Vietnam: In Their Own Words

Memorial Day 2026

Vietnam: In Their Own Words Story Telling at the Vietnam Women’s Memorial
Monday, May 25, 2026 10:00 a.m. Memorial Day

Emcee– Marsha Guenzler-Stevens, PhD

Marsha A. Guenzler-Stevens has spent all of her professional career working in the field of Higher Education. She has worked in the areas of admissions, residential life, campus activities, Greek Life, and student unions. Currently, Marsha Guenzler-Stevens serves as the Director of the Adele H. Stamp Student Union – Center for Campus Life. Dr. Guenzler-Stevens served as the Vice President of the National Board for the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation for almost 25 years. In that organization she launched “Storytelling at the Vietnam Women’s Memorial, “a program that has allowed men and women who were touched by the Vietnam War and more recent conflicts to share their stories. Storytelling was featured on NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw.

Time
 List of Presenters
10:00 a.m.

Welcome- Marsha Guenzler-Stevens
10:10 a.m. Joseph Mohr- National Park Service Ranger
10:30 a.m.

Beanca Thai

Beanca is originally from Spokane, Washington. The daughter of parents who immigrated to the United States as a result of the Vietnam War. In 2017, she was commissioned as a Military Police Officer and moved to Fort Bragg. After completing her active duty service in 2021, she transitioned to the Army Reserve as a Civil Affairs Officer while beginning her civilian career as a government contractor for the Department of Defense. She has deployed twice to Europe in support of multinational operations. Beanca also holds a master’s degree in Public Management and is working on a second masters’ in Environmental Science from Johns Hopkins University.

 
11:00 a.m.

Judith Costello Brinckerhoff, Captain, Nurse Corps, USN, Ret

Judy is a native of Darien, Connecticut. She is a graduate of Darien High School, Skidmore College (BSN), and the University of Texas (MSN). The Brinckerhoff family has resided in the District since September 1994.

Judy’s parents were both WW II Veterans. Her first duty station was at the Naval Hospital in Corpus Christi Texas. She cared for patients at the National Naval Medical Center who died of both WWII and Viet Nam related injuries. Some of her most cherished memories center on caring for veterans.

Her last assignments were as a Nurse Executive with both the Navy Inspector General Team and the Office of Health Affairs at the Department of Defense. Judy was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal w/one gold star, the National Defense

Service Medal w/ one bronze star, Korea Defense Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Ribbons and the Office of Secretary of Defense Badge.

Most recently Judy worked to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom in January 2025 for Viet Nam Veteran and Army Nurse Captain Diane Carlson Evans. It was an honor to represent Diane at the White House Ceremony hosted by President Biden. Judy is currently working with a Coalition of Nurse Corps Officers to urge our Congressional Leaders to award the WWII Nurses Congressional Gold Medal to the Greatest Generation of Nurses who led the way for both her generation and the military nurses of today.
11:20 a.m.

Anne Deveney U.S. Navy

Stationed at St. Albans Naval Hospital and Iwakuni Japan caring for Vietnam returnees. Retired from the Navy in 1989. Former member of Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation. Current faculty member Penn State’s Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing
11:30 a.m.

Monika Zychlinska, PhD

Monika holds a PhD in Sociology and an MA in American Studies from the University of Warsaw, Poland. She is currently a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research explores Polish and American collective memory with a particular focus on how contested pasts are remembered and institutionalized through museums, monuments, and memorials. She has studied the role of the Warsaw Uprising Museum in shaping Polish national narratives, as well as the activities of the Polish Institute of National Remembrance in promoting new national heroes known as the “Cursed Soldiers.” In her PhD dissertation, she examined the efforts of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation from the perspective of memory activism. In 2012, she spent nine days with Diane Carlson Evans in Helena, MT, studying the Foundation’s archival materials, which were then stored in Evans’s house. She also conducted interviews with women Vietnam veterans and participated in the ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of the VWM’s unveiling in November 2013. She dedicated her dissertation to women Vietnam veterans and defended it with honors, and is now turning it into a book. Participating in the storytelling session at the VWM has long been one of her life’s dreams.
1:00 p.m. Ceremony at The Wall Women’s Memorial featured speaker Donna J. Dear U.S. Army Sergeant Major (Retired)

Story Telling at the Vietnam Women’s Memorial is an educational program presented by Eastern National and the National Park Service. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance with sound provided by Ohm Productions. Our next program will be on Veterans Day, November 11th, 2026.

 

 

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