Vietnam Center and Archive Officials Help Filmmakers in Television Documentary about Vietnam War
February 8, 2006
Written by Michael Castellon
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Feb. 8, 2006
CONTACT: Michael Castellon, m.castellon@ttu.edu
LUBBOCK – Officials at the Vietnam Center and Archive at Texas Tech University played
a key role in assisting award-winning documentary filmmakers Patrick and Cheryl Fries
of Arrowhead Films on their latest project examining the Vietnam War.
"An Ocean Away" follows the return of U.S. Marine Donald Matocha's remains, missing
for three decades, to his Central Texas family, and the subsequent journey of his
sisters to the battlefield in Vietnam where he died. Their trip to Vietnam included
a meeting with the former North Vietnamese soldier who buried Lt. Matocha and later
reported the location of his grave to U.S. officials.
Filmmakers contacted Vietnam Center and Archive officials for assistance in working
with the Vietnam Embassy to enter the country. The center also assisted with translating
interview footage that is captioned in the film.
“We felt this was an especially important project for us to be involved in because
it’s vital that the Matocha story be told,” said Stephen Maxner, deputy director of
the Vietnam Center at Texas Tech. “We have a duty to assist in telling and preserving
the stories of those who served and sacrificed so much for our nation.”
“What is so compelling about this film is that it documents the plight of the family
who waited at home and endured so much for three and a half decades and the plight
of the Vietnamese people who also endured pain and terrible hardships. This is a powerful
story of healing and reconciliation for both the individuals involved as well as for
our two nations,” Maxner said.
The film will debut on The Military Channel at 7 p.m. CST Thursday.
Since it was founded in 1989, the Vietnam Center and Archive has become one of the
largest repositories of its kind outside of the U.S. government. The center offers
a Virtual Archive containing more than 2.3 million online pages of searchable materials,
including documents, photographs, slides, negatives, audio and video recordings, artifacts
and oral histories.
For more information, visit www.vietnam.ttu.edu; www.arrowheadfilms.com; and http://military.discovery.com
- 30 -
CONTACT: Stephen Maxner, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Center at Texas Tech, steve.maxner@ttu.edu,
or (806) 742-9010.