Kent State University concluded its annual commemoration of Veterans Day by showcasing an acclaimed author's unique perspective of the Vietnam War.
Students, staff and community members attended An Evening With Wil Haygood, presented by the Pepsi Leadership Center in the Kiva Nov. 12.
Haygood is an Ohio native and award-winning journalist known for his 2008 Washington Post article "A Butler Well Served by This Election" about Eugene Allen, a longtime White House butler, which served as the basis for the 2013 film, “The Butler.”
Staff from Kent State’s Center for Adult and Veteran Services and May 4 Visitors Center collaborated with Warriors Journey Home, a nonprofit dedicated to healing and connection for veterans and their families, said Joshua Rider, executive director of the Center for Adult and Veteran Services, in an interview with Kent State Today.
“[This event] brings off-campus partners here with us to collaborate with Kent State partners,” Rider said. “Coming together to bring this kind of a speaker here that’s different from our normal Veterans Day slate of programming.”
Uncovering Stories of Black Americans From the Vietnam War
During the event, Haygood discussed themes and research explored in his newest book, “The War Within a War: The Black Struggle in Vietnam and at Home.”
The book explores experiences of Black Americans who, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, served in or experienced Vietnam. Haygood interviewed and included stories from soldiers, doctors, Marines, commentators and more.
Haygood noted that while Black Americans made up 12% of the country’s population at the start of the war, they represented 45% of the frontline troops in Vietnam.
“That said, to Black America, that our troops who are Black are more expendable,” Haygood said. “That's why I spent the past five years traveling around the country to write this book.”
The book focuses on the racism Black service members faced and the differences in their circumstances both in the war and back home.
“They loved the nation that had not yet stitched them into the American flag,” Haygood said.
One of the perspectives explored in the book is the story of Skip Dunn, who grew up across the street from Haygood in Columbus. Dunn died years before the book was published, but Haygood connected with Dunn’s widow by phone. He asked her for a picture of Dunn, which ended up becoming the book’s cover.
“A photograph of Skip arrived in the mail, and I looked at it, and I got choked up,” Haygood said. “I said to myself, ‘That's my Skip. That's the guy who lived right across the street from me.'”
Following Haygood’s remarks, Alison Caplan, director of the May 4 Visitors Center, moderated a question-and-answer session.
She asked Haygood what he hopes college students learn from the history of May 4, 1970 and the Vietnam War.
“We’re going to need students now, just like we needed the students in the 1960s, just like we needed Skip Dunn,” Haygood said. “We’re going to need this youth movement, the students, to understand history, that when we’re at our darkest hours, people are someplace turning on the lights.”
A Message of Honoring Veterans
Haygood also thanked the veterans in attendance.
Haygood shared a story about Allen, the inspiration for "The Butler." Allen, an African American butler for multiple presidents including John F. Kennedy, received a gold-plated tie bar from Kennedy shortly before Kennedy's death. He later wore it to President Barack Obama's historic inauguration.
Allen later gave the tie bar to Haygood to thank him for writing the book that inspired the movie, Haygood said.
Haygood wore it to the Kent State event to honor the veterans in attendance, he said.
“I generally keep it under lock and key, but in honor of Veterans Day, and all of the veterans here, I wore it today,” Haygood said.
John Schluep, founder of Warriors Journey Home, said it was important to bring Haygood to Kent State to offer the audience a unique, important perspective.
“There's a lot of unhealed wounds from the Vietnam War, and it was the first time that combat units were fully racially integrated, and Wil's book speaks to those issues,” Schluep said. “If we don't deal with those wounds and allow them to heal, we're going to continue to carry the pain and the sorrow.”
Schluep hopes those in attendance gained a new perspective and left feeling inspired to help veterans.
“An open mind, an open heart and a challenge to do the next right thing,” he said.
