S1E8 Ron Milam - Texas Tech University

Today's guest is Ron Milam, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War and Associate Professor of History at Texas Tech University. Ron earned his Ph.D. at the University of Houston "a little later life," and at Texas Tech teaches the Vietnam War and graduate and undergraduate courses in Military History. His latest teaching interest is terrorism and insurgency, which developed from his being named an Academic Fellow for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. He served as a Fulbright Scholar to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and as the Academic Advisor for the semi-annual Vietnam Center-sponsored student trips to Vietnam and Cambodia. He is a founding faculty advisor to the Texas Tech Veterans' Association. He is now Executive Director of the Institute for Peace and Conflict at Texas Tech, which includes the world-renowned Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Digital Archive. The annual conferences put on by the Texas Tech Vietnam Center are a mainstay for any Vietnam scholar - Ron has been both architect and participant in these conferences for years.

Ron is the author of Not a Gentleman's War: an Inside View of Junior Officers in the Vietnam War, published by the University of North Carolina Press, and the editor of The Vietnam War in Popular Culture: The Influence of America's Most Controversial War on Everyday Life (2 volumes), published by ABC-CLIO/Praeger. He is currently working on "The Siege of Phu Nhon: Montagnards and Americans as Allies in Battle," which deals with one of the most significant battles in the late days of the Vietnam War. 

Ron is a Texas Tech Teaching Academy member, recipient of the President's Excellence in Teaching Award, the Chancellor's Council Excellence in Teaching Award, the President's Excellence in Teaching Professorship. He serves on the Board of Directors of the David Westphall Veterans Foundation, which operates the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Angel Fire, New Mexico, and was appointed by Secretary of Veteran's Affairs Robert Wilke to the Veteran's Advisory Committee on Rehabilitation (VACOR). 

Ron's military decorations include a Bronze Star for valor and a Bronze Star for service,  an Army Commendation Medal for valor and one for service, the Vietnamese Cross for Gallantry with Bronze Palm, a Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Parachutist's Badge, and the Vietnam Service Medal with 2 stars. In 2015, Ron was inducted into the Officer Candidate School (OCS) Hall of Fame at the National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning, Georgia. He rides and collects motorcycles and is one of the most generous people in the military history world. Join us for our chat with Ron Milam!

Rec. 11/18/2021