Associated Products
BRINGING WAR HOME: OBJECT STORIES AND COMMUNITY MEMORY OF MODERN WAR (Blog Post)Title: BRINGING WAR HOME: OBJECT STORIES AND COMMUNITY MEMORY OF MODERN WAR
Author: Molly Boeka Cannon
Author: Susan Grayzel
Abstract: You decide to tackle that long-postponed task—going through the boxes of material moved from your grandparents’ home into your basement. When you unpack them, you find a box within a box. It might contain some black and white photographs: someone in a nurse’s uniform, someone carrying a flag. It might hold a set of medals, an old cap, a pair of worn-in boots, or a government-issued recipe booklet on how forgoing sugar will help win the war, with handwritten annotations next to the family favorites. When looking through these items, you might remember as a child playing with the medals or watching a face light up when looking at a photograph. While many of us have no direct experience with military combat, we often live with the souvenirs, objects, and other remnants passed down from those who did. Sometimes, the objects collected or saved by our relatives, friends, and neighbors who have participated in the last century's wars linger on as memorials. These tell us much about how members of our families and communities contributed to wartime activities, overseas and at home. But sometimes, unless we take a moment to ask about the meaning of the stuff in those boxes, we lose their significance and thus a way to understand our shared past.
Date: 05/10/2022
Primary URL:
https://history.utah.gov/bringing-war-home-object-stories-and-community-memory-of-modern-war/Primary URL Description: The Utah Division of State History shares stories of Utah's shared past through blog posts.
Website:
https://history.utah.gov/category/history-main-blog/Bringing War Home: live from Hill Aerospace Museum on Thursday's Access Utah (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)Title: Bringing War Home: live from Hill Aerospace Museum on Thursday's Access Utah
Writer: Tom Williams
Director: Tom Williams
Abstract: I recently conducted a live taping of Access Utah at Hill Aerospace Museum. I was inside a large C-130 military transport aircraft, and was joined by the Museum Director, Aaron Clark, and military veterans and museum volunteers Lynn Walker, Dennis Jacobs and Paul Stone. Today we’ll hear some fascinating stories. This is part of the Bringing War Home Project. Utah Public Radio is partnering for this project with the USU College of Humanities and Social Sciences’ Mountain West Center for Regional Studies, the USU History Department and the USU Museum of Anthropology. Broadcasts of Bringing War Home on Utah Public Radio are supported by Utah Humanities.
Date: 04/28/2022
Primary URL:
https://www.upr.org/show/access-utahPrimary URL Description: The website for the UPR radio program Access Utah, a daily show highlighting Utah stories.
Secondary URL:
https://www.upr.org/show/ask-an-expert/2022-04-28/bringing-war-home-live-from-hill-aerospace-museum-on-thursdays-access-utahSecondary URL Description: The website for accessing the specific Bringing War Home episode, live from the roadshow events at Hill Aerospace Museum.
Access Model: open access
Format: Digital File
Format: Web
Bringing War Home (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)Title: Bringing War Home
Writer: Annika Shinn
Producer: Shalayne Smith-Needham
Producer: Friend Weller
Abstract: War is saturated with objects shaped and carried from battlefields to homes. Sometimes such objects end up in Museums, but the personal stories of how such objects came to make journeys from Vietnam, for example, to rural Utah often do not. One of the main goals of our project is to disperse basic tools that will allow veterans and members of military families as well as the general public to understand the things brought home from war. The stories featured in this segment are from a 2018 roadshow event hosted by UPR and USU's class "1918 Anglo-American Culture and Society in a World at War," where the community was invited to bring in objects from World War I and to tell their stories.
Date: 11/10/2021
Primary URL:
http://upr.orgPrimary URL Description: The website for Utah Public Radio host of the segment "Bringing War Home".
Secondary URL:
https://www.upr.org/utah-news/2021-11-10/bringing-war-homeSecondary URL Description: The website where the segment can be accessed.
Prizes
Radio Military Category
Date: 6/16/2022
Organization: Utah Society of Professional Journalist
Abstract: Award recognizes excellence in radio production in the military category.
Bringing War Home' with Sue Grayzel & Molly Cannon on Wednesday's Access Utah (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)Title: Bringing War Home' with Sue Grayzel & Molly Cannon on Wednesday's Access Utah
Producer: Tom Williams
Abstract: War is saturated with objects shaped and carried from battlefields to homes. Sometimes such objects end up in Museums, but the personal stories of how such objects came to make journeys from Vietnam, for example, to rural Utah often do not. Utah Public Radio is partnering with the USU College of Humanities and Social Sciences’ Mountain West Center for Regional Studies, the USU History Department and the USU Museum of Anthropology, in the Bringing War Home Project. On this special Member Drive edition of the program, we’ll talk about this project with USU History Professor Susan Grayzel and Molly Cannon, Director of the USU Anthropology Museum and the USU Mountain West Center. You can sign up to record your story with us at www.upr.org
Date: 03/30/2022
Primary URL:
https://www.upr.org/show/access-utahPrimary URL Description: The website for the daily program Access Utah highlights stories from across the state.
Secondary URL:
https://www.upr.org/show/access-utah/2022-03-30/bringing-war-home-with-sue-grayzel-molly-cannon-on-wednesdays-access-utahSecondary URL Description: The website for the episode with Susan Grayzel and Molly Boeka Cannon.
Format: Radio
Format: Digital File
Format: Web
Bringing War Home: Things They Carried Book Discussion Kit (Course or Curricular Material)Title: Bringing War Home: Things They Carried Book Discussion Kit
Author: Cannon, Molly
Author: Grayzel, Susan
Author: Brown, Clayton
Author: Funda, Evelyn
Author: Crawford, Dustin
Author: Holt, Kerri
Author: Grieve, Victoria
Abstract: In order to facilitate community discussions about Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, faculty at USU led by the Bringing War Home Project's two PIs, developed a book club kit. This includes the attached documents: a list of discussion questions; a guide to further resources on the Vietnam War, and a series of writing prompts for participants.
Year: 2021
Audience: General Public
Bringing War Home: How a leather medical kit was used during WWII (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)Title: Bringing War Home: How a leather medical kit was used during WWII
Writer: Susan Grayzel
Writer: Annika Shinn
Writer: Molly Cannon
Director: Susan Grayzel
Director: Molly Cannon
Producer: Katie White
Abstract: The Pacific theater of World War II posed many dangers to American service members. Along with the usual perils of combat came illnesses like malaria and dengue fever, dysentery due to contaminated water, and the pervasive threat of wound infections.
Fortunately, service members also witnessed several advancements in the practice of medicine. Among the most important were the development of the first antibiotic Penicillin, the use of plasma and serum albumin for blood transfusions, and vaccine innovations that helped defend against some of the most virulent infectious diseases.
Naval doctors were assisted by service men with broad medical training. These men were vital in administering first aid and delivering medications to the ill and injured.
One such serviceman, Bruce Crane’s father, Rex, returned home from the war with a surplus item: a small leather medical kit containing surgical instruments. While the tools were used at home for things like pulling out Bruce’s loose baby teeth, Rex had used a kit just like it to treat serious medical conditions during his time in the Navy.
Date: 04/17/2023
Primary URL:
https://www.upr.org/show/bringing-war-home/2023-04-17/bringing-war-home-how-a-leather-medical-kit-was-used-during-wwiiPrimary URL Description: URL to listen to and read a transcript of the story.
Access Model: open access
Format: Radio
Bringing War Home: How a handmade French flag kept an American soldier going (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)Title: Bringing War Home: How a handmade French flag kept an American soldier going
Writer: Molly Cannon
Writer: Susan Grayzel
Director: Susan Grayzel
Director: Molly Cannon
Producer: Katie White
Abstract: A gift given by a young girl during the liberation of France gave this soldier the strength to keep going and ultimately formed a connection spanning generations.
Date: 04/13/2023
Primary URL:
https://www.upr.org/show/bringing-war-home/2023-04-14/bringing-war-home-how-a-handmade-french-flag-kept-an-american-solider-goingPrimary URL Description: Link to the website that hosts the program.
Format: Radio
Format: Digital File
Format: Web
Prizes
Radio Military
Date: 6/15/2023
Organization: Society for Professional Journalist Utah Chapter
Abstract: The team earned second place award in the Radio Military category by the Society for Professional Journalists Utah Chapter.
Access Utah: Bringing War Home' with Rich Etchberger (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)Title: Access Utah: Bringing War Home' with Rich Etchberger
Director: Tom Williams
Abstract: Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard L. Etchberger was among 12 U.S. airmen killed on March 11, 1968, when a North Vietnamese Army special forces team scaled a 3,000-foot cliff and attacked their secret radar camp. Etchberger helped rescue three of his comrades, two of whom were severely wounded and made it safely aboard an evacuation helicopter himself before being shot through the floor as it lifted off from the mountain, where he helped lead a team that aided the U.S. bombing campaign of North Vietnam.
This past Saturday, in conjunction with the Bringing War Home roadshow at the USU Moab campus, we talked with Rich Etchberger, USU Vice Provost and USU Interim Vice President for Statewide Campuses, who joined us to discuss his father's legacy and receiving the Medal of Honor on his behalf.
Date: 10/26/2022
Primary URL:
https://www.upr.org/show/access-utah/2022-10-26/bringing-war-home-with-rich-etchberger-on-wednesdays-access-utahPrimary URL Description: Permanent link to digital file and transcript.
Format: Radio
Format: Digital File
Format: Web
Access Utah: Bringing War Home (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)Title: Access Utah: Bringing War Home
Director: Tom Williams
Abstract: Many of us are familiar with wartime souvenirs, whether we have direct experience with the battlefield or not. Some of these objects are personal, a way for veterans to preserve their experiences. Often, we treasure objects from our relatives who have participated in the wars of the 20th century; special things linger on as memorials that help our families tell the stories of how beloved fathers, grandfathers, mothers and grandmothers, cousins and siblings contributed to the larger history of war.
Today we’ll hear some excerpts from interviews conducted during the Bringing War Home Project. We’re joined today by Molly Cannon, USU Assistant Professor of Anthropology, and Susan Grayzel, USU Professor of History. They are co-directors of the Bringing War Home project.
Date: 9/14/2023
Primary URL:
https://www.upr.org/show/access-utah/2022-09-14/bringing-war-home-on-wednesdays-access-utahPrimary URL Description: Permanent link to digital file and transcript.
Format: Radio
Format: Digital File
Format: Web
Objects of War (Course or Curricular Material)Title: Objects of War
Author: Susan Grayzel
Author: Molly Cannon
Abstract: The First World War unleashed a century of modern, total war. While historians of war traditionally rely on texts to understand past conflict, this interdisciplinary course focuses on the material culture of modern war, with an emphasis on the First World War, the Second World War, and the Vietnam War. While centering the American experience of these wars, students will also gain a critical understanding of just what it meant to wage modern war on this scale in a global perspective. In addition to covering the basic history of these conflicts, students will have the opportunity in the second half of the class to help with public outreach roadshows and digitally collect objects and object stories, and from these, to help develop a digital archive of the objects and object stories.
Year: 2022
Audience: Undergraduate
Objects of WarFamily Memories and the Things We Carry (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: Objects of WarFamily Memories and the Things We Carry
Abstract: Presentation of the Bringing War Home Project to the Cache Valley Historical Society.
Author: Susan Grayzel
Author: Molly Cannon
Date: 03/09/2022
Location: Logan, Utah
Objects of War Family Memories and the Things We Carry (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: Objects of War Family Memories and the Things We Carry
Abstract: A presentation about the project to the Logan chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Author: Molly Cannon
Author: Susan Grayzel
Author: Katie White
Date: 02/18/2023
Location: Logan, Utah
Objects of War Family Memories and the Things We Carry (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: Objects of War Family Memories and the Things We Carry
Abstract: A presentation about the project to residents of an assisted living facility, the Legacy House.
Author: Susan Grayzel
Author: Molly Cannon
Date: 11/14/2022
Location: Logan, Utah
Objects of War Family Memories and the Things We Carry (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: Objects of War Family Memories and the Things We Carry
Abstract: A presentation about the project for the Salt Lake City Library during their lecture series "Let's Be Neighbors."
Author: Molly Cannon
Author: Susan Grayzel
Date: 05/10/2022
Location: Online and Salt Lake City, Utah
Objects of War Family Memories and the Things We Carry (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: Objects of War Family Memories and the Things We Carry
Abstract: A presentation about the project for the Logan Library.
Author: Molly Cannon
Author: Susan Grayzel
Date: 12/05/2021
Location: Logan, Utah
Summer Citizens Seminar Bringing War Home: Objects Stories, Memory, and the Vietnam War Experience (Course or Curricular Material)Title: Summer Citizens Seminar Bringing War Home: Objects Stories, Memory, and the Vietnam War Experience
Author: Molly Cannon
Author: Susan Grayzel
Abstract: A shell casing with an image of the Statue of Liberty etched on it with a nail; a postcard from Saigon. While many of us have little or no direct experience of the battlefields of modern war, we often live with their material remains. Some objects collected by relatives who have participated in the wars of the last century linger on as memorials for families that help us tell the stories of how our individual beloved fathers, grandfathers, mothers and grandmothers, cousins, and siblings contributed to the larger history of the waging of war. In this class, we explore how objects can be used to understand the range of experiences related to the Vietnam War. In this interactive course, we will explore the Vietnam War through narrative accounts, oral history, and material culture. You will work on developing your own writing and storytelling of a personal or family account through prose and object story.
Year: 2022
Audience: General Public
Rethinking Motherhood and War (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: Rethinking Motherhood and War
Author: Susan Grayzel
Abstract: Participant in Roundtable on “Rethinking Motherhood and War.” Society for Military History Annual Meeting, March 2023, San Diego, CA—This discussed in detail one of the objects and related object story from the Vietnam War provided by a military family member. This was a peer-reviewed conference proposal.
Date: 03/25/2023
Conference Name: Society for Military History Annual Meeting
Understanding Modern War through Material Culture: Public History and the Making of an Object-Centered Digital Archive (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: Understanding Modern War through Material Culture: Public History and the Making of an Object-Centered Digital Archive
Abstract: Invited Talk and Public Presentation, Department of History, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, April 3, 2023. New Brunswick, NJ
Author: Susan Grayzel
Date: 04/3/2023
Location: Rutgers The State University of New Jersey