County to Sponsor Display Featuring Vietnam War-Era Graffiti

Michael F. · Jan 11, 2008

Sorry about posting this so late. I only recently found out about it. The Albemarle County Office Building is located in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia...and the last day of the exhibit is today!

This is from a local press release:

Release

County to Sponsor Display Featuring Vietnam War-Era Graffiti

Troopship Drawings/Writings by Soldiers & Marines Headed to War will be Displayed at County Office Building January 7 - 11, Opening Ceremony on January 8 at 10:00 am.

12/28/2007

A compelling new exhibit of graffiti created by soldiers and Marines headed to the Vietnam War created by local artifact historian Art Beltrone will be displayed for the first time locally from January 7 -- 11, 2008, in the second floor lobby of the Albemarle County Office Building on McIntire Road.

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"Marking Time: Voyage to Vietnam" showcases bunk canvases salvaged from the USNS General Nelson M. Walker, a troopship that shuttled thousands of young Americans -- most in their teens -- across the Pacific Ocean in 1966 and 1967. Mr. Beltrone will discuss the exhibit and give a brief overview of its contents for interested media representatives on Tuesday, January 8, at 10:00 am.

The canvases feature scrawled inscriptions, signatures, cartoons and poems by young servicemen headed to combat in the Vietnam War. The young men's graffiti was diverse and poignant in its simplicity. They wrote their names and hometown, the date they expected to leave the service, and say-by-day calendars to mark the voyage's progress. There were messages of patriotism, politics, humor, anxiety and love.

The exhibit is curated by artifact historian Art Beltrone, a Cismont resident, who discovered the cache of canvases in 1997 while a consultant on the movie "The Thin Red Line". Beltrone found the Walker anchored at the James River Reserve Fleet in Virginia and was immediately moved by the impact of the personal messages. The "Marking Time: Voyage to Vietnam" exhibit was created by the Vietnam Graffiti Project working in partnership with the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

The exhibit preserves a unique multi-dimensional snapshot of life aboard a troopship. An eight-man rack of sleeping bunds, removed from the Walker with all its original bedding, shows just how confining the space was during the long voyages to Vietnam. Replicas of the graffiti-covered canvases will also be on display. There is an audio tour available, allowing the public to hear in the words of the men who made the voyages, what it was like to be on the open sea for almost three weeks, anticipating their eventual arrival in Vietnam. Also featured is a rare film clip showing daily life on the Walker. The footage was shot by a U. S. Navy officer who served aboard as part of the ship's crew, as the Walker made her voyages to Vietnam.

The totality of the exhibit provides an unusual, intriguing and informative visitor experience that gives deeply personal insight into the minds of men on their way to war. Beltrone has spend a decade documenting the graffiti and much of it is recorded in a book he co-wrote with his wife, Lee, titled Vietnam Graffiti: Messages from a Forgotten Troopship (2004), which describes the discovery of hundreds of canvases and their relocation to museums across the United States.

"All those canvases," Lee Beltrone marveled. "We stood there at times, wondering, 'How many of these guys made it back?" The Beltrones resolved to track down the authors of the graffiti, and when they found a name and a home town, Lee would perform an internet search fro the person and call him, then arrange an audio interview.

The exhibit features graffiti involving an unknown local soldier -- the following words appear and the Beltrones are hoping that the soldier can be identified by someone in this community during the time that the exhibit is on display:

MIKO
OKINAWA
CHARLOTTESVILLE
VIRGINIA
BILL

The public is cordially invited to attend the display anytime during normal working hours of 8:00 am and 5:00 pm during the week of January 7 -- 11.
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County to Sponsor Display Featuring Vietnam War-Era Graffiti

Michael F. Moderator/1st CC Member Registered Member