Date of Award
Fall 12-2015
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
History
Department
History
Major Professor
Allan R. Millett, Ph. D.
Second Advisor
Connie Zeanah Atkinson, Ph. D.
Third Advisor
Mark Davis Kuss, J.D., Ph. D.
Abstract
ABSTRACT
This thesis is concerned with the question of how America’s citizen soldiers are remembered and how their services can be interpreted through monuments and memorials. The paper discusses the concept of memory and the functions of memorialization. It explores whether and how monuments and memorials portray the difficulties, hardships, horror, costs, and consequences of armed combat. The political motivations behind the design, formation and establishment of the edifices are also probed. The paper considers the Vietnam War monuments and memorials erected by Americans and Vietnam expatriates in New Orleans, Louisiana, and examines their illustrative and educational usefulness. Results reflect that although political benefits accrued from the realization of the memorial structures in question, far more important, palliative and meaningful motives brought about their construction. They also demonstrate that, when understood, monuments and memorials can be historically useful.
Recommended Citation
Haws, Catherine Bourg, "Remembering Vietnam War Veterans: Interpreting History Through New Orleans Monuments and Memorials" (2015). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 2081.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2081
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Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.