It is four decades ago that the Vietnam War, which lasted for nearly 20 years, ended abruptly. To commemorate this painful episode in American history, the John Adams Institute published a series of blogs this month by a number of Vietnam vets from the class of 1964 class at the venerable Ivy League Dartmouth.
About the College and the Class of 1964
Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire was founded in 1769. It is one of the Ivy League universities. It is a small college with a strong focus on undergraduate, liberal arts education. It has a long list of distinguished graduates including: Nelson Rockefeller, former governor of New York; Timothy Geitner, former Secretary of the Treasury; Theodor Seuss Geisel, author of the Dr. Seuss series of books for children; Karl Barry Sharpless, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in chemistry; Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., former CEO of IBM; Jeffrey R. Immelt, CEO of General Electric; Hannah Kearney, Gold Medal winner, freestyle moguls, 2010 Vancouver Olympics; and many more. It has an endowment fund of $4.7 billion. Its alumni are among the most active in the US in supporting their Alma Mater. It has been co-educational since 1972.
The Dartmouth Class of 1964 had over 600 Graduates. Of these, 175 served military duty., about 35% of them in Vietnam. Two classmates died in action, another died of a cancer attributed to exposure to Agent Orange. One classmate is currently suffering from Parkinson’s disease also attributed to exposure to Agent Orange.