Remembering the Vietnam War Class
A panel on Walter Capps’ famous course on the Vietnam War and its impacts, featuring former instructors and guest speakers for the course
Saturday, Nov. 11
9:00am - 10:30am
Campbell Hall
Introductions:
Kathleen M. Moore, Associate Dean of Humanities & Fine Arts and Professor of Religious Studies, UCSB
Richard Hecht, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, UCSB
Speakers:
Bob Kerrey, former U.S. Senator and Governor (Nebraska)
Shad Meshad, Founder and President, National Veterans Foundation
Richard Hecht, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, UCSB
Brief Bios:
Bob Kerrey has decades of public service and health care experience serving vulnerable populations. He served as Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 1989 to 2001. He is also a veteran of the Vietnam War, where he served as a U.S. Navy SEAL officer and was awarded the Medal of Honor. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a commitment to supporting other veterans and their access to health care. He was also a co-instructor in Walter Capps' Vietnam War class.
Shad Meshad is Founder and President of the National Veterans Foundation. Meshad served as a psych officer in Vietnam. On his return in 1971, he began advocating for veterans. Prior to founding the NVF, he co-authored the Vet Center Outreach Program and opened the first Vet Centers, now numbering over 300 nationwide. He met Walter Capps in 1977 at the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions. Their conversation about the war led to the Vietnam War class, which Shad continued to help teach for the next 20 years.
Richard Hecht is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Religious Studies at UCSB, where he taught from 1974 until his retirement in 2021. After Walter Capps ran for Congress in 1994, Hecht taught the Vietnam War course until it ended in 2018.