Current:Home > ScamsUnexpected pairing: New documentary tells a heartwarming story between Vietnam enemies -TradeGrid
Unexpected pairing: New documentary tells a heartwarming story between Vietnam enemies
View
Date:2025-04-17 15:31:46
Troy Chancellor Jack Hawkins Jr. left Vietnam as a Marine in 1969.
He returned there as chancellor of Troy University in 2002 to build relationships with Vietnamese chancellors to establish cultural exchange programs between the universities.
“It was not at all the Vietnam that I’d left all those years before," Hawkins said.
In 2017, Hawkins received an invitation from Lê Công Cơ, the president of Duy Tan University. Lê Công Cơ was a Viet Cong fighter. “He had a great record of success," Hawkins said. "He just happened to be one of our enemies." But when he met Lê Công Cơ, “I immediately knew his heart was right," Hawkins said.
The former enemies became partners. Each man was trying to bring the world to his respective university. Each man wanted to give back. Each man wanted to graduate globally competitive students.
Today, they're both still fighting to make the world a better place, and Lê Công Cơ's two children decided to tell the men's story through a documentary, "Beyond a War."
Han Lê took the lead in telling her father's story, which aired across Vietnam earlier this year.
“A lot of people in this country continue to fight the war in their minds, and I think this is one of the few depictions of what happens through partnership in terms of reconciliation," Hawkins said about Vietnam War veterans in the United States.
Hawkins said he hopes his story can give his fellow veterans faith in a better tomorrow.
'It's each other'
As a young 23-year-old second lieutenant, Hawkins said being in the Marines offered him an opportunity to experience living and dying with people of different races.
Hawkins went to a small, all-white high school in Alabama. Before college, he had never made acquaintances with people of other races.
The war changed all that.
“You know what you learn, in time, when that first round goes off, it doesn’t matter what race you are," Hawkins said. "You look out for each other."
His platoon was made up of 25% Black men, 15% Latino men and 55-60% white men. They all had to look out for each other to survive.
“We have these rather removed and rather esoteric beliefs, and you can be philosophical, but when, when the shooting starts, but what becomes more important is not the stars and stripes. It’s not democracy. It’s each other," Hawkins said.
Bringing the world home
Hawkins said he brought that mindset to Troy, where he has made diversity a priority. Everyone wants to be safe. Everyone wants to have their loved ones be safe, Hawkins said.
Being outside the country broadens people's minds, Hawkins said. That is why he has funded study-abroad experiences for his students.
For students who cannot study abroad, Hawkins has focused on bringing the world to Troy.
There are students from 75 countries at Troy, Hawkins said. For him, he does this because it is a part of continuing his practice of service that was so important in the military.
“So we set out to bring the world to Troy, and we did," Hawkins said.
Alex Gladden is the Montgomery Advertiser's education reporter. She can be reached at agladden@gannett.com or on Twitter @gladlyalex.
veryGood! (74)
Related
- Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
- Pnb Rock murder trial: Two men found guilty in rapper's shooting death, reports say
- Iranian brothers charged in alleged smuggling operation that led to deaths of 2 Navy SEALs
- Pregnant Brittany Mahomes Trolls Patrick Mahomes Over Wardrobe Mishap
- B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
- Inter Miami vs. Toronto live updates: Leagues Cup tournament scores, highlights
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword, Get Moving! (Freestyle)
- A father lost his son to sextortion swindlers. He helped the FBI find the suspects
- Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
- Taylor Swift cancels Vienna Eras tour concerts after two arrested in alleged terror plot
Ranking
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Inside an 'ambush': Standoff with conspiracy theorists left 1 Florida deputy killed, 2 injured
- Snake hunters will wrangle invasive Burmese pythons in Everglades during Florida’s 10-day challenge
- Prompted by mass shooting, 72-hour wait period and other new gun laws go into effect in Maine
- Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
- Protesters rally outside Bulgarian parliament to denounce ban on LGBTQ+ ‘propaganda’ in schools
- Harris-Walz camo hat is having a moment. Could it be bigger than MAGA red?
- Fired Philadelphia officer leaves jail to await trial after charges reduced in traffic stop death
Recommendation
Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
Missouri voters pass constitutional amendment requiring increased Kansas City police funding
'A Good Girl's Guide to Murder' is now on Netflix: Get to know the original books
Harris and Walz head to Arizona, where a VP runner-up could still make a difference
'We're reborn!' Gazans express joy at returning home to north
Paris Olympics live updates: Noah Lyles takes 200m bronze; USA men's hoops rally for win
Average rate on a 30-year mortgage falls to 6.47%, lowest level in more than a year
Inside an 'ambush': Standoff with conspiracy theorists left 1 Florida deputy killed, 2 injured