INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A new exhibit at the Indiana Historical Society uses archival material and new oral histories to tell the stories of Hoosiers who served in the Vietnam War.

The exhibit, called “Hoosier Voices from Vietnam,” opens Saturday.

April marked the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, and Indiana Historical Society CEO Jody Blankenship says the anniversary gave IHS the opportunity to “really look at a critical period in American history.”

“You can’t tell the whole story in the space we have, so we decided to focus really in on Hoosier vets, and their stories,” Blankenship explained. “First, we used our archive and oral histories…(then) we recorded new oral histories from vets from all over Indiana, in every branch and including the support services like the USO and American Red Cross.”

Everybody experiences history differently and there’s no one story of what happened. That’s part of what goes into planning and executing the exhibits IHS puts on, Blankenship explains.

“In our work, what we like to do is collect as many of those stories as we can, and then in aggregate, try to find themes, patterns, or events that happened that lead us to some kind of common understanding while still respecting the individual experience and the story. When you go to the Indiana Historical Society, there may be a featured element, something you haven’t seen yet, but this is part of the greater whole.”

Blankenship says the Indiana Historical Society knew going into the project that it would “not be an easy exhibit.”

“We knew there’s still a lot of hard feelings abut Vietnam for a variety of reasons. But we thought this is an important story to tell. We have to honor our vets. We have to understand how we get into conflicts like this and what are the outcomes. And so, we hope, this exhibit does that.”

Hoosier Voices from Vietnam runs from Sept. 27, 2025 – Jan. 23, 2027.

Click here for additional exhibit information.

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