I'm not sure it is relevant, but the Museum of Western Colorado, Grand
Junction, not only did such an exhibit years ago, but we helped to
produce an audiovisual component that is still available to whomever (it
is available through interlibrary loan and has been cataloged through OCLC).
 
The project began because our local Vietnam Veterans of America
organization became interested in a similar presentation the Museum had
done on our local WW I veterans.  We organized a suborganization of our
oral history project devoted to the experiences of Vietnam veterans and
enlisted the wife of one of our veterans as the coordinator.  Only
veterans interviewed veterans.  The project went on for several years,
and during that time, some of the veterans were also reinterviewed for an
original play.
 
>From the oral history interviewing stage, another committee was set up
(mostly vets) to determine which photos and tapes would be used in the
final presentation.  The images were re-photographed by a professional
photographer for slide production, and all the title slides were produced
by one of the vet's wives who happened to be a graphic artist.  One of
the vets supplied an original poem, and another, a professional musician,
got a group together and wrote and recorded original music to accompany
the lyrics.  Another member of the group, a radio announcer by
profession, did the narration.  As a final step, another vet took the
final slide tape presentation and videotaped it.  So we have versions in
video and slide tape formats.
 
The final product is amazing.  It is an account of the war entirely
created through the experiences of the vets themselves.  All services are
represented, and one interview includes the experiences of a vet who was
there during the period when Saigon fell.  It is also a presentation that
was pulled together entirely by the vets.  They wanted to tell their
story their way, and they did.
 
Much of the funding for this was provided by the community.  It started
with a grant a couple of us wrote and submitted to a oil shale company.
We asked them because one of our best interviewers was killed right
before we started the audiovisual presentation pulling another man out of
one of their settling ponds.  We wanted this presentation to be done in
his honor and hoped the company would help.  They didn't, but we liked
the grant and started shipping it around to local organizations.  It did
the trick, and we received a lot of $25 contributions that added up to
what we needed.  Even the local VA hospital contributed!
 
Anyway, that is my contribution to this discussion.  It is also the one
project that I have helped with in my more than 14 years of
museum/archival experience of which I am most thankful that I
participated in.
 
Judy Prosser-Armstrong
Collections and Information Manager
Museum of Western Colorado
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