Brooklyn Historical Society 128 Pierrepont St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
718.222.4111 x226
www.brooklynhistory.org
Media Contact: Allison Auldridge
718-222-4111 x226
aauldridge@brooklynhistory.org
For Immediate Release
May 29, 2008
The Impact of Listening and Being Heard
Panel Discussion at BHS
WHAT:
“The Impact of Listening and Being Heard” For some veterans it takes years before they choose to speak about their war experiences. And some veterans never do. Why are so many veterans, particularly of the Vietnam War, reluctant to speak? What happens when veterans finally share their stories? How does it feel to really be heard? And how are we, as listeners, affected?
A panel discussion with Philip Napoli, a curator of the BHS oral history exhibit In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn’s Vietnam Veterans, Dr. Herbert H. Stein, Director of the PTSD Clinical Team at the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Brooklyn, and Vietnam veterans Neil Kenny, Rudy Thomas, Tony Velez, and Tony Wallace, whose stories are featured in the exhibit.
Free and open to the Public.
WHEN:
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 6:30 – 8:30pm, In Our Own Words exhibit open until 9:00pm
WHERE:
Brooklyn Historical Society
128 Pierrepont St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
718-222-4111 www.brooklynhistory.org
WHO:
Panelists
Philip Napoli is a 20th century U.S. social and public historian, with research interests in the history of Veterans and Veterans' issues, the Vietnam War and the City of New York and a professor at Brooklyn College. His book New York's Vietnam: An Oral History is forthcoming from Hill and Wang.
Dr. Herbert H. Stein is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who has been the Director of the PTSD Clinical Team at the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Brooklyn since 1986. He is also on the faculty of the NYU Psychoanalytic Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center.
Neil Kenny joined the Marine Corps in June of 1967 and arrived at the Khe Sanh Combat Base in Vietnam in January of 1968. There he served as an 0331 Machine Gunner with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, throughout the entire siege of Khe Sanh during the Tet Offensive of 1968. For his service, Mr. Kenny received the Purple Heart as well as the Navy Commendation Medal for Valorous Service. After returning stateside, he completed his GED, attended Staten Island Community College, became a State Trooper and ultimately became a high school teacher at Fort Hamilton High School, the same school he had dropped out of nearly 20 years before.
Continued
Rudy Thomas – At age 16, Rudy Thomas came to the United States from his home in Trinidad. He was drafted into the army five years later, in 1965, and trained in Fort Dix, Fort Gordon and Fort Bragg. He volunteered for airborne and later became a drill instructor at Fort Bragg. Mr. Thomas was first injured while serving with the 173rd Airborne Brigade when a mine went off and blasted shrapnel through his ankle. His last injury occurred when another mine exploded as he led his squad down a hill. Rudy was evacuated to the Naval Hospital in Queens, where he remained for a year until he could walk again.
Tony Velez is a social documentary photographer and a professor in the fine arts department at Kean University, Union, NJ. Born in 1946 to Puerto Rican immigrants, he volunteered for the draft December 1965 at age 19 and was inducted into the US Army in January 1966 and left for Vietnam that October. He served with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, where he experienced and documented the horrors of an inexplicable and unjust war. These early experiences laid the foundation for his future work as an artist. Seeking to understand the war and its implications and relevance to his own life, in 1970, he joined Vietnam Veterans Against the War, as a participant and photographer.
Tony Wallace grew up in the Marcy projects between Williamsburg and Bedford Stuyvesant. After attending Kingsburg Community College, he accepted a position as a typist for ConEd. He entered the military in 1969 after which he elected to enter noncommissioned officers school. In 1970, Wallace went to Vietnam where he was hurt in an attack that left 25 US wounded and seven dead. Upon his return home, he earned his BA from Brooklyn College. He continues to work for ConEd.
In Our Own Words is made possible by the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Astoria Federal Savings, HBO and is in partnership with Brooklyn College. The Impact of Listening and Being Heard is supported by Independence Community Foundation and the Booth Ferris Foundation.
The mission of the Brooklyn Historical Society is to connect the past to the present and make the vibrant history of Brooklyn tangible, relevant, and meaningful for today's diverse communities, and for generations to come. Founded in 1863, BHS functions as a library, museum and urban education center dedicated to the people of Brooklyn, providing opportunities for civic dialogue and thoughtful engagement.
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