, Wounded Veterans, and Gold Star Mothers," produced by George Stein.  Includes a seven-page transcript.  (Twenty-five minutes; RXB 0054)  

AFC 1980/001:SR100:  One 7-inch tape containing then anti-war songs "Four More Years," "No - I Won't Go,"  "Sunshine Silver Mine," "Born in the Suburbs," "Friends All Around," "Cry Out, Sister," "Jail No Bail," "Can't Be Free 'til Everybody Else Is," "Open Up Those Prison Gates," and "There's a War," sung by the Red Star Singers.  Recorded April 15, 1973  (One hour; RXB 0061) 

AFC 1980/001:SR116:  One 5-inch tape containing a GI talking about the army and the war in Vietnam.  (Thirty-five minutes; RXB 0074)

AFC 1980/001:SR117:  One 5-inch tape containing songs in Spanish about the Vietnam War.  (Twenty-seven minutes; RXB 0075)

AFC 1980/001:SR122:  One 5-inch tape containing twenty-two anti‑war songs from Australia composed and sung by various musicians.  (One hour; RXB 0080)

AFC 1980/001:SR128:  One 7-inch tape containing Conrad Lynn, an African‑American lawyer active in draft resistance cases, discussing several topics, including the Vietnam War from the black point of view, a description of war crimes, and election techniques used to protest the war.  (Two hours and forty minutes; RXB 0086)

AFC 1980/001:SR138:  One 7-inch tape containing "War on a People," a "dramatization of the methods the United States used in its attempts to win a war against the people of Indochina."  (Thirty minutes; RXB 0096)

AFC 1980/001:SR139:  One 7-inch tape containing "Born in the Suburbs," "Friends All Around," "Jail No Bail," "Pig Nixon," "The Banquet," and "There's a War in Vietnam," sung by the Red Star Singers.  (Forty minutes; RXB 0097)

AFC 1980/001:SR142:  One 7-inch tape containing "Pig Nixon" (fragment) and "So Many Angry People," sung by the Red Star Singers.  (Ten minutes; RXB 0100)

AFC 1980/001:SR143:  One 7-inch tape containing a selection of topical songs from late 1969 to 1970,  including "Liberate the Sisters Now!" sung by Barbara Herbert and the Grimke Sisters Union, a group of women from South Carolina, and "The Original Televised War" sung with guitar by F. William Kaufman of Pikesville, Maryland.  Recorded August 15, 1969.  (Ten minutes; RXB 0101)

AFC 1980/001:SR144:  One 7-inch tape containing songs composed and sung by Kandeda Montgomery of Fort Defiance, Arizona, including AFight We Must@ and ALiberty.@ (Ten minutes; RXB 0102)

AFC 1980/001:SR145-148:  Four 7-inch tapes containing interviews with American Vietnam War deserters conducted by Will Hoffmann of Radio McGill.  Recorded in Montreal, Canada.  (Two hours; RXB 0103-0106)

AFC 1980/001:SR153:  One 7-inch tape containing Stephen Texas Moon Argo of Galveston, Texas, discussing why he deserted the U.S. Marine Corps in 1968, and singing six anti-war songs.  (Thirty-five minutes; RXB 0111)

AFC 1980/014: "Songs of the Life, Times, and Assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy," a 250-page typescript compiled by Arthur D. Thieme, 1960-90.  Includes texts of three songs about the Vietnam War: "Talking Viet Nam" (two versions) and "Viet Nam" by Phil Ochs, and "Please, Mr. Kennedy" by the Goldcoast Singers.

AFC 1988/005:  One audiocassette of the radio programs "All Things Considered" (broadcast on National Public Radio, November 11, 1987) and "Rethinking Vietnam" (broadcast on Radio Smithsonian, 1988) that discuss the importance of radio and popular music to soldiers during the Vietnam War, as well as how folk music served as a medium for soldiers to share their experiences during and after the war.  Donated by Lydia M. Fish.  The collection includes a one-page description.  (One hour)

AFC 1989/012:  One audiocassette of songs of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) and songs of "South East Asia" (S.E.A.) sung by James P. "Bull" Durham with instrumental accompaniment.  Recorded ca. 1963 and July 1, 1971.  The collection includes two manuscripts: "Songs of SAC" (sixteen pages) and "Songs of S.E.A." (ninety-nine pages).  Donated by Lydia M. Fish.  (Ninety minutes)

AFC 1990/005:  Four 10-inch tapes, twenty-one black-and-white prints and negatives, and four videocassettes of "In Country: A Concert and Symposium on the Folksong Traditions of the Vietnam-Era Soldier," presented by the American Folklife Center.  Concert performers include Bill Dower and six Marines, Dolf Droge, James "Bull" Durham, Bill Ellis, Tom Price, Chuck Rosenberg, and Robin Thomas, with commentary by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, Congressman Lane Edwards, and Alan Jabbour.  Symposium participants include Cecil Currey, Dower, Droge, Durham, Ellis, Lydia M. Fish, Toby Hughes, Jabbour, Harold Langley, and Rosenberg.  Recorded in Washington, D.C. at the Library of Congress, July 13, 1989.  The collection includes eight linear inches of manuscript material.  (Six hours; RWB 8776-8769)

AFC 1991/002:  Two audiocassettes of a concert entitled "In Country: Soldiers' Songs from Viet Nam."  Performers include Saul Broudy, Chip Dockery, James "Bull" Durham, Bill Ellis, Lisa Ellis, Larry Heinemann, Sherry Hughes, Toby Hughes, Dick Jonas, Kathy Jonas, Tom Price, Chuck Rosenberg, and Robin Thomas.  Recorded in Chicago, Illinois, at the Old Town School of Folk Music, by Lydia M. Fish, August 4, 1990.  (Three hours)

AFC 1996/010:  One audiocassette containing "The Guys" and "Big Silver Bird" sung by Roye Donald (birth name - Donald Lombardi), a veteran of the Vietnam War.  Recorded in New York State, 1991.  The collection includes one promotional black-and-white photo of Roye Donald, song lyrics, and a biographical report on the artist.  (Seven minutes)  

Manuscript Collections

"Glossary of Army Slang," a 65-page typescript of approximately 350 terms collected from American soldiers at posts in Georgia, Kentucky, and Texas, by Carl Fleischhauer, 1964-66.  The collection includes correspondence and newspaper clippings. [located in the Carl Fleischhauer corporate subject file]

"The Longest Year:  A Collection of Songs by Advisors and Civilians in the Vietnam War," a 50-page typescript collected and annotated by Brig. Gen. Thomas Bowen and Lydia M. Fish, edited by Lisa Harmon (Buffalo:  Vietnam Veterans Oral History and Folklore Project, October 1990). [located in the Vietnam War subject file]