Fifty Years Ago

The Fall of Saigon and Peter’s Vietnam

Images of Vietnam dominated my high school years. From 1966 -1970, every time we sat down at the dinner table, promptly at 6:30, all attention was turned to the black and white TV in the corner and NBC’s Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, bringing us the news of the war half a world away.

The footage was graphic, reported by journalists who were with the troops in the jungles of Southeast Asia. I often wondered if anyone watching the news could identify the face of a son, a brother, or husband in the footage we were seeing, and what they must be feeling as they watched scenes of the war, night after night.

In school, the issue of Vietnam was front and center in our civics class. I distinctly remember in the early years, listening to our government assert how important it was for South Vietnam to prevail because this area was “the breadbasket of Southeast Asia” and we couldn’t afford to let it fall into Communist hands, as North Vietnam had. That’s why US troops were there.

Or so we were told. The reasons for the American presence turned out to be a lot more complex.

High school students were paying attention to the Vietnam War because the draft was still in play. Once a young man turned 18, if he was not enrolled in a college, he could be drafted. It was a terrible time.

One Nantucketer who was drafted right after he got out of art school was Peter Sylvia. When he came home to the island following his tour of duty, Peter processed the emotional trauma of the war through his art.

Documentary filmmaker John Stanton, who in full disclosure is also my husband, interviewed Peter about 10-12 years ago for a short film which appeared on the now defunct Plum TV. Images of the paintings Peter created from his memories of the war, including those of fallen soldiers, are accompanied by his running narrative.

Filmmaker Dan Driscoll shot the footage. Mindy Todd, from “The Point” on WCAI, narrated. In 2021, when John worked with me in the newsroom at The Inquirer and Mirror, he offered the use of his film, “Peter’s Vietnam,” to play on the newspaper’s digital newsletter, then called Above the Fold, as a tribute to Peter after he passed away.

Now as we approach the 50^th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, on April 30, 1975, it seems appropriate to reflect on that war through the words of a Nantucketer who lived it.

If you click on the link below you can view the film, and hear Peter Sylvia talk about his time in Vietnam and how it affected him. It’s a very moving piece. The short film is the property of John Stanton and Shouldered Oar Films.

To watch “Peter’s Vietnam” click below