Faculty Scholarly Dissemination Grants
Being Dutch American during the Vietnam War
Department
History Department
College
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Date Range
2012-2013
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities
Abstract
By the second half of the 20th century, Dutch-American ethnic identity continued to matter for people even though its exact meaning had undergone a number of transitions as a result of both internal and external changes. People who claimed a Dutch-American identity during the Vietnam War era negotiated how their ethno-religious identity just as they had done in response to other major events during the twentieth century. This negotiation occurred at the individual soldiers level as he or she joined the armed services and interacted with a variety of new people and situations. Oral histories of veterans provide an excellent source for understanding how these soldiers experienced the period through the lens of their ethnic identity. Negotiating an ethnic identity also occurred on the homefront in the pews of the churches and the pages of the periodicals that served the institutions of the group. The Vietnam War era forced Dutch Americans to come to terms with being part of a country and national culture that some fully embraced while others held at arms length. Long existing divisions coalesced as fissures again showed themselves even within the sub-culture.
Conference Name
Dutch-American Involvement in War: U.S. and Abroad
Conference Location
Pella, Iowa
ScholarWorks Citation
Zwart, David, "Being Dutch American during the Vietnam War" (2013). Faculty Scholarly Dissemination Grants. 996.
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/fsdg/996
