Dr. Allison Delivers Gary R. Hess Lecture at Bowling Green State University

October 4, 2022

Dr. Bill Allison delivered the Gary R. Hess Lecture in Policy History at Bowling Green State University on Tuesday, September 27, 2022. His talk, titled “The Vietnam War Fifty Years On,” examined the changing memory and evolving narratives of Vietnam, using the Ken Burns Vietnam War series, the role of veterans in establishing local Vietnam Veterans memorials, and recent allegations by Japanese nationalists that Korean forces in Vietnam used formalized “comfort stations” as examples of how Vietnam remains a “fluid past.”

Previous Hess lecturers include Richard Immerman, Lloyd Ambrosius, George Herring, and Mary Dudziak, among others. The lecture honors Dr. Gary R. Hess, Professor Emeritus of History at Bowling Green State University. Dr. Allison also met with Dr. Ben Greene’s Vietnam War class and lunched with graduate students during his visit.