Stetson University’s Vietnam Remembrance site honors alumni who served in Vietnam or during that era (1964-1975). The site is located just north of Griffith Hall in a pleasant and readily accessible outdoor space that encourages meditation on national service during a time of war that tested our campus and America.

The Remembrance site includes a granite marker honoring Stetson’s Vietnam and Vietnam Era veterans, benches, native palms and plantings, and a small fountain. The University has started to add bricks engraved with the names of Stetson alumni who served during the Vietnam Era at no cost to the veterans. More bricks will be added as donations are received. Please see our donors and support page if you are interested in supporting the site.

One of the initiative’s goals is to gather the stories, in the form of short biographies, of the Stetson men and women whose names are engraved at the site. Although we have identified more than 500 names of Vietnam Era alumni, in too many cases we have found that our Vietnam Era veterans have already passed away which is why we are pushing so hard to gather our veterans’ stories and honor their service now. Along with this website, oral histories from Vietnam, along with images, memorabilia, books and DVDs are being collected in the Library. Plans are also underway for courses and cultural events in the coming years focusing on the Vietnam era and the experience of Stetson alumni, students, faculty and staff.

Forty years after the fall of Saigon, Americans are still coming to grips with the war. We are more aware than ever that the impacts of war continue in veterans’ lives long after their return home. This Stetson site is a chance for us to honor our alumni vets and perhaps an opportunity to learn history directly from them.