Vietnam at Northwest
Northwest Missouri State plays an important role in Nodaway County, so to to understand the atmosphere of the county during the war means to look, in part, at Northwest. With a large rural population, many of the concerns that schools in the city had were not shared by the students at Northwest. Protests and outspoken dissent were virtually nonexistent in Nodaway County. Within the first six months of the Vietnam War, 101 universities saw 221 major demonstrations, but Maryville did not have any.
“There was none of that here, in fact if you showed disrespect to a military man here you were ostracized, even in the campus. I mean, I just never saw any of it.” -Tom Middleswart
Pledging Mekong Delta
“You looked out the first day of class and you could just see in their eyes that some of them were just here in order not to be there and they probably weren’t going to last very long here.” -Channing Horner
For those using college as a draft deferment, the fear of failure was always in the back of their minds. A single failing score could mean the end of your time in college. This led to a rift between students and faculty and a fear of the professors. Once a person dropped out or failed out of school, they immediately would be sent into the military. The phrase “pledging Mekong Delta” was created to represent this reality. One wrong step, and a student could be out of college and straight into the military.
Courtesy of The Missourian
Delta Sigma Phi Run
One activity students participated in to show their support for the troops, was Delta Sigma Phi’s petition marathon. This fundraiser was created to gain signatures in support of the Red Cross. With the help of the American Red Cross and the “Support Our Servicemen” campaign, the men of Delta Sigma Phi ran a relay from Maryville to Jefferson City, collecting petition signatures along the way. Delta Sigma Phi collected over 1,000 signatures from Northwest students. Support for the Red Cross and other organizations, was a way students showed support for the troops and the war.
*Did you know that walking from Maryville to Jefferson City would take 78 hours!*
Students In Protest
The Vietnam War created unrest in several cities and colleges across the country. After the incident at Kent State, where the Ohio National Guard shot and killed for students, 200 students from Northwest met at the football field for prayer and discussion. They wanted to highlight the importance of current events. It was easy to not care or pay attention, but this group wanted people to know that it did matter. This event raised controversy because there were complaints that it distracted students from class. After being forced to move several times, the event soon lost support.
Kent State
Courtesy of The Missourian
