Vietnam Interactive PortfolioE. Kenneth Hoffman, a professor of communication at Seton Hall University, was a photographer for the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.But Mr. Hoffman wasn't always on duty during his tour of service, and he made time to take some photographs of his own. Some of those he has now made available on a World-Wide Web site that shows how the war affected the Vietnamese people.The site offers almost 100 photos. They show -- among other subjects -- Vietnamese children, members of the country's rural Montagnard tribes, and several temples and religious statues.
Mr. Hoffman says his photographs, hundreds of which are not on the Web site, have "cultural and historical significance for the Vietnamese people." He is now working with Vietnamese scholars to collect firsthand accounts of the war from Vietnamese people like those depicted in his photographs.
Visitors to the site may leave their comments about the photos and may discuss the comments of other visitors. Several of them have shared personal memories of the war, while others have offered to help identify places or monuments, such as Buddhist shrines, depicted in the collection.
- World-Wide Web: http://icarus.shu.edu/gallery/V_Portfolio/
-- Kelly McCollum