At UTA Libraries, history is preserved, but it is also experienced, and shared, in sometimes deeply personal ways. 

The Special Collections exhibit “Our Man in Vietnam” invites visitors into the world of legendary Texas journalist Bob Schieffer during his early years as a reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Through photographs taken in Vietnam, paintings he later created from those images and personal artifacts such as his camera, field notebooks and letters, the exhibit captures moments of uncertainty, humanity and connection during wartime. 

For two local Vietnam veterans, however, the exhibit is a return to places, emotions, and memories that shaped their lives more than half a century ago. 

A Different Kind of Frontline 

Ray Bush served with the First Air Cavalry Division at Phước Vĩnh, about 60 miles from Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), working with the Army Security Agency from March 1969 through November 1970. 

“I was in a secure environment with bunkers,” Bush recalled. “But we still had rockets and mortars come around us all of the time.” 

Unlike the combat scenes depicted in some of Schieffer’s photographs, Bush’s role was in a supporting capacity; work he emphasized was essential to the mission. 

“I didn’t get out in the field like in some of the photos in the exhibit,” Bush said. “I was doing clerical-type work over there, which was very essential. Everybody had a job to do.” 

Standing in the gallery in Special Collections, Bush sees the exhibit as an opportunity to reconnect with the community by reflecting on a pivotal era in our nation’s history. 

“I think it is an excellent deal,” Bush said. “Bringing history back into the metroplex, into Arlington and UTA, is meaningful.” 

Now president of a local chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America in Grand Prairie, Bush is encouraging fellow veterans and the public to experience it firsthand. 

“We’re trying to get as many of our veterans over here as we can,” Bush said. “Stop by and view the exhibit because it is very worthwhile.” 

For Bush, the exhibit also serves as a reminder of what service requires from a generation of young Americans. 

“You’ve got to realize that in some of these photos, the guys in them may not have made it out of the country after it was taken,” he reflected. “Those were important youth years spent away from family and friends. It was a very impactful event for everyone involved, for the whole country as well.” 

A Chance Meeting, Preserved in History 

For Marine Corps veteran Ray Jones, the exhibit connected him to the moment he met Schieffer during the war. 

Jones served 18 months in 1965 and 1966, including time aboard the USS Paul Revere, an amphibious transport ship that carried Marines to shore during one of the conflict’s early large-scale operations. During that mission, Operation Double Eagle, a major coastal landing followed by inland sweeps involving thousands of Marines, an announcement asked whether anyone from Texas was aboard. 

Schieffer interviewed Jones, and the two Texans soon found themselves descending cargo nets and boarding the same landing craft as Marines moved toward the beach. 

 
“He went right over the cargo net with us,” Jones recalled. “We had a lot more equipment on us, which was heavy, but he had to get over the net to get into the boat just like we did.” 

Schieffer reported at the time that some Marines were knocked off balance climbing down the cargo nets, while others struggled to time their jumps into the boats as the swells rose and fell. Packs weighing between 40 and 70 pounds made movement even more difficult, and several men were swept into the surf before they could regain their footing. 

Jones himself offered a direct assessment of the experience in Schieffer’s story, saying, “It wasn’t like they do it in a John Wayne movie.”  

The interaction was brief, but unforgettable, an instance of a reporter documenting history while sharing, if only for a moment, the same risks as the soldiers he covered. 

 
“I only visited with him one time on the ship and one time on land,” Jones said. “But I’ve kept up with him over the years when he was broadcasting.” 

Walking through the exhibit brings those memories into sharp focus. 

“It brought back a lot of memories from the operation that I was on with him,” Jones said. 

Connecting Past and Present 

 
Our Man in Vietnam is, at its core, about documentation and how a young journalist recorded history as it unfolded. Yet, through the experiences of Bush and Jones, it becomes something more: a bridge between past and the present.  

 
Their visits transform the exhibit into a space not only for reflection but for understanding, where students, researchers, and community members encounter the human stories behind the images. 

At UTA Libraries, we are honored to help create these moments of connection, where scholarship meets service, and where the voices of those who lived history continue to inform and inspire. 

 
Our Man in Vietnam remains on view through April 4, offering the campus and community time to reflect on this powerful intersection of journalism, service and memory. 

As Bush puts it, “Come see it. There are a lot of memories connected with this exhibit.” 

Learn more about the exhibit at https://libraries.uta.edu/schieffer/.