After graduating from the University of Minnesota’s nursing program, Mary Beth Crowley joined the Army and went for basic training at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC. With only four months of nursing experience she was deployed to An Khê, Vietnam, a rural community with limited resources, where she treated GIs and the local Vietnamese community, many of them children.

Mary Beth returned to the U.S. and went on to work for the VA for 35 years and was involved with the creation of The Vietnam Women’s Memorial. She continues to cultivate her connection to fellow nurses of that era through a women’s group and oral history project through the Minnesota Historical Society.

Nearly 50 years after the Vietnam War began, many vets of the era are dying – and many more will – underscoring a critical need to document their experiences and acknowledge their sacrifices.

The Telling Project is a national performing arts non-profit that uses theater as a tool to deepen civilian understanding of the military experience. The resulting performances give veterans a platform to tell their stories and give audiences an opportunity to listen.

For the first time, The Telling Project brings together a group of veterans from a single war – Vietnam.

Through a series of candid and emotional interviews, founder Jonathan Wei and director Max Rayneard identify a cast, craft the unique memories into a script, and empower the veterans to perform on stage. Follow five Vietnam War veterans and family members on a journey as they shape their experiences into a powerful culminating stage performance.

Watch a preview of Minnesota Remembers Vietnam: The Telling Project:

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