By Barbara Palmgren
This is the 50th year of the ending of the Vietnam War in April, 2025, and many military and civic groups will conduct tributes to the veterans of our nation who served. In addition, the U. S. military organized three refugee camps to help citizens of South Vietnam escape from the current regime and come to the United States of America to begin new lives.
Eglin Air Force Base was selected as one of these camps. From early May through mid-September, 2015, more than 10,000 Vietnamese refugees were housed in a tent city on Eglin property awaiting relocation by a sponsor in the U.S.
The Heritage Museum of Northwest Florida recently added a 1,400 sq. ft. exhibit hall to the museum and is completing the Vietnam Refugee Camp as its first exhibit. During the weekend of May 3, approximately 60 former refugees from Texas, Massachusetts, North Carolina and California will visit the exhibit as well as the original site for the camp itself, also attending a reception at the museum with a luncheon courtesy of Magnolia Grill in Fort Walton Beach.
The exhibit contains a mock-up of one of the tents with photos and articles about each of the three phases of operation: Phase One-The Buildup; Phase Two-The Pipeline; and Phase Three-The Phasedown. Newspaper articles for these phases are enlarged and mounted for easy reading. In addition, a touchscreen allows viewers to read the daily Dot Moi newsletter, written in both Vietnamese and English as well as photos digitized from the collection of USAF Col. (Ret.) Bill R. Keeler, former Commander for this operation. The Heritage Museum is also recording oral histories from military leaders, former refugees and volunteers who worked during this five-month operation. A movie is shown about the camp, donated by Ngiep Tran who currently resides in Niceville. It is an excellent overview from start to finish of the five-month event.
Please plan to visit the new room addition and special 2025 exhibit of the Vietname Refugee Camp at the Heritage Museum of Northwest Florida located in old downtown Valparaiso at 115 Westview Ave, Valparaiso, Florida 32580. There is a minimal charge for museum entrance and no additional charge for this exhibit.
